I'm scratching my head. Our coop unit comes with roof rights to build above and add a floor, but I'm unsure that a building even has the air rights. I checked on Property Shark, and it lists a FAR of under 3.00 giving 975 sq ft left to build. Also checked on the NYC building site/zoning and it shows about 925 sq ft free if you do the math lot size vs estimated gross floor area. But this all... [more]
I'm scratching my head. Our coop unit comes with roof rights to build above and add a floor, but I'm unsure that a building even has the air rights.
I checked on Property Shark, and it lists a FAR of under 3.00 giving 975 sq ft left to build. Also checked on the NYC building site/zoning and it shows about 925 sq ft free if you do the math lot size vs estimated gross floor area.
But this all doesn't make sense, if you do the math, the building has 4 floors -- which if you calculate the raw gross floor area, means it should not have any floor area at all and by my math is overbuilt. Which is even more confusing. What constitutes gross floor area for a Manhattan apartment building when calculating FAR? Hallways count towards the floor area, but not elevators, machine rooms or stairways? But all walls count?
Another issue seems to be that 2 apartments used the air rights to already build additional floors in 1988. Is Property Shark smart enough to subtract that addition against the avail air-rights? Or did the neighbors take all the available air rights already?
Setback - zoning says there a setback needed after a certain min/max height in that area of the city. Would a penthouse require a setback from the front of the building if it's under the max zoning height?
Finally structural - how does one know from old buildings whether too much structural work is needed to justify cost for the extra sq ft?
I know the typical answer is hire a profession and plan to -- BUT it would be nice to have a nice blog / discussion post on some of these questions/answers. Heck I'll write it when I learn the details.
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Response by architecta
over 12 years ago
Posts: 42
Member since: Mar 2012
Honestly, you have a lot of questions that would require pretty specific information to conclude, especially in terms of air rights, being overbuilt, set backs, etc etc. It would be hard to have your questions answered without having someone (with knowledge of all this) look over it. I'm an architect, I do this for work, and I can't even begin to answer your questions without a lot more information and doing some of my own digging.
If you want specific answers, just hire someone and be done with it. Every case is different especially when you take into account what code your building falls under and previous renovations/additions and so on so there won't be a "one answer fits all" out there.
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Response by okolehao2
over 12 years ago
Posts: 6
Member since: Oct 2008
Thanks, I guess the next question would be can you recommend an architect we can pay, or perhaps yourself that could answer these questions? Especially get something in the form of yes it can be done or no it cannot be done?
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Response by NWT
over 12 years ago
Posts: 6643
Member since: Sep 2008
>What constitutes gross floor area for a Manhattan apartment building when calculating FAR? Hallways count towards the floor area, but not elevators, machine rooms or stairways? But all walls count?
There're all kinds of square feet. For FAR purposes, mechanical space doesn't count. Plumbing and electrical chases are considered mechanical, but I don't know what else.
Since the co-op owns the building, not you, the co-op should figure out whether it has unused buildable square feet for which it can issue shares to sell.
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Response by NWT
over 12 years ago
Posts: 6643
Member since: Sep 2008
To get more of a sense for this, go wade through the DoB's Virtual Folder for a new building. Start with the Zoning Diagram document.
E.g., 135 E 79th has about 144,000 ft² of what's called "Building Code Gross Floor Area". That includes cellars and roof bulkhead. Of those ft², almost 120,000 are called "Zoning Floor Area". Cellars, roof bulkhead, and "mechanical space" aren't included in that, and that's what the city looks at to make sure the building's within its FAR of 10.
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Response by Tolik
over 12 years ago
Posts: 1
Member since: Apr 2013
I'm facing a similar situation in a condo. I'd like to build a sunroom on a setback terrace in Brooklyn. Looking up the FAR on property shark it says that the building has already exceeds its FAR.
Usable floor area 19,437
Maximum usable floor area - 10,450
Square feet over allowable = 8,986
The building on this lot exceeds the square footage set by the FAR. Common ways to build more include:
• Have an architect remeasure the building to eliminate some floor area from what is counted
• Buy "air rights" from a nearby lot
• Apply for a zoning variance
Does this mean that no additional variance can be made? Should I even bother hiring and paying an architect just so he/she can tell me that it cannot be done?
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Honestly, you have a lot of questions that would require pretty specific information to conclude, especially in terms of air rights, being overbuilt, set backs, etc etc. It would be hard to have your questions answered without having someone (with knowledge of all this) look over it. I'm an architect, I do this for work, and I can't even begin to answer your questions without a lot more information and doing some of my own digging.
If you want specific answers, just hire someone and be done with it. Every case is different especially when you take into account what code your building falls under and previous renovations/additions and so on so there won't be a "one answer fits all" out there.
Thanks, I guess the next question would be can you recommend an architect we can pay, or perhaps yourself that could answer these questions? Especially get something in the form of yes it can be done or no it cannot be done?
>What constitutes gross floor area for a Manhattan apartment building when calculating FAR? Hallways count towards the floor area, but not elevators, machine rooms or stairways? But all walls count?
There're all kinds of square feet. For FAR purposes, mechanical space doesn't count. Plumbing and electrical chases are considered mechanical, but I don't know what else.
Since the co-op owns the building, not you, the co-op should figure out whether it has unused buildable square feet for which it can issue shares to sell.
To get more of a sense for this, go wade through the DoB's Virtual Folder for a new building. Start with the Zoning Diagram document.
E.g., 135 E 79th has about 144,000 ft² of what's called "Building Code Gross Floor Area". That includes cellars and roof bulkhead. Of those ft², almost 120,000 are called "Zoning Floor Area". Cellars, roof bulkhead, and "mechanical space" aren't included in that, and that's what the city looks at to make sure the building's within its FAR of 10.
I'm facing a similar situation in a condo. I'd like to build a sunroom on a setback terrace in Brooklyn. Looking up the FAR on property shark it says that the building has already exceeds its FAR.
Usable floor area 19,437
Maximum usable floor area - 10,450
Square feet over allowable = 8,986
The building on this lot exceeds the square footage set by the FAR. Common ways to build more include:
• Have an architect remeasure the building to eliminate some floor area from what is counted
• Buy "air rights" from a nearby lot
• Apply for a zoning variance
Does this mean that no additional variance can be made? Should I even bother hiring and paying an architect just so he/she can tell me that it cannot be done?