Converting 2 family to 1 family - Questions from a newbie

This is really a question for a licensed architect and i can only answer it through what i was just told a few months back by a customer and their architect while working on such a project. since i do not know this firsthand and do not know if their are particulars that might change your situation, i will lay the situation out as we went through it and explain what they wanted to do and how they did it to preserve the two family designation:

The house had been built as a single family and had been converted to a two decades ago. At the time of the conversion, they removed the second set of entry doors that most brownstones are built with and closed up the entry hallway by adding walls and doors – one for the first floor apt and one at the foot of the stairs for the second floor apt and they closed the stairs in the process. The new owners wanted to remove this crappy 1960’s arrangement and reinstall a second pair of doors like the house would have originally had. But they wanted to retain the two family designation which they told me they would lose if they opened the hallway up like a single family. Their way around the rules was to make one entry way and keep individual apt doors at the top of the stairs and one on the first floor (where their would have had been parlor doors years ago anyway) creating an open common entrance. From what i saw them do (and this was directed by an architect; i can get you the name if you wish) it sounds like you will have to have some division inside – at least until the inspection is over.

This is all still a question for an architect but i think i can safely say this with certainty: “any change in egress must be filed” by an architect. That i can quote from the building code.

I am hoping to go through the nyc dob expeditor training to better be able to understand and explain these myself to my customers and on this board.

Steve
Brownstone Home Inspection LLC

justinromeu26

in General Discussion 1 year and 9 months ago

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PNutz | 1 year and 9 months ago

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Hi all,

We own a 2 family home and are at the early planning stage of converting it to single family use. The home was constructed in 2020. Pardon the naive questions, but…

– If our plan is to add a bathroom and move non-weight bearing walls, do we need an Alt 1 or Alt 2?
– If we creatively retained one of the kitchens (small kitchenette / wet bar or something else), would either permits still be required?
– Our home has two front doors. If we retain our 2 family CO, can we cover up one of the doors?

Thanks!

cate | 1 year and 9 months ago

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If you have two front doors, you may have a Kinko-style house. In any case, I believe you can add a bathroom and move some walls under an Alt-2, as long as you do not change use, occupancy, or egress. An Alt-1 will be required to cover up one of the entrance doors. My advice as a lay person would be to keep the two-family designation and do whatever you can legally with the least amount of permitting. This will save you a ton on property tax and also avoid crazy and costly DOB requirements such as sprinklers. For example, some two-family configurations such as identical floor-throughs stacked on top of each other lend themselves to be used as a single-family with virtually no changes to the permanent features. An extra kitchen on the top floor can make a lovely crafting room, laundry room, or bathroom, for example.