Cover-Up At The Washington Condos?
The Washington Condominium at 35 Underhill Avenue in Prospect Heights has been a long time coming. As blogger Set Speed first mentioned on Friday, the building finally got its Temporary C of O last week after countless delays. His announcement stirred up a rather contentious debate in the comments section over some of the quick-fixes…
The Washington Condominium at 35 Underhill Avenue in Prospect Heights has been a long time coming. As blogger Set Speed first mentioned on Friday, the building finally got its Temporary C of O last week after countless delays. His announcement stirred up a rather contentious debate in the comments section over some of the quick-fixes that the developer has performed to get around the FAR calculation problems of Mezzaninegate, photos of which mysteriously arrived in our mailbox yesterday. The most bizarre? He reportedly has reduced the ceiling height in the mezzanines from seven feet to five feet (the point at which the space is considered storage rather than living space) by building up plywood platforms (see photos). One commenter on the Set Speed thread said that DOB was okay with this approach and that it had happened at a number of the other Scarano projects with similar violations. Can this be true? Does anyone know if using plywood like this is up to code? Seems like the Fire Department might have something to say about it. If all is not on the up-and-up, what does this mean for the building and those who already handed over their down payments last year?
The Washington Gets Temporary C of O? [Set Speed]
Checking In on the Washington Condos [Brownstoner] GMAP
I think great space for reenactment of Being John Malcovich.
“way to fuel a fire” 11:15
is that a pun or double entendre??
i agree with people here but have one more thing to add, what if you were trapped under that plywood? also, what if your son or daughter cut a hole into the plywood and used it as a clubhouse or a fort which would be totally unsafe. also this area would be a great place for rats to live and other pests. lastly, it is very hard to get stains up from plywood so say goodbye to using this area as a breakfast nook or a guest kitchen.
This is happening in all Scarano buildings, not that big a deal. Way to fuel a fire.
As an architect I would never recommend that someone buy these units. Where to start? From a zoning standpoint the DOB doesn’t care b/c the developer complies with the letter of the law however spurious band-aid. The banks may not care b/c most are happy with a TCO b/c they assume the building will eventually get a CO. Safey wise if the plywood box can support the live load capacity of 40 lbs/sq. ft. it is fine. The area below the mezzanine must be sprinklered. If the DOB does catch people removing the new mezzanines violations will be issued and the building will be saddled with that and the developer can wash his hands of it and say it wasn’t his fault and will never halp the building get the CO.
In my point of view most problems at most buildings can be worked out but this is a nightmare. The developer got caught and they are trying like the devil to get out and instead of doing the right thing like buy more air rights or reconfigure the FAR and remove a floor off of the building they are hoping the broker can do a con job on the buyers.
STAY AWAY
As an architect I would never recommend that someone buy these units. Where to start? From a zoning standpoint the DOB doesn’t care b/c the developer complies with the letter of the law however spurious band-aid. The banks may not care b/c most are happy with a TCO b/c they assume the building will eventually get a CO. Safey wise if the plywood box can support the live load capacity of 40 lbs/sq. ft. it is fine. The area below the mezzanine must be sprinklered. If the DOB does catch people removing the new mezzanines violations will be issued and the building will be saddled with that and the developer can wash his hands of it and say it wasn’t his fault and will never halp the building get the CO.
In my point of view most problems at most buildings can be worked out but this is a nightmare. The developer got caught and they are trying like the devil to get out and instead of doing the right thing like buy more air rights or reconfigure the FAR and remove a floor off of the building they are hoping the broker can do a con job on the buyers.
STAY AWAY
there’s no amendments concerning this and no disclosures so far. the attitude is : close as fast as developer Isaac Fischman can, take the money and he gets out of the picture. let the sucker purchasers deal with the legal issues while he moves on to his new project on Bergen St.
sounds like they might have to try the air rights from adjacent buildings.
I’m interested in what kind of disclosure the developer is putting in the prospectus. Plans do actually get rejected by the AG.