Compensation for Extension Next Door?

If they are going to be on her roof, she needs to be protected through the developer’s insurance and indemnification. If anyone falls off of her roof, she can be sued directly under the Labor Law. She needs to be fully insulated from that.

slopefarm

in General Discussion 5 years and 10 months ago

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Guest User | 5 years and 10 months ago

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Hi All – A developer bought the property next to our lovely 85 year old neighbor (who has lived on the block since she was seven years old!) and is planning to build a top floor extension and turn the building into condos. In order to complete construction, he needs to access and build a bridge (?) over her roof. He has offered her compensation of $250/month for access/use of her property, which seems ridiculously low. I heard of someone in Harlem getting several thousand a month for a similar project.

What would you consider appropriate compensation for this work? She is not trying to swindle this guy, but I do think she should be compensated fairly. For what it’s worth, this guy has also been a complete jerk to her and keeps trying to cut corners on permitting. I have nothing against developers and understand he owns the property and has the right to build on it, but I don’t want her taken advantage of in the process. Any thoughts or personal experience would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you!

slopefarm | 5 years and 10 months ago

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More important to get adequate protection – indemnification, additional insured coverage, etc., than to be compensated. There are attorneys who routinely negotiate these kinds of access agreements and they would know what the range of reasonable compensation rates is. I would get an attorney who does this regularly, and not negotiate directly with the neighbor.

Guest User | 5 years and 10 months ago

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Good point @slopefarm. I’m worried she’s really going to get taken for a ride! I might stop by and talk to her about it tomorrow, to make sure she has an attorney! Any suggestions on good attorneys for this type of thing in Bed Stuy?

transworld | 5 years and 10 months ago

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Lot of documentation can be found online about compensation. It’s important to ask for more $, so the developer will try be fast. In her case she needs not only a bridge but probably also 10ft covering of front/back yard, depending of the shape of the building. Bottom line is that it’s not uncommon do get up to $3k per month. Google “RPAPL 881” to find cases. Monitoring, etc, should also be done, and looking at the RPAPL cases will give you exact wording to use/what to request. You could try to use a service like neighboradvisors dot com – but I haven’t use them so can’t really recommend. Most important point is that in 99% of the cases, your legal fees will have to be paid by the developer.

Guest User | 5 years and 10 months ago

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Thank you, @transworld ! Yeah, I have a feeling this developer is really taking advantage of her. 🙁 I’m going to stop by and talk to her tomorrow to see if we can find her a lawyer!

nintzk86 | 5 years and 10 months ago

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ElleHouse, I had a situation where my neighbors were doing construction that required a sidewalk shed/scaffold for their building. Per New York City law, the shed had to extend onto my property. I was not trying to play hardball so I negotiated something like $1500/month for the first six months, $2000 for the next six months, and $2500 a month if it extended past 1 year (to incentivize them to work quickly).

A few points to consider:
– In my situation, the owners simply put up the sidewalk shed before we even had an agreement. The developer could potentially do the same thing if she asks for too much and simply tell her to take him to court and then she has to litigate the issue. You’re going to have a hard time finding a lawyer who will litigate over the amount at stake. So I would just advise not to be too aggressive.

– From your description, all of the work appears to be on her roof so it is not an eye soar or really interfering with the building. That may impact the value compared to a scaffold that covers the entrance to your property.

Also, the developer is going to need to extend any active chimney (for boiler) on her property above his extension. She should also negotiate compensation for this.

mozeeatupu | 5 years and 10 months ago

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What is a bridge over the roof?

Arkady | 5 years and 10 months ago

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It’s a walkway from parapet-to-parapet so that people don’t walk on & damage the roof.