Maybe; I would suspect modifying the building to rent out rooms for a lot less than $3,000.
There was a fire a few years back in one of the north Jersey towns overlooking Manhattan (Englewood Cliffs, maybe), and the fatalities included people from various countries living in basement “rooms” (as opposed to a basement apartment) that had been illegally added. Heat and electricity are often added, without permits, inspection, etc.
That doesn’t make any sense. If you can get a fat price from rich tenants, why bother penny-ante room rentals? That’s the sort of thing they do in the Bronx, $800 a month for a 4 x 8 room. Here in Manhattan, they put in 6 renovated 1-bedrooms, rent them for $4000 a month, and then sell the building for $15 million. That’s real money!