326 State Street
I saw a post about the snow on the sidewalk in front of 326 State Street so I thought I’d pass along my experience checking out an apartment inside the modern looking building. I went to an open house at that condo. The developer/architect made the strangest choices in how they used the space. The…
I saw a post about the snow on the sidewalk in front of 326 State Street so I thought I’d pass along my experience checking out an apartment inside the modern looking building.
I went to an open house at that condo. The developer/architect made the strangest choices in how they used the space. The rooms are small. The living/dining room in one apartment was so small that, after deciding on whether you wanted them to install a spiral stair case or a regular stair case to the balcony above the kitchen (where the washer/dryer and mechanical closets are), you’d be hard pressed to fit in anything more than a couch, a chair and a coffee table. yet they opted to create a minimum of 14 foot ceilings in each apartment. Had they forgone the ridiculously high ceilings, they would have wound up with larger foot prints for each apartment and normal size rooms rather than something that feels like overgrown walk-in closets.
Also, for some completely bizarre and unexplained reason, when you climb up to the balcony space in most of the apartments, they built a platform in the “storage room.” The platform is made out of plywood painted black and it takes up the entire square footage of the room so that you have to basically crawl around on it. When I questioned the realtor about why they did this, he said so that you don’t have to leave your things on the floor. (That seemed like the oddest answer because they essentially built a second, unfinished floor and created 2 feet of dead space beneath it.) I said why would that be a problem? He didn’t have a reasonable answer. He also told me that once you buy an apartment, you can rip out the platform and do whatever you want with the small windowless room, turn it into an office, whatever. So why the heck did they build the useless platform in the first place? Everyone is going to rip them out. Maybe it had something to do with the FAR (floor to area ratio) zoning.
Also, with the floor to ceiling windows in those 14 foot tall rooms, any owner is going to have to pay a fortune in window dressings after moving in!
I didn’t realize that someone claiming to be the architect Scarano posted about this in an earlier thread. I thought I’d refresh your memory but before doing so, here’s my response to what Scarano had to say:
“I hate to burst Mr. Scarano’s bubble, but when I went to an open house, the Fillmore real estate angent most definitely told me that owners can remove the black painted plywood platforms in those mezzanine storage rooms. He most definitely told me that the same floor on the mezzanine balcony extends into the storage room and if the plywood box is removed, the room can be used as an office or for whatever use the owner has in mind.
Mr. Scarano, if the same beams that support my weight, the weight of the hot water heater, the weight of the washer and dryer, and in at least one apartment the weight of a second bathroom, and those beams extended into the mezzanine storage space, how in the world would removing the plywood box harm the structural integrity of that room? Why wouldn’t those beams support the weight of a human being or two and some furniture?”
From Scarano on October 5th, 2007:
To all,
Ok, now it is time to set the record straight.
First, this building was filed, reviewed and approved by the Dept of buildings under a standard filing (NOT PROFESSIONALLY CERTIFIED). This careful and complete examination CLEARLY showed the raised areas of the mezzanine level as storage (NON_HABITABLE SPACES) for the unit, NOT A BEDROOM, OFFICE, STUDY, ETC. The construction of this raised area was done in such a way that it is not possible to remove it without affecting the structural intergity of the entire level since the beams are at two different elevations. The items that exist on this MEZZANINE including a mechanical equiptment room, washer/dryer units and the storage area are there to give additional space to the lower level of the unit.Speaking to the owner today, NO ONE said anything to anyone who visited the open house this weekend about the ability to take this out since that is actually not even possible. I believe that someone has created this entire story in their own mind.
As far as the floors being spongy this condition is quite normal since a prefinished wood floating floor was installed over padding to accomodate the RADIANT FLOOR HEATING SYSTEM that was put in. This premier heating system is much healthier for the occupants of the unit and more environmentally sensitive than a convential sysem as it costs about twice as much as a traditional system would.
Every aspect the zoning and building code was followed to the letter which is how this project was allowed to be approved and permitted in the first place.
Lastly, concerning the layouts. Todays modern brownstone buildings, which is what this is one of, give a greater degree of fire safety to the unit owners since the entire building is constructed with non-combustable materials, have a steel and concrete exit stair and are fully sprinklered. Many of the old units on the market rely on escaping through a fire escape during an emergency and it is these same firescapes that contribute to more than half of the burglaries in the borough.
Today buyers have asked us for high ceilings and large windowed spaces which give the feeling of a loft environment. Since the price of a square foot of real estate has gone through the roof sizes of rooms have been brought down to what is an absolutely minimum functional area to be “AFFORDABLE ” to a greater percentage of the population.
This overall change coupled with the contemporary finishes is what is being presented here.
The Department of Buildings, the developer, the architect and the builder have all done their job here and people are still free in this country to decide if what is being presented is right for them or not.
The false allegations, made up stories, spun verisions of reality, delusional rantings and general off color comments about our work will now be addressed each and every time they are raised by me. Since it is obvious that many people are worried about me, my jobs and my office I will attempt to educate them about construction and development activities in New York City.
Thank you for your attention,
Robert M. Scarano Jr, AIA, FARA, ALA
Posted by: guest at October 5, 2007 12:39 PM
Yeah, imagine climbing a ladder with a load of wash. You’d have to install a reverse-gravity laundry chute – the kind that sucks your clothes up a flight instead of down.
i saw this place as well during an open house.
I thought it was so funny that the washer/drying were ‘upstairs’ and you had to climb a ladder to get to em.
Assuming this post is not tone in cheek – the platform is there to get around FAR restrictions. You ripping it out after closing renders your unit and the building in violation of DOB regulations. Buyer beware.
wow!
I guess that’s more proof that Scarano was practicing his trademark bald-faced lying when he made his October 5, 2007 12:39 PM post in the thread linked below:
http://tinyurl.com/2fyhs8