Forum
« Stop Work Order / DoB Bureaucracy Eviction »
December 16, 2008
Single-Family to Two-Family?
Can someone give me a quick overview of what the legal requirements would be to convert a legal 1-family dwelling into a legal 2-family dwelling? Let's say for example it was a two-story brownstone with a garden floor as well ... what's necessary to make that garden floor legally rentable? Thanks!
Comments
That type of change sounds like it effects the occupancy of the building.
Therefore you would probably need a work permit from the NYC Dept of Buildings (DOB) as well as filing to change or start a new Certificate of Occupancy.
There might be other HPD or HUD agency concerns, but probably not since this is not a multiple dwelling type.
If you hire the right architect it can be easy and economical. Frequently expediters are hired to help since it would involve many documents and steps along the way.
Consider doing it the right way as an investment toward increasing the potential of the property for many years of income. If it's converted properly, I can imagine someone out there would be grateful for having additional housing!
Contact me if you would like more advice?
web site:
www.turuillgen.com
Posted by: rainmaker at December 16, 2008 7:57 PM
I did exactly that a couple of years ago. The work is really minimal. Each unit has to have a smoke detector (not necessarily hard wired). The roof ladder has to be metal. I think that was pretty much it. A parlor floor deck cannot overhang the garden floor windows by more than 8'. Of course an illegal deck is going to kill it altogether. I have egress windows in the bedroom but I don't know if they were required - I just wanted big windows.
Schnall on Atlantic Ave does this routinely. He knows the code and knows his way around the DB - which is all you really want. I was legalizing it as part of a larger project (rear addition) so I used someone else.
Posted by: jfss at December 16, 2008 10:03 PM
Somehow this got mentioned in today's "today on the forum" ... interesting. ANYWAY, thank you guys for the advice. I don't at this time own anything, I was just curious because my wife and I may go in on a building with some friends, at some point, and it might be a situation where we'd take a building currently outfitted for a single family, and break it into two duplexes, or similar.
Posted by: cwbuecheler at December 19, 2008 4:02 PM
Post a comment
Please be patient while your comment is published. It may take a moment.