It is still amazing to me that this actually happened and was considered a feasible approach to urban design by not only politicians and city planners, but also by powerful real estate interests and is a reminder that one must not only consider the present value of the urban fabric but also its future value. In one of the images you can see commuters washed in natural daylight walking across the glass floors above the train platforms as the demolition crane is illuminated by the glass ceiling. What crazy building the old Penn Station was…
Monthly Archives: October 2013
Olivia
I gotta say, I am pretty excited about this.
LPC & Affordability
I have recently been very observant of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and the local movement for the for designation and expansion of the Bedford Stuyvesant historic district. While attending the LPC hearings I generally sat quietly in the room looking on with curiosity trying to understand the arguments both for and against the proposed designation without trying to take sides. There were many who argued vociferously that the proposed landmark district would increase property values, preserve the heritage of the community and would not cost home owners any additional money if they wanted to renovate their homes. It could be said that the those who argued for the district would say that it was going to benefit property owners. Those who were against the proposed historic district generally argued that increased property values would drive longtime rental residents away, act as a billboard for increasing gentrification destroying the heritage of the community and that complying with landmarks regulations would increase the cost of renovations forcing many residents to sell before they could reap the full benefit increasing property values as a result of a landmarks designation.
Its not an easy argument and I can see both sides of the coin. Almost overnight the ability of Landmarks to dramatically affect property values and limit what property owners are allowed to do with their property is significant and worth understanding if you are either a renter or an owner. As a result of the hearings, the Bedford Stuyvesant historic district tripled in size. Once a defined area becomes “calendared” by the LPC it almost always passes as an irrevocable historic district. The increase in size of the Bedford Stuyvesant district covers a tremendous number of buildings, rental units and residents who are affected by the decision to landmark the area.
What I have also found more interesting and an argument that was not articulated very well or clearly during many of the hearings was the impact of historic districts on affordable housing. From reading this recent article in Crain’s, it is clear that was has happened in almost all historic districts is the elimination of affordable rents. While that in itself may seem not all that significant, after all New York is a big city, the truth is that landmark districts now affect almost 30% of the city. That is a whopping large number of buildings.
In a city that is supposedly in the midst of an affordable housing crisis, I am not sure how the mission of the landmarks commission is helping to support this agenda. Sometimes I wonder if landmarks were restricted to a fixed number of buildings, perhaps 25,000, as opposed to using vast districts to preserve our architectural heritage, if that would not be a better balance between real estate developers, affordability and residents who want to live in a nice city without being displaced. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of preserving our heritage and driving up real estate value for owners, but don’t penalize other residents or developers who want to build in these areas.
DOB Ep. III
What a day. Today we had our appointment with the plans examiner to review our drawings and address the objections listed by the building department. This is typical in any permit application. As an architect, the building department is an institution within the city government that I always thought was really cool and of which I give my full professional respect. Their mission is to “ensure the safe and lawful use of buildings and properties by enforcing the Building Code and the Zoning Resolution.” While things have improved since the time of Hammurabi, the building code is nothing to be trifled with and building officials are charged with the protection of the public welfare. They are given power by the State and the City to do so. It is no easy task to keep the city of New York and all of its 8 million residents safe and operating smoothly without any hiccups.
Having worked on the project for the last 6 weeks and having put about 4 weeks of labor into the drawings, you have only 20 minutes with the plans examiner to seal the deal. Otherwise you need another 2-4 weeks to get another appointment. There we were at this tiny desk and you have to figure the first 2 minutes of the appointment are spent saying hello and unpacking the drawings, the next 5 minutes the examiner spends his time familiarizing himself with the comments they wrote 3 weeks ago and then another 3 minutes are spent interpreting their own redlines. 10 minutes are left for 10 objections. It leaves about 1 minute/objection. It is intense and you have to be organized before you get to this point in the race otherwise you will miss the draft and be left in the back of the pack.
After having moved swiftly through the first 9 of 10 objections, the 10th proved to be the molehill turned into a mountain which almost led to a heart attack while swimming in a pool of sharks. The plans examiner took exception with the PW-3 cost affidavit in which our expediter had estimated the renovation costs at $30,000. The comment written by the plans examiner said that the “PW-3 needed to be raised to 500″. It did not say whether it was dollars or donuts but after much consternation I came to the determination that what he meant to write was $500,000, which would have been very helpful yesterday. The information on which I was interpreting the objection as written by the buildings department was not complete or clear. Fine. What transpired afterwards was incredible…
When I asked what formula the buildings department used to determine their cost analysis for renovations they could not provide one. When I asked if we could use the bids from our prospective contractors, they said “that was not a fair determination of market value because I could be hiring my brother in law”. While my brother in law is very talented hybrid individual and I love him very much, I am sure that if I showed them a picture of the door he installed they would have gladly accepted the contractors bids. When I pressed further they said they use $86/sf for a partial renovation and 180/sf for a full gut renovation. I would argue that our property is a partial renovation and we have about 3,000 sf of the building that we are renovating. We revised the PW-3 to reflect $86/sf x 3000 sf for a total renovation costs of $258,000. When I presented the revised PW-3 I was then told that this was too low.
I was aghast. I clearly and calmly explained that we had used their formula to determine the value. The plans examiner then said that the new number was still too low. Again we revised our PW-3 to $115/sf x 3100 sf for a total renovation cost of $356,500 to try and split the goal posts. It was accepted by the plans examiner and we got our approval for the permit
![IMG_3774[1]](https://craftpllc.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/IMG_37741-e1382472935243-225x300.jpg)
Hooray!
What gets my goat though is that the our permit fee went from $1000 to approximately $4000 as the fee is based on the amount of the PW-3 affidavit. I have no idea why it is so subjective, it just is. I understand that the building department and the city operate on their ability to collect fees, but I am not sure why they call it a fee because it felt more like extortion. The plans examiner could have said anything and I had no recourse. I looked deep into his eyes and I knew that there was no way around it, he was getting his way or there was nothing to be had. I argued hard and pressed my case, but to no avail. The truth is we have had bids for far less than our PW-3 but they would not budge. Supposedly after the project is complete, we can contest the cost of the permit and reclaim some of the fee which I hope to have the chance to do. We will see how that goes. For now we are off to the races.
DOB Ep. II
On Tuesday October 22 we have our first hearing with our plan examiner at the department of buildings who is ultimately responsible for the issuance of our building permit. The plans examiner has identified only 10 objections with our proposed project that we need to get resolved in order to proceed with construction. Objections are typical on almost every project as each plans examiner views each project and the building code through their own unique perspective and offers their interpretation. I have yet to hear of a single project that got a permit without any objections.
The problem that I am most concerned with is that the hearing is only 20 minutes long. While most of the objections are relatively minor and should move expeditiously, we are allotted about 2 minutes per objection which makes for a tight schedule…