LOBBY RESTORATION, P.2

"The four bronze doors were a huge surprise," says Meredith. "After the work started we learned that the wooden core of the doors had rotted. So the doors have to be rebuilt, and the new cores will be aluminum. …[T]here was concern on the board that the rebuilt doors wouldn't have the same substance as the wooden doors, the same feel. The architect assured us it will be very similar." The cost of restoring the doors rocketed from about $5,700 to $50,000. Such unexpected expenditures required board approval before the work could begin.

While realizing that such costly incidents were inevitable, the committee worked hard to stay within budget. "It's like any other restoration – it takes twice as long and costs twice as much as you thought it would," says Hargrove, the board treasurer and committee member. "So you have to stay on top of it the whole time. For instance, somebody suggested it would be nice to redo the mailroom. But that wasn't in the budget, so we're going to fix it with paint and new carpet and lighting."

As painting of the once-dingy ceiling in the foyer and lobby (Click on image to enlarge) neared completion, the board began to get its first sense of shareholder reaction to this controversial and, in some quarters, still-unwelcome project.

"Once the work started, 90 percent of the people I've talked to were totally pleased," says Meredith. "Some of the old-timers who've been here 50 years said they were used to it being dingy." One man with some minor concerns is Barrie Aguirre, 59, who grew up in the building, moved away for several years, then returned in 1978, when the property was still a rental.

"They're bringing it back to the way I remember it when I was a child," says Aguirre. "But the small rectangular foyer used to be darker, and I think they're going to lose that discreet transition between the street and the lobby." Still, he is generally approving of the project: "It's like an aging woman who's getting a facelift. Instead of looking 100 years old, she's going to look 20. I'm all for it."

Countering Resistance

While the early signs indicate that this project is going to be embraced by shareholders, it's worth remembering that when it comes to the volatile business of renovating public areas in co-ops and condos, there's no blueprint for surefire success. Herb Cooper-Levy, former executive director of the National Association of Housing Cooperatives and now head of a nonprofit housing group, offers several caveats and some advice.

"Nothing engenders more conversation than a change to the common areas of a co-op, and everyone has an aesthetic opinion," he says. "How does a co-op obtain the most buy-in or the least opposition?" Cooper-Levy suggests that boards do precisely what the board at 260 West End Avenue did — assign a member to lead an ad-hoc committee charged with developing several possible lobby treatments, and recommending its top choice to the full board.

Before making that recommendation, "[T]he committee should have drawings commissioned by an architect or interior designer that illustrate the alternative schemes. I'd post these drawings in the lobby, along with a notice of the next committee meeting, at which shareholders would be invited to comment on the alternatives. While consensus may be unlikely, giving shareholders a chance to make their views known makes them feel heard and can minimize dissension."

As for financing, Cooper-Levy says the most painless source of revenue is the reserve fund, provided it's adequate and is not needed for more pressing repairs to, say, the roof or heating system. A loan, financed by a maintenance increase, is the next best way to go, he says, while a special assessment is most likely to meet with shareholder resistance.

"A lobby becomes secondary after you've lived in a building for a number of years," Irizarry says. "People don't always realize there's something beneath the grime. You'd be surprised how important a lobby becomes to them when they see what they've been missing out on. They begin to appreciate the building as a whole."

He adds a prediction: "Once this lobby gets finished, I think it'll have a ripple effect. People will have more pride in what they own and not let things go for such a long time."

Which brings us, finally, to this story's subtext: the high cost of not keeping a building's public spaces in good repair. "My advice is to go ahead and do your lobby if it clearly needs to be done," says Hargrove. "If we'd done this eight years ago, it would have cost us half as much. And I personally feel it's going to add value to every apartment in the building. I always saw our lobby as an untapped resource."

Adapted from Habitat September 2008. For the complete article and more, join our Archive >>

Building photos by Jeanne C. Miller