Staffing a New COndo Buldg

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Posted by: bonsavant at August 27, 2007 10:11 AM in response to Complaints Rise Along With New Condos

We have a long term lease with Sprint which contributes over 25% of our operating budget.

If you want to know more you can email me.

The contracts are usually 5 years renewable by the cell company. Most companies pay between 1500 and 1700 per month.

Posted by: bonsavant at October 23, 2007 5:03 PM in response to Wireless towers on top of co-ops?

what do each of your respective managment companies charge you all on a per square foot fee? My mgmt charges 53 cents per square foot which I think is high.

My building is 37500sf and the fee is 20,000 a year so thars $20000/37500sf= .53

ANyone have some info? Im trying to get some perspectives on this.

Posted by: bonsavant at October 25, 2007 4:04 PM in response to Who manages a condo building?

Co-ops yes, 80/20 rule. But not Condos. I should have stated condos.

Does anyone have lease info on cell sites to compare?

Posted by: bonsavant at October 25, 2007 4:07 PM in response to Wireless towers on top of co-ops?

so nobody who reads here can post an estimate or an actual management fee amount? Id really like to know what people are getting charged.

Posted by: bonsavant at October 25, 2007 9:15 PM in response to Who manages a condo building?

7-10k a year is a pretty wide difference. If the average 5 story brownstone is 5000-7000 square feet in size your paying almost a dollar per square foot.

On West 13th street in manhattan, a 250,000 square foot luxe building pays about 17 cents PSF. My uilding at 37500psf pays 53 cents.

A company that gave me an estimate turned out to cost about 31 cents psf. The problem with the industry is that all companies use different standards.

Im trying to figure out some standard to measure value by.

Posted by: bonsavant at October 25, 2007 9:35 PM in response to Who manages a condo building?

Ok..let me be clearer. PSF for basically billing, attending board meetings every 6-8 weeks, taking calls from owners 24/7 and preparing monthly financial documents.

No law, accounting or charges for maint staff. Im talking about strickly admin/mgmt stuff. 53 cents psf. For 32 units thats 625 per unit per year.

625 per unit or 53 cents PSF. Each unit has its own hvac and building has an elevator. These things dont affect a mgmt fee.

There isnt an easy boilerplate way to do this other than keep comparing PSF values.

Im starting to beleive that a good PSF charge is about 20 to 25 cents PSF

Posted by: bonsavant at October 26, 2007 4:12 PM in response to Who manages a condo building?

Bonsavant brings up the percentages. Most (if not all?) co-ops are only allowed to have 20% or less of their total revenues/operating budget come from non-shareholders. Meaning, if your co-op has a commercial space, the rent the co-op collects from it cannot contribute more than 20% of the co-op's operating budget. It's called the 80/20 rule, I believe.

So there's a limit to how much outside income a co-op can bring in from commercial rents and cell-towers.

And, of course, the brain tumors.

Posted by: chuck at October 23, 2007 8:08 PM in response to Wireless towers on top of co-ops?

How does one approach the cell phone companies to see if they are interested in our roof?

Posted by: guest at October 23, 2007 10:16 PM in response to Wireless towers on top of co-ops?

Cell phone tower radio waves are intermittant, and the blackberry in someones pocket or cell phone at their ear is almost definitely a much higher dose. Or maybe the wi-fi at starbucks. Of course, it's your decision, but if you love everything else about the apartment, you should really do some research about the potential tower effects. Some people can be alarmists, but probably don't have evidence to back it up.

From the American Cancer Society: "Cellular phones operate at the radiofrequency (RF) part of the electromagnetic spectrum. This is non-ionizing radiation. Other examples of the non-ionizing part of the electromagnetic spectrum include AM and FM radio waves, microwaves, and infrared waves from heat lamps. Unlike x-rays and gamma rays (which are examples of ionizing radiation), radio waves have too little energy to break the bonds that hold molecules (such as DNA) in cells together. Similarly, since RF of this frequency contains relatively low energy, it does not enter tissues. At very high levels of exposure, RF can cause warming of tissues, much as a heat lamp does. The wavelength of cell phone waves is about one foot and the frequency is approximately 800 to 900 MHz, although newer models may use higher frequencies up to 2,200 MHz."

"The energy from a cellular phone antenna, like that of other telecommunication antennas, is directed toward the horizon (parallel to the ground), with some downward scatter."

So, if anyone's still reading, your phone sends the signal to the tower, which then sends it off over our heads. Disclaimer: I'm not a cell phone provider, just an environmental scientist . . .

Posted by: Heatherie at October 24, 2007 9:03 AM in response to Wireless towers on top of co-ops?

This is also from the American Cancer Society:

"Cellular phone towers, like cellular phones themselves, are a relatively new technology, and we do not yet have full information on health effects. In particular, not enough time has elapsed to permit epidemiologic studies. There are some theoretical reasons why cellular phone towers would not be expected to increase cancer risk, and animal studies of RF have not suggested a risk of cancer. People who are concerned can ask for measurements of RF near cellular phone towers to be sure exposures do not exceed recommended limits."

That first sentence speaks volumes!

Posted by: Stanford at October 24, 2007 1:45 PM in response to Wireless towers on top of co-ops?

Co-ops yes, 80/20 rule. But not Condos. I should have stated condos.

Does anyone have lease info on cell sites to compare?

Posted by: bonsavant at October 25, 2007 4:07 PM in response to Wireless towers on top of co-ops?

My wife and I are thinking of converting our building into a 4-unit condo. Not doing any real research, we assume that one unit should be preserved for a maintenance person for upkeep of the property. Is this the norm? Can anyone give us some advice on the first steps to take.

Posted by: guest at October 25, 2007 6:40 PM in response to Who manages a condo building?

In a big condo you would have a live in super, but not on a 4 unit building. That would be financial unfeasible. You'll find that out when you do your proforma.

Posted by: guest at October 25, 2007 8:51 PM in response to Who manages a condo building?

so nobody who reads here can post an estimate or an actual management fee amount? Id really like to know what people are getting charged.

Posted by: bonsavant at October 25, 2007 9:15 PM in response to Who manages a condo building?

It would depend on the size of your building. Call around to management companies and ask them for a number. When my building was researching using a management company a few years ago, I think they were going to charge us between 7-10 grand a year. This is for a 5 story brownstone. We elected to self manage and put our money into improvements.

Posted by: guest at October 25, 2007 9:28 PM in response to Who manages a condo building?

7-10k a year is a pretty wide difference. If the average 5 story brownstone is 5000-7000 square feet in size your paying almost a dollar per square foot.

On West 13th street in manhattan, a 250,000 square foot luxe building pays about 17 cents PSF. My uilding at 37500psf pays 53 cents.

A company that gave me an estimate turned out to cost about 31 cents psf. The problem with the industry is that all companies use different standards.

Im trying to figure out some standard to measure value by.

Posted by: bonsavant at October 25, 2007 9:35 PM in response to Who manages a condo building?