Crack Street No More: How a Co-op Fixed Its Cracked Sidewalks
March 14, 2012 — The sidewalks in front of this aging co-op needed replacement: they were cracked and unsightly. But the job came as no surprise to the board and its management firm, Cooper Square Realty: the board has been monitoring the condition of the property closely as it adheres to a 10 -year capital plan. “Our first priority is the shareholders,” he says. “We want to protect their investment. It’s a very well-maintained building in a great location.”
NEIGHBORHOOD
Upper West Side
VALUE
RECENT SALES
11/3/11: $728,000
9/27/11: $735,000
9/15/11: $775,000
PROPERTY TAXES
Estimated Market Value: $36,593,000
2011/12 Taxable Value: $11,954,398
THE VISION THING
Tom Hartman has lived at the 147-unit 250 West 94th Street co-op for ten years, but he has served on his seven-member board for only a fraction of that time: three years, with the last third of that as president. Board duty takes a lot of time, but Hartman, an executive at Condé Nast, says it is worth the trouble if he can improve the lifestyle of his fellow cooperators. He notes that the Upper West Side building is a great place to live because of the cross-section of people (young professionals to senior citizens), the amenities (a bike room, a gym, a children’s playroom), and the convenient location (a stone’s throw away from the 96th Street local and express subway station). “Being on the board is a lot of work,” he says. “It’s an 85-year-old building. You constantly need to make sure it’s being taken care of. It also has a great community of shareholders, and it’s a great location.”
BUILDING INVESTMENT
PROJECT
Cost: $142,500
Before Cooper Square Realty assumed management in November 2010, the board had previously hired an architectural firm and gone out to bid on sidewalk replacement and vault repairs, but the project stalled. FS Project Management (FSPM), a subsidiary of Cooper Square, was brought in and, acting as the owner representative, prepared a full review of the scope of work and arranged for re-bidding.
Challenges addressed along the way involved a subway entrance and kiosk located on the corner of Broadway, structures that needed to be “worked around” in regards to scheduling. Another challenge: the commercial spaces, where tiles along the façades needed to be replaced with stones that matched the existing building materials. The entire sidewalk was replaced on the Broadway block and a number of flags were replaced on West 94th Street. In addition to the vault repairs, the space was transformed into space for tenant storage, with two new units created, adding additional income for the building. Despite these challenges and some weather issues, the projects were completed on budget and on schedule in January 2012.
CONTRIBUTORS
Lawless & Mangione, architect
Etna Contracting
FS Project Management
Thomas Hartman, board president
Cooper Square Realty
Completed in January 2012