Coop Combination - Steps

Chuan,

Your first step is hiring an architect. He will need to take a survey and get approval form your building then he has to get approval from the dept of buildings. During this time you should be interviewing contractors so when the approvals are ready you are set to go.

I would be happy to suggest some great architects. Feel free to email me at primerenovations@me.com

this is what i had to submit; may vary by apt:
1. A complete drawing of the Affected area as it exists prior to the alteration.
2. A complete drawing showing which walls, closets, electrical lines and plumbing will be added, altered, or removed.
3. All drawings will be accompanied by a legend describing the building materials to be used, how the work will be completed and the time frame for such work.
4. Preparing applicable building notice applications and plans.
5. Certification of compliance with Local Law 76 regarding asbestos related projects (if applicable).
6. Filing and/or procuring of (1) and Alteration Application and (2) an amendment to the Certificate of Occupancy.

First thing is make sure it's a good combination. I have seen more than a few combinations which shouldn't have been done because the result wasn't pretty, the maintenance ended up out of wack versus similar sized apartments in the building, etc.

This. The vast majority of combinations I've seen have also been value-destroying (most notably the vertical combination with a spiral staircase).

Remember, whoever built the building 30, 40, 50 years ago was a professional that did their homework and determined the optimal apartment sizes and layouts to maximize their rents / sale prices. It's possible, but generally pretty unlikely, that demand for larger apartments in that location has increased so much that combinations are now a good idea.

Remember it's not just the bldg approving your combo but all NYC. For condos at least, you'll want to go all the way so you end up w just 1 prop tax bill.

Otherwise when you sell, you may have to pay commercial rates for transfer taxes (see https://www.hauseit.com/nyc-real-property-transfer-tax-rptt/) ... be forewarned!

Along the line of what 30 is saying, there is a decent supply of large apartments on the market due to new condos and the size premium is not as big as it is used to be if it exists at all. So combo better have a nice flow to it before you go through the trouble. Prices under $2.5mm remaining firm is the biggest data point to support this.

In our building there are a couple of popular combo setups. I also dislike the vertical combo a lot.

Vertical combos unless at least 900 sq ft per floor lead to a lot of wasted space in stairs and landing. They can be very nice if you have total 2500 or so sq ft.