You can opt for a very skinny (12") floor-to-ceiling broom cabinet on the left between the wall and the reefer if you like.

Is the basement weird (like super low ceiling, bedrooms without windows, or they didn't properly divide the utility area from the apartment, etc.)?

Ceiling fans. 

I made every attempt to insulate them from us by adding r38 in their floor joist and using resilient channels before the 5/8" drywall was put up on my ceiling.

I hired a foundation expert and had him look at it, can't remember the exact amount, I guess it was around 500$, the guy actually paid very little attention to the foundation, he was looking for the gaps between ceiling and walls, cracks around windows / frame, and drop in floor level, in the end he said it'll last another 100 years.

My primary residence home had multiple slab leaks, so we decided to moves pipes into the ceiling instead.  

Like blinds or ceiling fans.

The ceiling is already insulated and drywalled. 

To combat this, and also upgrade systems as larger vacancies occurred the ceilings were removed, the HVAC ducting removed, the concrete was stripped via a sandblast, and then attractive and exposed HVAC ducting was installed.

@Michael Kresloff is the asbestos in the basement the asbestos tiles on the floor (very common here in CT) or is it in the walls/ceilings?