Well, I will first state that i'm NOT a broker, though I certainly do have a great deal of knowledge of this building, as i've just moved into the Heritage with my wife, son and dog. I'm also fairly knowledgeable of OP and development issues, as I am a developer myself, and full disclosure, a friend of the developer of The Heritage.
We moved in this past Sunday, and so far we are very, very happy with the unit we purchased, which is on the 2nd floor, with a rear facing 'balcony' nearly the size of my entire apartment (which is listed at 973 s/f, but really measures somewhere in the 900 s/f range). This 'loss factor' is quite standard, given current standards of architectural measurement vs. actual.
To take a quick sidebar to explain why the actual interior measurements don't equal the s/f a buyer pays for - developers are by law permitted to (and fully disclose this in the offering plan) charge you for a percentage of the mechanical space of the building as well as measuring your apartment NOT to the interior walls but rather to the EXTERIOR brick on exterior walls, and 1/2 way to the middle of the space between shared walls between units. This was fully disclosed in the OP, and is standard practice in all new build. What I always tell potential buyers in my buildings - and told myself in this purchase - buy the unit not the S/F.
Now to the common charge debate. My unit, 2F, has the highest (or nearly) CC in the building. My unit (interior) is actually one of the smallest. I am paying MORE than $1,000/month in CC + $143/month in taxes AFTER the abatement. A huge amount for a moderately sized space. In truth i'd have expected my carry to be in the range of about $700/month. However, the reason for my high charges are readily evident on the OP - the developer took a fairly unsophisticated approach to common charge allocation - and simply added my interior space (973) to my outdoor space (820) and came to a number of 1793. He did this for every unit, then divided this number into the projected CC and came to a PSF number - then multiplied it back out again using the same numbers...
Hence larger interior units on higher floors but with smaller balconies end up 'counting' less toward common charge allocation than my smaller unit with a huge balcony. This is not standard, as anyone can see that exterior space should be allocated at a lower % of common charge than interior space... Be that as it may - I knew this going in, and made a decision that I was O.K. with the additional carry for the exclusive right to use what amounts to a 2nd floor 'back-yard' for my little boy and dog. Many of the Heritage units have large outdoor spaces - hence higher CC when compared w/SF. Marion on the other hand has a very small outdoor space, and commensurately lower CC.
A couple of last points comparing common charges with the unit across the street - 1) The Poster (Benson I think) indicated that the elevators open into the apartments - does this mean there are no hallways?? If so - this would be a perfectly rational reason for a lower CC - hallways require light, A/C, carpeting, upkeep & maintenance (hence payroll).. if you don't have hallways, of course you'd have much much lower CC... Smart design choice by the developer really... more sellable s/f, lower CC...
Finally - i'm thrilled that the developer of this building was potentially HIGH on carry costs - he's an honest person giving an honest assessment (yes he's a friend, but a friend I trust)... rather than a developer who diminishes potential costs to earn a few more bucks in their pocket. What nobody seems to realize is this - CC is NOT a profit center for the developer - it's a cost center. The higher the CC the lower his sale price. If the posters here say 'the CC is too high' well.. i hope you are right - it means my values just went up, and my costs just went down... and the only one who LOSES is the developer. CC is nothing more than the pass-along of things like electric and gas charges for the upkeep of areas used by the community of the condo.
Marion and any other future owners I look forward to seeing you in our new building.
Well, I will first state that i'm NOT a broker, though I certainly do have a great deal of knowledge of this building, as i've just moved into the Heritage with my wife, son and dog. I'm also fairly knowledgeable of OP and development issues, as I am a developer myself, and full disclosure, a friend of the developer of The Heritage.
We moved in this past Sunday, and so far we are very, very happy with the unit we purchased, which is on the 2nd floor, with a rear facing 'balcony' nearly the size of my entire apartment (which is listed at 973 s/f, but really measures somewhere in the 900 s/f range). This 'loss factor' is quite standard, given current standards of architectural measurement vs. actual.
To take a quick sidebar to explain why the actual interior measurements don't equal the s/f a buyer pays for - developers are by law permitted to (and fully disclose this in the offering plan) charge you for a percentage of the mechanical space of the building as well as measuring your apartment NOT to the interior walls but rather to the EXTERIOR brick on exterior walls, and 1/2 way to the middle of the space between shared walls between units. This was fully disclosed in the OP, and is standard practice in all new build. What I always tell potential buyers in my buildings - and told myself in this purchase - buy the unit not the S/F.
Now to the common charge debate. My unit, 2F, has the highest (or nearly) CC in the building. My unit (interior) is actually one of the smallest. I am paying MORE than $1,000/month in CC + $143/month in taxes AFTER the abatement. A huge amount for a moderately sized space. In truth i'd have expected my carry to be in the range of about $700/month. However, the reason for my high charges are readily evident on the OP - the developer took a fairly unsophisticated approach to common charge allocation - and simply added my interior space (973) to my outdoor space (820) and came to a number of 1793. He did this for every unit, then divided this number into the projected CC and came to a PSF number - then multiplied it back out again using the same numbers...
Hence larger interior units on higher floors but with smaller balconies end up 'counting' less toward common charge allocation than my smaller unit with a huge balcony. This is not standard, as anyone can see that exterior space should be allocated at a lower % of common charge than interior space... Be that as it may - I knew this going in, and made a decision that I was O.K. with the additional carry for the exclusive right to use what amounts to a 2nd floor 'back-yard' for my little boy and dog. Many of the Heritage units have large outdoor spaces - hence higher CC when compared w/SF. Marion on the other hand has a very small outdoor space, and commensurately lower CC.
A couple of last points comparing common charges with the unit across the street - 1) The Poster (Benson I think) indicated that the elevators open into the apartments - does this mean there are no hallways?? If so - this would be a perfectly rational reason for a lower CC - hallways require light, A/C, carpeting, upkeep & maintenance (hence payroll).. if you don't have hallways, of course you'd have much much lower CC... Smart design choice by the developer really... more sellable s/f, lower CC...
Finally - i'm thrilled that the developer of this building was potentially HIGH on carry costs - he's an honest person giving an honest assessment (yes he's a friend, but a friend I trust)... rather than a developer who diminishes potential costs to earn a few more bucks in their pocket. What nobody seems to realize is this - CC is NOT a profit center for the developer - it's a cost center. The higher the CC the lower his sale price. If the posters here say 'the CC is too high' well.. i hope you are right - it means my values just went up, and my costs just went down... and the only one who LOSES is the developer. CC is nothing more than the pass-along of things like electric and gas charges for the upkeep of areas used by the community of the condo.
Marion and any other future owners I look forward to seeing you in our new building.
Posted by: Man2brooklyn at August 7, 2008 2:01 PM in response to Closings Begin at the Heritage