Valuing private roof space in a condo building

How will the unit buying it access it?

Private access by building a staircase via a unit (if there is enough space within the unit) is more desirable. If so, perhaps 50 percent of the cost per square ft of the renovated indoor space less cost to develop and access it. Will there be additional common charges? Who will maintain the roof? Huge variation depending on the space, how much condo can squeeze the buyer. What will be legal structure?

There are individual private spaces on the roof of a building on 52nd street ("The Sorting House") that I can see from my office building. I'd say the value of those individual private spaces is zero, becasue a) they're not convenient to the actual unit, so you have to carry everyhing up and back to the roof space (bottles, glasses, drinks, plates, etc.), and b) they look like cattle pens. If you can't have private space that connects to your unit, large open common roof area with tables & chairs is better. But, depending on the rules, you could put up some plastic sheds in the pen and have additional storage, so maybe there's some value there...

The "market" doesn't really value them because the "market" can't buy them - only unit owners in the building. Like separate "servant's rooms" in some buildings. I am aware of some recent trades of such units in the $150k range where if those same units could have been sold as "stand alone" transactions I would think they would have gone for over 1/2 million (we're talking 5th Ave White glove buildings in the high 60's)

@300 the space I'm referring to is a private section of a roof deck where there is also common space. Not possible to create private access. Its similar to what @Aaron is referencing. The unit is offered with the roof space but could be separated. Point taken that "the market" can't value something only owners can purchase. The unit I'm considering includes the roof space and it seems the rule of thumb is 25-50% of indoor space value but I'm unsure how it applies here. I agree it seems like the space should be discounted but I haven't been able to find much data about these types of spaces.

I think the reason you are having so much trouble finding data is that after a couple of Sponsors tried this and found so little interest from buyers that in general Sponsors gave up on the scheme.

How do you know if the roofdeck or not is the single variable affecting the change from building to building? So many different things can affect value

Evp, Do your common charges increase with the roof deck? How much per sq ft ? Since, there is already a common roof deck (guessing sufficient size), it does not seem of much value unless you can put some trellis etc making it much nicer than the common area. There may be scenarios where you can sell to a neighbor for who the space in more valuable after combining with other areas.

Are we talking about cabanas here? If so, I would think that Brooklyn would offer more comps than Manhattan. This article from TRD is old, but it might be a starting point.

https://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/cabana-craze/

ali r.

I don't see much interest in this concept beyond nude sunbathers, assuming the walls are high enough.

I think its a craze that's way past its peak.
2 years ago when shopping there were a lot of Brooklyn condo resales with these.
Saw many cases of sellers going from selling them as extra to just including them in their condo sale price as a first move before dropping prices.

The few times I've been on a roof that has these, they seem to all sit unused.
Summertime the roof can get quite hot and uncomfortable, and these things aren't much bigger than a middle managers office...
Last time I was on a sunny roof for more than 30min in summer, the iPhone in my pocket went into overheat mode and shut itself down, haha.

Even my existing small condo with a well furnished shared roof deck gets very little usage aside from a couple of millennials producing content for their IG stories...

You know what they say about boat ownership? It's the same with outdoor space not attached to your apartment.