PROBLEM SOLVED

With nearly 40% of a typical $2 million facade project going to "soft costs" like scaffolding and sidewalk sheds, smart planning of these inspections can lead to massive savings. In this episode, Gene Ferrara, president of JMA Consultants, offers an example of how one upper West Side building could save almost $900,000 by combining multiple inspections into one project. As NYC buildings face the end of the ninth facade inspection cycle and the beginning of the tenth in 2025, Ferrara shares practical strategies for boards to navigate these overlapping regulations while keeping costs down. Habitat’s Emily Myers conducts the interview.

During the period when a new condominium comes on the market and the sponsor finally turns over control to the condo board, who is paying for the condo’s operating expenses? The building is not fully sold so there aren’t enough paying owners to fund the budget, yet the building is operating as if it was fully occupied. Christopher Saray, manager at the accountancy firm of WilkinGuttenplan, explains the how this works, what new condo boards need to understand about the budget when they take over and what condo buyers should be aware of. Habitat’s Carol Ott conducts the interview.

A Yorkville co-op's successful HVAC upgrade demonstrates how boards can tackle Local Law 97 compliance while achieving significant cost savings. The $900,000 project, overseen by the ENPOWER Group, replaced an inefficient gas-powered absorption chiller with an electric heat pump system, eliminating $80,000 in annual carbon penalties and generating $80,000 in yearly energy savings, with a projected 5-year payback period. Habitat's Emily Myers interviews EnPower's Michael Scorrano, managing director, to understand this practical blueprint for other NYC buildings facing similar challenges.

Rainwater is becoming more intense and groundwater tables are rising throughout New York City. 10 Plaza Street East, a Brooklyn co-op, felt this full force during 2021's Hurricane Ida when its entire subcellar floor flooded, including the storage room, the laundry room and the bike room. It happened again in 2022, and the board took matters in hand by bringing in Cowley Engineering. Habitat’s Emily Myers interviews Michael Monteiro, senior project manager at the engineering firm to find out why the subcellar continued to flood and what the fix was.

When a loft condominium faced a potential collapse, residents were forced to vacate, revealing the financial and logistical challenges of such emergencies. Carl Cesarano, the accountant for the condo and principal at Cesarano and Khan, discusses the complex process of securing emergency funding, the importance of reserve funds, and the critical role of engineering assessments. Habitat’s Carol Ott conducts the interview.

Budgeting is always a complicated affair and increasing insurance costs have made this even more challenging. Jason Schiciano, co-president at Levitt-Fuirst Insurance & Bonding, shares how the timing of insurance renewals can help — or hinder — the challenge, and how boards can work with their brokers to stay on top of renewal timing before budgeting mistakes occur. Habitat’s Paula Chin conducts the interview.

Board members of newly constructed condominiums often find themselves battling a sponsor over construction defects, leading many to wonder why does this happen so often? Each building is different, but RAND Engineering & Architecture’s president, Stephen Varone, and engineer Roger Krupp point to several reasons why these defects seem to occur frequently. For boards figuring out how to address what needs to be fixed, Varone and Krupp offer some real-world solutions on how to take an expensive critical problem and turn it into an affordable nuisance. Habitat’s Carol Ott conducts the interview.

What approach works best with façade issues: Band-Aid repairs or full-blown replacement? Depends on each building, and 245 West 99th St, a 34-story condominium, faced this issue when inspection of 17,000 rainscreen tiles revealed cracks that could cause tiles to fall, water leaks or other failures. Eric Vonderhyde, a principal at Bertolini Architectural Works, shares what the condo board considered when faced with repair or replacement options. Habitat’s Paula Chin conducts the interview.

It was a dark, dim lobby with no package storage, a small mail room, faux fireplaces with two sad chairs on each side, and no curb appeal. A redesign was in order, and Marilyn Sygrove, president of Sygrove Associates Design Group, explains the process used to transform it from a totally non-functional dark space into one that set a positive tone for this east side co-op in New York City. Habitat’s Paula Chin conducts the interview.

Construction defects aren’t just a new building problem, they can happen anytime a co-op or condo hires someone to take hammer and nail to something. In this episode Akaash Kancharla, CEO of aRoboticsCompany, shares how he used robotic tools to pinpoint leaks in a newly built deck at a 50-unit Astoria co-op, saving the board millions in repair costs. Habitat’s Emily Myers conducts the interview.