Entry Makeover Dresses Up a White-Brick Co-op

The Rutherford, a 175-unit co-op across the street from Stuyvesant Square on the East Side of Manhattan, was built in 1962 and, like so many of its contemporaries in the city, sports a glazed white-brick skin. The entryway, with its two large planters flanking the front door, had begun to look its age. Then, the roots of the mature elm trees in those planters caused one of the walls to collapse.

“That was the last straw,” says board president Jim Ramadei. “After we patched the wall, we decided to pursue a remodeling of the front entry. This involved improving drainage, surveying the building – a real job.”

For guidance, the board turned to its design committee rather than all 175 shareholders. The informal committee, composed of shareholders who work in the design and architecture fields, proposed a remodeled entryway that would be faithful to the building’s modernist style. The board liked the harmonious design proposal – “We didn’t want to put a bonnet on a donkey,” Ramadei says with a laugh – and the project moved forward. Bids were sent out to five architectural firms, and RAND Engineering & Architecture was chosen. The estimated cost was about $400,000.

When work got under way, the surprises started coming. “As we were getting into the demolition, the board wondered if we could create storage space [for garbage and recycling] under the planter to the east of the door,” says Ted Klingensmith, a senior architect with RAND. “It added a whole level of complexity. What had been decorative became functional.”

Then the bank that holds the co-op’s mortgage made one of its periodic visits to the property and strongly urged the board to replace the sidewalks and curbs – which added $80,000 to the job. Pouring concrete was tricky, due to cold weather and heat from underground Con Ed steam pipes. And there were changes in the stone cladding for the planters, and the method for attaching it. The job wound up taking twice as long as expected, and the cost jumped to $600,000, which was paid from the reserve fund and a $400,000 assessment spread over a year.

“At the beginning, shareholders were split on the project,” Ramadei says. “Half loved it and half hated it. Now, when they see how much value it’s added to the building, everyone loves the garden.”

For Jeffrey Ulrich, an architect who was on the board during the project and still serves on the design committee, the project was a lesson in how co-ops should function. “The design committee got the professional opinion of shareholders without casting too wide a net,” Ulrich says. “It becomes monstrous if you open it up to the entire building. People think a co-op is a democracy, but it’s really not. The people on the board are empowered to make decisions.”

For Klingensmith, the architect, the job is an aesthetic success. The black granite glistens, the nautical stainless steel of the handrails, fences and building logo look elegant. “It doesn’t look like an add-on or a redo,” Klingensmith says. “It looks like it was always supposed to look that way. And the plants look great. It’s always nice to work with someone who takes care of their building.”

That – rather than plants or drainage or storage space or sidewalks – might be the essence of this story. “If you don’t keep your building in good shape, you’re actually decreasing the value of your asset,” says Ramadei. “So don’t delay repairs. Don’t wait till the wheels fall off – or you’ll increase your headaches and your costs. It’s much better to be proactive and avoid big, unpleasant surprises.”

PRINCIPAL PLAYERS – ARCHITECT: RAND Engineering & Architecture. MANAGEMENT: Halstead Management. LANDSCAPING: City Landscaping.