co-op fees too high for small units

The board has nothing to do with how shares are allocated. The allocation was done by the sponsor when the building was built or converted.

There're lots of factors in how shares were divvied up, size being just one of them. E.g., when building A was converted, studios might've been thought more valuable than when building B was converted. Both buildings live with those allocations forever.

E.g., in my building shares for one-bedrooms run from 210 to 300. Shares for two-bedrooms run from 710-800. The one-bedrooms vary a lot more in size, exposure, etc. than the two-bedrooms do, hence the wider range in percentage terms.

In point of fact, smaller units are actually the only ones selling in this market. The upper-end has been tanking because it does not have recourse to the tax breaks and mortgage subsidies the government is handing out like candy on Halloween.

Our condo allocated ownership shares (which translates into the monthly common charges) into a combination of square footage, exposure (south exposures are more expensive than north exposures), and the floor (higher floors are more expensive than lower floors). I would imagine that many co-op's have a similar type of allocation. Obviously I can't comment accurately on an unnamed co-op- so this situation may or may not apply.

Share apportioning cannot be changed and no board ever voted for the current system as described by NWT. I suppose 30yrs may know of a way that someone has accomplished re-apportionment, but I've never heard of it.

I feel bad for those impatient buyers who are jumping into small units at these prices. The problem with common charges is that they keep going higher. Never mind that commodity prices have come in, so no more excuses for high gas costs. I'm flabbergasted by maintenance fees over $1500 for small units. Are there really that many investment bankers/corporate lawyers in this city? I'm a sideline would-be buyer mostly looking downtown (since fall 2003). Thanks for the feedback everyone.