Discount for sidewalk shed

I lived on/near WEA for 10 years. It's nice but definitely an older demographic. I'd imagine a lot of buildings have longtime holders that aren't keen to layout a lot of cash on needed major assessments. Also generally not a lot of turnover of units, mostly coops.

A bit dangerous for pedestrians despite years of traffic modifications because it's a wide avenue without a lot of stop&go.

Building facade repairs rules have become far more stringent in the last 5 years. There is just not enough capacity in the industry to do all the work needed quickly. In addition, there are several steps of the facade repairs - inspection to find deficiency, scaffold design, permits and install, architectural drawings to address work neeed and DOB approval, actual work, re-insepction, re-do some of the work then of couse DOB approvals. Each of these steps has a lead time and gap before the next team can start work.

And g-d help you if you need terra cotta pieces. THere are only 2 companies left that make them, they are expensive, and there is a backlog. Its at least 4 months just for the actual production part. The vast vast majority of lengthy(timewise) sidewalk sheds are NOT voluntary.

The inspection program should be adjusted and the interval should be every 7/8 years not 5.

The big developers love this program. They want to bankrupt all the older brick buildings so they can redevelop them into new glass ones.

>>The inspection program should be adjusted and the interval should be every 7/8 years not 5.<<

Amen to that.

Do the inspections generally provide advice of the form “You don’t need to fix this now, but you will likely need to fix it soon” so that buildings can get in front of the issue? I.e., order your terra cotta tiles a year in advance of the next inspection to get it all fixed immediately after the scaffolding goes up and before the inspection occurs.

@inonada - yes, plenty of notice in my building's FISP reports. Don't get me started . . .
And with respect to comment about developers wanting to demolish old brick buildings, I recently suggested the demolition of my own to my building's board in my capacity as a board member carrying out my fiduciary duty as I see it. :)

And what does your building do about it, MCR? I figure “Ignore until it absolutely has to address it, at which point it takes longer to address (with fugly sidewalk shed up) and at higher cost” because that’s how these things tend to go.

The scaffolding is incredibly ugly, but they are useful for one reason…when I have to take my dog out to do his business, as he hates the rain, there is a long stretch of scaffolding near my condo that allows him to leisurely take care of business, protected from the rain. It’s actually pretty handy for this single reason, it’s amazing on some streets how you can walk in the pouring rain, not needing an umbrella to stay perfectly dry!

@MCR: The owners of 417 Park (~28 units, co-op since 1946) sold their building in 2019 for around $184m to a developer. Average price / unit ended up being ~$7m, at a time when those units generally weren't bringing that in sales.

https://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-lost-emery-roth-designed-417-park.html

@911: And at Lex just north of 60th St, it gives the 2 guys selling stolen Apple goods a dry place to stand. (what agency do I call so they can ignore it?)

@nada - Exactly.

@Aaron2 - I really think that is the inevitable fate for my building, but it is going to take another decade or so.

Would you even buy if the building has a shed?

Funny coincidence, because I just went to the SE listing for 720 Park, and the main picture there is deeply uninspiring, showing a rather sloppy looking shed (and at the service entrance)..

https://streeteasy.com/building/720-park-avenue-new_york

But, do I worry about that particular shed staying up for years? No. Other buildings, my own included? A bit more (we're into year 2) Would that prevent me from buying? No, unless my due diligence turned up something.