Contractors Premium Pricing based on Co-Op?

If you are concerned about getting a higher bid for an 'upscale' coop because the contractor will assume you can afford it, I say 'no biggie', because the contractor will have other ways to find out your budget, taste, capacity to pay. But the 'upscale' coop may result in a higher bid if (as may well be the case) it has work rules that are more onerous. Such as very limited work hours, strict rules about getting material in [demo out] of the building, timing delays for visits [sign-offs] by the Super, limits on the number of workers on-site, etc, etc, etc. And maybe if there is a large building staff there are more people your contractor has to "be nice" to ;-)

I agree with SMattingly. Sometimes, it is the building that is very restrictive, resulting in higher overhead for the GC. We have done hundreds of jobs with GC's and I have never encountered that attitude. But, perhaps, for some it may be true.

Good points. So far we have seen a spread of about 70K amongst our quotes. And the higher ones are ones that have done work in the building. So it's hard to assess whether it's because they are aware of things other GCs are not - or because they know they are a "preferred" vendor

My first major renovation in years, back in 2001, I went to a local kitchen/bath store and asked about
the cost of installing a pair of kitchen cabinets with a bridge in between, The owner quoted me $8500.

After I protested that the apartment in question was in Queens, re reduced his estimate to $2000,
explaining that the $8500 quote was for "Park Avenue".

I later went to Home Depot and hired a laid off profeesional carpenter. For $1100, I had about 8-10 feet
of wall cabinets installed, plus a new sinkbase sink and faucet set, plus two new counter-tops, and a
new kitchen floor and a light fixture.

More recently some yokel tried to convince me that $20,000 was a fair price to paint 2 1/2 walls and the
ceiling of a midtown doorman studio, with under 200 sq ft of ceiling and wall space to paint

Hello Sam,

I am a contractor and I do not base my prices on where a person lives except if that particular building has rules that will effect the costs of the project

I just finished one project at museum tower, in that instance I had to use three elevators to get to the apartment and not only put down Masonite but tape every edge everyday.

That is fine but if I am renovating a bathroom in that building I have to charge more then another building where I don't have to do that for the sole reason it costs me more money to do the project