A Brooklyn Heights Co-op Parks $1 Million on Garage Repairs

It’s a distressingly familiar sight in New York City parking garages. Compromised concrete had led to leaks and falling bits of concrete and dust in the three-level underground garage at the 356-unit co-op at 75 Henry St. in Brooklyn Heights. As a stopgap measure, the co-op board erected tarps to protect vulnerable cars. To its credit, the board then decided not to stop with this unsightly stopgap measure – but to tackle the problem head-on. Instead of a patch job, it would do extensive – that is, expensive – repairs.

“It’s not a dangerous condition, but we were aware we had to take on this project,” says Allen Rosen, board president at the 32-story building and 18 townhouses that were built in the 1960s as middle-income housing and have since been converted to a market-rate co-op.

In November 2019 the board hired RAND Engineering & Architecture to survey the garage and come up with a scope of work. The garage has 546 parking spaces, 155 for shareholders, the rest rented out by Square Parking. The projected budget to do the job once and do it right: a stiff $1.27 million. But the co-op board didn’t flinch. “We’re fortunate in that we had enough in our reserve fund so we didn’t have to take out a loan,” Rosen says. “It’s work that has to be done.”

Soon after the project began in early 2020, the coronavirus pandemic swept the city, and the shutdown followed. Work finally resumed on March 22 of this year, a lag that gave the board and its property manager, David Grillo of Gumley Haft, time to do the crucial work of communicating with all involved parties.

“There’s a lot of planning involved on a big job like this,” says Grillo, who has managed the co-op for 17 years and is intimately acquainted with the buildings and their residents. “You have to have good communication with the engineer, the contractor, the parking company and, of course, the shareholders. You have to explain the need for doing the project – to maintain the integrity of the structure. It’s all about teamwork, and the ultimate goal is to minimize inconvenience for the residents.”

The project has been divided into eight phases that will each take from four to six weeks to complete, meaning the garage will be under repair for about 10 months. Grillo is ready for the inevitable surprises. “Any construction project’s scope of work is projected,” he says. “There are always unknown field conditions that aren’t revealed until you start the work. The contractor builds in allowances – usually 10% to 15% of the budget – but sometimes they don’t come into play.”

While unpleasant surprises may be inevitable for the crews working on a capital project of this magnitude, Grillo sees his job as making sure that shareholders are not on the receiving end of any surprises. “The bottom line is that we don’t spring major capital projects on the residents,” he says. “They’re always well versed when a project is coming. We let them know that if we don’t do this now, the results will be much worse later – instead of $1.27 million, we could be looking at $3 million or $4 million. That way, they get on board with the necessity of the project and how we’re going to get it done.”

PRINCIPAL PLAYERS – ENGINEER: Rand Engineering & Architecture. PROPERTY MANAGER: Gumley Haft Real Estate. CONTRACTOR: Structural Preservation Systems.