roof rights in a condo?
Hi There We are in the process of buying a condo in a six unit building, we would have half of the top floor. We are interested in buying the roof rights as well. In the future we hope to put up a deck. The condo board is open to selling the roof rights to…
Hi There
We are in the process of buying a condo in a six unit building, we would have half of the top floor. We are interested in buying the roof rights as well. In the future we hope to put up a deck. The condo board is open to selling the roof rights to us and is looking into price. I have searched all over this forum and others and have come up with conflicting answers about how much roof rights would be worth. If anyone has any experience here I would greatly appreciate it.
It sounds like getting the board to hire an appraiser is the way to go . . . Here is the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/realestate/18cov.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=roof%20rights&st=cse&oref=slogin
Also see this except from a times Q and A about selling roof rights in a coop . . .
the board should also get an appraisal to determine the appropriate charge for the new shares and should amend the proprietary leases of the shareholders who purchase those shares to include, as part of the apartment descriptions, the additional roof space.
The board should also make it clear what rights are conferred on the shareholders who buy shares allocated to the roof.
In other words, the board should specify if the roof can be used only for recreational purposes — a deck, for example — or if it can be used to construct additional living space for the owners who buy the additional shares.
The NYT had an article a couple months ago in the real estate section – they cited roof space values as 10% to 50% of the interior sq ft values of your apartment . . . You should try to negotiate for lower end of that since the space is undeveloped.
Back to building codes: fire department access is one of the greatest concerns regarding the building code changes.
You should look at Habitat, a publication that covers issues of concern to people in condos and cooperatives. Also look at the New York Council of Condominimums and Cooperatives and Cooperator.com.
There will be legal costs involved, in addition to the costs associated with the actual roof area. The articles of incorporation will have to be changed so that roof rights are assignable, and–more importantly for you–assignable to you. Then a price has to be assigned. I have heard figures of one half the average price per square foot of interior dimensions. I don’t know this for a fact, but it might give you something to work with.
Finally, you should note that the building code has recently been updated and roof structures are more highly regulated than they have been. Food for thought! Keep us posted.