Now that's what I call a class act!

Posted by: johnife at November 19, 2009 2:50 PM in response to Development Watch: Turnaround at 424 Waverly Avenue

Oh, PLEASE let it be a Red Lobster!

Posted by: johnife at November 11, 2009 10:00 AM in response to 'Nationally Known' Restaurants May Land in 345 Adams

Try this as a basis:

Cost of designing and building typical 4-level 20 ft x 45 ft townhouse on 20 ft x 100 ft lot (which probably get you close to allowable FAR): 3,600 SF x $350/SF = $1,260,000

Likely selling price of house including land: $1,600,000

Land value: $1,600,000 - $1,260,000 = $340,000

Value of land per SF: $340,000 / 2,000 = $170/SF

As a cross check; assuming a R6B FAR of 2 (allowing a 4,000 SF building)the land value equates to $85 per buildable SF which seems about right in these days (though a far cry from the over $150 per buildable SF sites were fetching in the frothiest days of the bubble).

Posted by: johnife at November 3, 2009 12:30 PM in response to Value of a Backyard?

The "nosey" in me desperately wants to find out who's lucky enough to live in this house right now but ACRIS address/block & lot search ain't workin'. Get it fixed Bloomie (or are you punishing me for voting for Reverend Billy?)!

Posted by: johnife at November 3, 2009 11:08 AM in response to The Gingerbread House Hits the Market

What the hell is a "Fountain Room"?

Posted by: johnife at November 3, 2009 10:09 AM in response to The Gingerbread House Hits the Market

There's sure some creative math going on with Corcoran claiming this house is 4,200 SF! Even if you count the cellar level (which you shouldn't), 16' 0" x 45' 0" x 5 floors equals only 3,600 SF, and that's without deducting the 180SF lost through the double height living area. True area (without cellar and open-to-below space) is 2,700 SF. Sure, square foot fudging goes on all the time; but by over 50%? Come on!

Price is crazy too (though, living a couple of blocks up State, I'd love to see them get it).

Posted by: johnife at November 2, 2009 11:51 AM in response to First Resale at 14 Townhouses

Nope, not normal at all. With clauses like that maybe you should check whether there are others requiring you to pay the insurance and real estate taxes! Sounds like your landlord is the personification of greed.

Posted by: johnife at October 12, 2009 4:37 PM in response to Help with Lease Clarification

Sewerage is included in the water bill (I guess on the principle that water-in approximates sewerage-out).

If you don't have a water meter that seperately measures your own consumption, then you really need to talk to the landlord and ask him how he proposes to assess your charges. I think water costs should be included in the base rent, myself. Could it be that the clause is just boiler-plate and the landlord isn't even fully away of it?

Posted by: johnife at October 12, 2009 3:26 PM in response to Help with Lease Clarification

What jcarch said.

Does the auto shop that does a $2k repair on your car ask for a 1/3rd of the cost up-front? In any area of the construction industry other than home improvements jcarch's description is the norm. Damned if I understand why it's not for home renovations. After all, some of the larger contractors that do them are working under the "norm" on jobs of equivalent value for commercial clients.

Posted by: johnife at September 24, 2009 1:32 PM in response to Contractor Deposit-Too early?

"There's been a big change in people's attitudes.......Most of us have moved on.

Not me. I lamented the irresponsible greed before the crash, hate those responsible now, and regard the perjorative connotation that the US as a whole applies to the words "liberal" and "socialism" as curse that will lead to ever increasing isolation from the rest of the civilized world. I'll miss the graffiti.

Posted by: johnife at August 25, 2009 11:19 AM in response to Gowanus Building No Longer Dissing Wall St.

I'd say Forte rather than Belltel. Clarett recently passed Forte back to the lenders and the article does say "Whether the program works depends on bankers' hunger to get rid of their distressed properties" which suggests that it's a lender decision not a developer decision.

Posted by: johnife at August 24, 2009 1:00 PM in response to DT Condos Going to City?

I think JimHill is missing the point here; the OP was looking for an idea of the value of the land, not the cost of building a house on it. As Petebklyn correctly points out, the land value is usually related to the area of the building one is allowed to construct on it, whether directly on the lot, or by transferring the air rights to an adjacent lot. Let's say that the zoning does allow a FAR of 2.0; then, as JimHill says, the lot (absent any other restrictions that may apply) gives you the right to build 2,400 SF. At the height of the "mutant asset bubble" the going rate per buildable SF was around $200. I think that these days you're probably talking more like $120 - $140 per SF; let's say $130. $130 x 2,400 = $312,000.

Posted by: johnife at August 7, 2009 2:58 PM in response to Value of Lot in South Slope?

It's a long and messy chore, but I would highly recommend removing all the paint before priming and repainting. That's what I did with my cast iron fence and the final appearance, devoid of all the uneveness inherent in painting over unstripped iron that has had portions of paint fall off over the years, made it all worthwhile. I used a blowtorch and a scraper, for the most part, resorting to Peelaway for only the more intricate newel posts.

Posted by: johnife at August 5, 2009 10:34 AM in response to Iron Grating

Whaddya mean, The Bronx? Number Googles as 386 3rd Ave, Brooklyn.

Posted by: johnife at July 30, 2009 9:11 AM in response to Spotted today in the Slope

Call up Obama, he'll squish it with a single slap.

Posted by: johnife at July 19, 2009 7:38 AM in response to Identify a Pest/Hornet?

Re The Door Store mentioned above: I live close to that branch (and, indeed, have shopped there with great satisfaction) and was very surprised to walk by it the other night and notice it was empty, with a sign that read, "This Location Closed".

Posted by: johnife at July 14, 2009 3:15 PM in response to Furniture Stores in Brooklyn?

Robert Scarano would probably be able to help you; I hear he's got a lot of time on his hands
right now.

Posted by: johnife at June 28, 2009 6:21 PM in response to DOES A LOFT NEED A PERMIT ?

The super in a co-op building is working for and paid by the building. If he's performing work for you that goes beyond the co-op's obligations for repairs to any of the apartments, then he's obviously not available to do regular cleaning and maintenance work on the building common areas etc.

Cmu states "the board must be acquiescent, unlikely the super is going being their backs" but I would strenously disagree with that premise. When I became president of the co-op board where I used to live in Park Slope, lousy maintenance work record and performance of the full-time super was discovered to have been largely a result of his having done work (in one case actually off-site) for a prior board member without anyone else knowing. The new board instituted a series of controls that proscribed the super doing any work beyond his responsibilities for the building as a whole. If a shareholder wanted an exception to that rule so he/she could use the super for renovations or whatever, then, if the board approved it, the shareholder was obliged to reimbuse the co-op for the super's time, not pay the super.

The standard of cleanliness and maintenance in the building showed an immediate improvement. Additionally several jobs that contractors had previously been hired for now got done by the super, saving the co-op money.

I think it's inevitable that, in using the super on your renovation, you would be experiencing a benefit at the cost of other shareholders. It ain't what I'd call fair, quite apart from the other "who do you call" red flags raised in prior comments.

Posted by: johnife at June 25, 2009 12:09 PM in response to Hiring a Super for Renovation?

My recommendation would be to remove the affected area of plaster from the lath and re-do it with a cement scratch coat and a plaster finish coat. That's what I've done in rooms in my house that I've re-decorated myself and, despite my lack of experience, I've been pleased with the results. Much happier, in fact, than I am with the drywall door infill in an otherwise plaster wall that was done by someone I hired. There's just something a bit "off", in my mind at least, about the look and feel of drywall sections in otherwise plastered walls and ceilings.

Posted by: johnife at June 16, 2009 5:11 PM in response to Another plastering question

Where do they mention the maintenance in the listing other than to say it includes all utilities? I looked really carefully and either I'm going blind or they don't state the amount per month (which I guess is in and of itself an indication that it's high).

Posted by: johnife at June 16, 2009 1:23 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 70 Remsen Street, #3J

I'm surprised that no one's mentioned the fact that this house has a "twin" next door. check out the Google street view.

Posted by: johnife at June 3, 2009 2:07 PM in response to House of the Day: 240 Dean Street

I used to have some koi in my backyard pond but concluded that they're way too fussy about the water quality and the checking and conditioning the water all the time just got to be too much of a chore so, when they died I replaced them with regular goldfish that are really hardy, can tolerate water quality that's less than perfect, and that survived through 3 winters with no deaths. In fact, a couple of years ago they had a bunch of offspring. I gave some away at the time but still have more fish than I should have, so, if you're interested in taking some, email me at johnife AT panix DOT com. I'm located in Boerum Hill.

Posted by: johnife at May 21, 2009 1:38 PM in response to Where to buy fish for pond?

At $3.25/SF that's more than reasonable if it's a new slab with mesh reinforcement and not just a topping over an existing slab.

Posted by: johnife at April 27, 2009 1:22 PM in response to Cement Work

Do all the houses on Verandah Place have next to no back yard space?

Posted by: johnife at April 10, 2009 3:04 PM in response to Open House Picks

k72ndst,

Yeah, you're right, the stop was at 50th St.; it's Roseland that's at 52nd. It was not, however KGB; that is another bar also owned by Tracy on East 4th Street. Sloppy reporting by the blogger you cite.

Posted by: johnife at April 9, 2009 3:30 PM in response to Manhattans in Brooklyn

I used to hang out at the original Siberia in the 52nd Street subway stop, often before going to see shows at Roseland. It is with no small degree of pride that I can say that I actually once got thrown out of that ultimate dive bar. I hope his new place will be just as divey as the original but I don't see how it could be.

Posted by: johnife at April 9, 2009 11:27 AM in response to Manhattans in Brooklyn

Looks to me like the FAR on the site is 2.43 thus allowing (absent any other constraints such as rear yard or height requirements, a building of 4,860 SF. The asking price would thus be equivalent to around $88 per buildable square foot. Might be about the right mark (in this economic environment) in the fringes of Park Slope but I think it's definitely too much in Sunset Park right next to the BQE. I'd say $50 per buildable SF was more like it, or around $250k.

Posted by: johnife at March 26, 2009 10:08 AM in response to Ridiculous price for lot of land

Maly,

Yeah, you've got the idea. I would add, however, that my $75-$100/SF number is predicated on the location being in a good neighborhood (think Park Slope / Boerum Hill). If the house you're looking at is in Bushwick "your results may differ", as they say. Also, I second zinka's suggestion re a zoning expert.

Posted by: johnife at March 20, 2009 9:47 AM in response to How much is land worth?

I do not believe there is any such thing as a "pool or shed" zone. Go to the link below to find the zoning map for your particular location to see what the zoning actually is.
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/dcp/html/zone/zonedex.shtml

Posted by: johnife at March 19, 2009 12:47 PM in response to How much is land worth?

While it's not your intention to use the lot to facilitate adding square footing to your house because of the increased FAR, that is, inevitably, the basis of the land value. At the height of the boom developers were paying around $200 per buildable square foot for land. I have no hard numbers to back it up, but I suspect that in the current market the going rate is more like $75 - $100/SF. So, if you're in an R6B zone, which allows a FAR of 2, then I would guess the land in question is worth between $180k and $240k.

Posted by: johnife at March 19, 2009 11:09 AM in response to How much is land worth?

Area (assuming plan drawn in correct proportions, which a couple of cross-checks seem to suggest it is) is 1,318 SF (measured, not "probably comes in" or "can't be much more").

Posted by: johnife at March 16, 2009 1:27 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 315 Saint Johns Place

I seem to remember reading a thread either here or on Brooklynian that centered on the same situation on 7th Avenue in Park Slope. There was reference in that thread to certain anomalies in NYC tax laws that supposedly make leaving a storefront unoccupied a comparatively minor financial pain to a landlord, thus encouraging him to hold out for a long term lease at a higher rent than would currently appear viable for a retailer. Anyone know whether this is really the case and, if so, the details of this (what would amount to a) commercial landlord subsidy?

Posted by: johnife at March 10, 2009 9:37 AM in response to High Rents Killing Montague Street

Oh, this so so sad. Tragic, obviously, for his family but also a great loss for we regular readers of his blog who will miss his incisive analyses of the detrimental effects of the "Mutant Real Estate Bubble" and the rampant greed of developers on Brooklyn neighborhoods in general and, in particular, on Coney Island as a result of Joe Sitt's sleazy chicanery. I regarded gowanuslounge as the most honest and relevant of all the Brooklyn-oriented blogs.

Posted by: johnife at March 5, 2009 11:10 AM in response to Robert Guskind, Founder of Gowanus Lounge, Dies

I just read up on the artist owner, Hunt Slonem. Man, is he a character! His studio in New York has 89 rooms and there are 70 birds flying around there.

Posted by: johnife at February 20, 2009 11:27 AM in response to What $2.7 Million Gets You in Kingston

Holy crap! Just checked the pricing for the standards on the Atlas site. $582 for ONE 6' 0" high standard! That's a hell of a lot of money for a piece of steel with holes that are drilled and threaded in a machine shop environment! Looking at the set-up you have there I'm guessing that, with the shelves, it cost around $9,500 plus tax, just for the material. Sure looks good, but crazy expensive IMO.

Posted by: johnife at February 19, 2009 11:40 AM in response to Atlas East shelves and cabinets

I agree; searching the site is hell. I had chosen a sidewalk contractor 18 months ago by looking through all the forum archives that came up with a search for "sidewalk" and then, just recently, to retrieve the contractor's phone number, plugged in his name together with "sidewalk" and got zero results. So I had to go back to plowing through the archives.

Posted by: johnife at February 18, 2009 4:36 PM in response to Brownstoner Search..............

Have any of you square foot prognosticators taken the time to get out a scale and measure the drawing? I did. Assuming it's drawn to scale, and using the 11' 2" width of the bedroom as a basis for establishing what that scale is, the apartment measures 982 SF (measured to the outside face of exterior walls and center line of surrounding demising walls - as is the normal convention).

Posted by: johnife at February 17, 2009 2:34 PM in response to Co-op of the Day: 125 Eastern Parkway, #6F

The recently completed Habitat For Humanity houses on Halsey were built with ICF.
http://www.habitatnyc.org/construction_current.html

Posted by: johnife at January 30, 2009 9:14 AM in response to ICF houses?

Link to LDC Arena article is wrong.

Posted by: johnife at January 27, 2009 9:07 AM in response to Tuesday Links

When I took out the mortgage on my house several years ago I got a 20 year mortgage and it was a requirement that it be paid bi-weekly (or twice a month, actually can't remember which). The effect was that the anticipated time before pay-off reduced from 20 years to 16 years or so. I refinanced with the same bank about 5 or 6 years ago when rates got lower without taking out any equity and now the payments are the usual once per month but I got a 10 year mortgage to maintain the pay-off date that had been established originally. I have no idea whether bi-weekly has a more beneficial effect than making an extra payment each year.

Posted by: johnife at January 21, 2009 10:53 AM in response to biweekly mortgage payment

TD,

In the UK decisions as to what can get built are made by the planning committee of the local council, not by a central government "czar". If one assumes that there's a democratic process at work in the selection of council members, it's a pretty "close to the community ethos" way of regulating the local built environment. I don't have the time to search the web for examples right now, but I've set eyes on plenty of examples there of bold but aesthetically pleasing structures that exist in harmony with their more traditional neighbors.

Posted by: johnife at January 16, 2009 2:24 PM in response to Horror Show Friday

"...you cannot feasibly propose that EVERY building be put through the same kind of process"

Why not? That's what they do in England and every time I go back there to visit my mother I'm struck firstly by the almost total lack of billboards lining the motorways (here such regulation would be regarded as a violation of free speech, I guess) and secondly by the absence of schlocky buildings. Sure there are some that ain't gonna appeal to all tastes, many that are just so-so, but there are very few that exhibit the total contempt for contextualism and basic aesthetics that the typical "horror show" house does.

Posted by: johnife at January 16, 2009 1:53 PM in response to Horror Show Friday

There are a whole bunch of people who would cheer if this business disappeared:

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3661

Posted by: johnife at January 16, 2009 9:40 AM in response to Atlantic Avenue Shell Station: Re-Open or Re-Develop?

I guess it's churlish of me to say it, but I would venture that the most important aspect of an open versus a closed kitchen from a developer's point of view is that it obviates the NYC building code requirement for a ducted vent with a two hour rated partition around it provided the open kitchen is within a certain distance of an operable window.

Posted by: johnife at January 15, 2009 11:42 AM in response to Inside Third & Bond: Week 67

I would expect to pay a non-family-discount price of $1,700 - $2,000.

Posted by: johnife at January 13, 2009 3:16 PM in response to sheetrock estimate

Sorry, should have said "3 blocks further East". I'm compass-challenged.

Posted by: johnife at January 13, 2009 2:29 PM in response to House of the Day: 291 State Street

Actually it's the next block West (the cathedral block) that is always a contender for Greenest Block.

Nearly all the houses on this block are landmarked (except, of course, the 14 Townhouses) and many of them are 25 footers. Not sure whether this one is that wide though, might only be the ones on the South side of the street.

Of course it's Boerum Hill by virtually any definition of that made-up neighborhood name. I live three blocks further West and the convenience of having the Smith Street bar area, virtually every subway line, Atlantic Center and downtown shopping, and BAM essentially on your doorstep just can't be beat.

Posted by: johnife at January 13, 2009 2:25 PM in response to House of the Day: 291 State Street

DIBS,

I'm not cw, but the inflation link I used for my Hancock thread post was: http://www.measuringworth.com/ppowerus/?redirurl=calculators/ppowerus/

Posted by: johnife at January 9, 2009 10:47 AM in response to Goldman: NYC Prices Have a Ways to Go

Use the following unit rates (based on using licensed, insured contractors, not day laborers picked up off the street):

Excavation by hand & load into dumsters: $90/CY
Transport and dispose of excavated material: $35/CY
6" thick concrete slab on grade with mesh reinforcement and granular base: $12/SF
Concrete underpinning including reinforcement and formwork: $2,000/CY.

Applying these numbers to your particular basement size, here are your specific calcs based on an assumed 2' 0" excavation depth and 1' 0" party wall width:

Excavation & disposal: 35*19.5*2/27*($90+$35)=$6,319.
Slab on grade: 35*19.5*12=$8,190
Underpinning:(35*2+19*2)*(1*2)/27*$2000=$16,148
Total: $30,657

The above does not include any additional work that may be necessary such as setting existing doors to a lower elevation, relocating steam heating return pipes that may currently sit on the ground adjacent to the party wall, refinishing existing walls, new ceiling, any temporary overhead pipe relocation to accomplish ceiling work, etc. etc.

I currently have the same deal as I guess you do, unfinished space with dirt/boulder floor. Since I use it basically as storage/worshop space, I've never had an overwhelming desire to do anything to it, but, if I did I think I would sacrifice some floor space by keeping the excavation the same distance away from the perimeter walls as the excavation depth and creating a concrete "step" around the edges, thus obviating the need for the underpinning. It's all to do with not encroaching on the "line of influence" of the load transfer from the walls to the ground.

Posted by: johnife at January 8, 2009 3:12 PM in response to Estimates for Cellar Renovations

Housebywe,

I think you're misreading the listing. It says, "The posted price is that of a completed project, if you would like to alter the architectural drawings or purchase the building as is, we will negotiate that". I think the only way to interpret that is that if you pay the $990,000 the owner will turn over a building finished in accordance with the plans but if you don't want him to finish the work a lower price would be negotiated.

Posted by: johnife at January 8, 2009 9:44 AM in response to House of the Day: 404 Hancock Street