FAR amounts and extension
Hello. How can I confirm the available FAR for a house? As of now I am going by what is on Property Shark. Do you think that 500 sq ft of “unused available buildable square feet” is enough to build a modest garden and parlor level extension on a 17 foot wide house? Or is…
Hello. How can I confirm the available FAR for a house? As of now I am going by what is on Property Shark.
Do you think that 500 sq ft of “unused available buildable square feet” is enough to build a modest garden and parlor level extension on a 17 foot wide house? Or is it cutting it too close?
Agreed w/ smokeychimp and jp2, you gotta watch the info on P-shark/Oasis. It may/may-not be accurate. As stated the process really entails some basic questions and steps:
-a “direct” survey of the existing property (dimensions/square footage, heights, lot area, etc.
-verifying the current zoning, which has an FAR attached and will tell you how much you can add on “as-of-right”
-verifying setbacks, rear yard requirement
-landmarks issues if applicable,
-egress requirements for all floors (if addition obstructs egress)
-verify if the expansion is allowable under the construction class of the building (example: I ran into an issue with a similar expansion project on house that was all wood frame)
As the expansion would need to be filed with the city you can check with an expediter or architect to get some preliminary guidance on what you need to document.
Here’s a couple expediter ref’s I trust that could help:
Walter Bobadilla, Agouti Consulting: 212.941.8514
Suk Kim: 516.749.2132
Tell them George referred you.
Good luck.
Be careful about oasis or propertyshark as a tool for FAR. They can be inaccurate, and obviously have no legal status with the city. The way to determine FAR to the square inch is a multistep process, it requires a survey and complete drawings of each floor of the building if you are going to take advantage of all of the exemptions available.
adrea, I would not trust property shark for an accurate description of your current total square feet. Go to you property survey from when you bought the place to see the actual dimensions of your building and calculate from there, and of course take into account all other zoning restrictions that may apply as described above.
CH2007, I did the preliminary and had it verified by my architect. I’m a builder working on my own house.
Edifice rex -who did you use for the professional opinion – or are you a professional ????
The city publishes an inexpensive zoning guide that is relatively easy to interpret. 500 sq ft is certainly worth doing. Building to Quality Housing standards may give you a bit more FAR. If you are Landmarked be prepared for a long process. I just got through it and have become an expert. Property Shark is not reliable, if you think you have the FAR get a professional opinion.
Who will do your extension ? Id be curious to learn of your process and cost estimates. We may look to do the same. Email is crownheights2007@ gmail.com
go to http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/dcp/html/zone/zh_zmaptable.shtml and find the map that has your propety on it…find out the zoning and do a rough far estimate
There is more to this than property shark would lead you to believe. Once you arrive at FAR based on the calculations, there other zoning restrictions that may preclude an addition, like rear yard setback of 30′, also there are light and air issues to consider with the new depth of one or two floors. Its not brain surgery, but there are many oerlapping code requirements tha tneed to be vetted. A lot of times brownstones are built pretty close to their maximum envelope. That said, I have done a couple of 400 square foot rear yard extensions in brooklyn r6 districts. You can look through zoning and the building codes to try and figure it all out. I would suggest calling an architect or expediter/code consultant and see what it costs to nail whether you have the addition buildable area or not.
– Josh Pulver