Brooklyn Co-op Overcomes Years of Neglect to Tackle Long-Ignored Leaks

For years residents at 3025 Ocean Ave., a 91-unit post-war co-op in Sheepshead Bay, lived with leaks and water damage as a result of a neglected facade. Inspection reports were repeatedly rejected as incomplete by the Department of Buildings, resulting in violations. With shareholder concerns ignored, “people started fixing the leaks themselves from the inside,” says Leonard Altman, who successfully ran for board president three years ago in an effort to protect his investment in the co-op.

As Altman began researching a solution, the problems worsened. “There was a big leak on the sixth floor, “ he says. During the rains, water was coming from the wall. The building had a protective metal rain cladding along the top of the street-facing facade, but not on the back of the building. “That’s where they had the real issues,” says Sheraz Bhutta, principal at One Construction, the general contracting firm brought in to repair the facade. “Every single apartment on the sixth floor had a leak.”

The repairs had an estimated cost of around $150,000, which the board decided to fund through an assessment on shareholders. In addition to adding aluminum cladding to the east-facing facade, window frames needed repairs and entire sections of the brick facade needed rebuilding. “We changed lintels, did waterproofing, caulked windows, repaired cracks, fixed masonry and did pointing,” Bhutta says.

As the work got underway, shareholders in other parts of the building, who had been silent about leaks for years, started revealing how they also had problems. The scope of work expanded, sending the cost soaring to $250,000. At the same time, the building’s aging oil-fired boiler, having survived the floodwaters of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, was barely functioning. Estimates for installing gas boilers were between $720,000 to $1 million. It was clear the co-op needed to seek additional bank financing.

Violations related to the facade’s neglect complicated the search for a loan, but after paying the necessary fines, the board secured a $1.2 million loan to cover the new boilers and additional facade repairs. Altman personally handled much of the paperwork, saving the building $30,000 in broker fees. Even so, many shareholders were resistant to change and it took a while for the board to reach agreement on replacing the boiler.

The facade repairs took place in early summer last year and the boiler replacement, which cost $750,000 is nearly complete. However, Altman’s personal commitment to saving the building money continues. When asbestos was found in the super’s apartment during the boiler replacement project, Altman moved in with his brother in a different building so the super could live in Altman’s apartment while the remediation took place — a more cost-effective option than renting an apartment nearby for the super.

A major benefit of the new boiler system is the inclusion of sensors within the building to make sure apartments aren’t overheating. “It’s part of the boiler package,” Altman says. Prior to the indoor sensor installation, the building used external sensors that simply switched the boiler on when temperatures dipped below 55 degrees. “It overheated the building for years and wasted so much oil,” Altman says.

Altman’s advice to other board members facing similar uphill maintenance and repair battles? Never give up. “Look for experts, get the information, study, and get help,” he says.