C-of-O Woes for the Novo?
Will anyone ever move into the Novo? We often get emails asking about the status of the 4th Avenue condo, which has been under construction for quite some time now. A reader recently sent us the following note, for example: I heard from an employee of the parks department that the city is holding up…
Will anyone ever move into the Novo? We often get emails asking about the status of the 4th Avenue condo, which has been under construction for quite some time now. A reader recently sent us the following note, for example:
I heard from an employee of the parks department that the city is holding up Novo’s closing until they finish the Terrapin playground. The developer was due to finish the playground for a May 12 ribbon cutting, but that date has come and gone. The new date is June 17, but I checked by today and no work was happening. The city is actually not allowing any further inspections until they are done. The building has a drop dead date of June 31 before it has to let its current contract holders out of their contracts. The developer will be mighty lucky if he makes this date it seems.
Parks Department spokesperson Phil Abramson confirmed that the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Terrapin Playground, the section of J.J. Byrne Park that the Novo’s developer is supposed to rehab in exchange for having used the public parkland as a staging area during construction, is June 17th. Abramson couldn’t speak to the rumor about the city holding up the issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy. Last year Community Board 6 recommended that the city not give the building a C of O until Terrapin was finished. (The recommendation, like all community board motions, was ultimately only advisory.) While we don’t know whether June 31st is indeed the deadline for the building’s C of O to be in order so closings can occur, DOB records show that the department still hasn’t received many of the documents it needs in order to grant a certificate. For example, the DOB needs to get documentation showing that the building complies with DOT regulations, and that the Novo’s sprinklers and elevators are in working order. Read on for the full list of the things that are standing between the Novo and its C of O…
Novo Takes a Nosedive [Brownstoner] GMAP
Terrapin Playground Reopening in May? [Brownstoner]
1:39pm
im in contract too and agree with everything you said. what people are asking for in the walk-ups are ridiculous. especially what you get for it and the work that would need to be done.
i honestly don’t care what the outside of the building looks like. i like the inside and the ammenities are there. it’s a bang for the buck.
1:48pm. Cool, man! Don’t be living there and see if I give a sh!t.
“Most row house apts in Park Slope are really tenements.”
I’d rather live in a tenement than a dormitory. A million dollar dormitory at that.
We are under contract too. We are currently renting a 3br about a block away and it is small, old, in need of renovation. The landlords are selling the apt for over $1.1M, more than anything in the NOVO. Our 3br in the Novo is 30% less than that and even with new construction issues will be in so much better shape than where we are now. Most row house apts in Park Slope are really tenements.
CC;
The Board did pressure BG. I’m not sure it helped, but he was certainly aware that we wanted it. Also, we worked with them to expedite the process. For instance, BG notified us of when the DOB inspectors were coming, so that we could make sure that the building was in good shape (for instance: removing all personal articles from the stairways).
I am happy to report that we DID receive our tax abatement, even with just the temporary C of O.
Benson
page 72 says something to the effect that if after 18 months beginning Jan 1, 2007 at least one closing has not occured, the purchasers can get out.
Where does it say in the offering plan that there is a drop dead date of June 30th?
“Sounds aweful, doesn’t it?”
Yup.
And looks it.
12:43pm
Not a contract holder but looked at Novo. I can answer your questions easy: 10%-20% discount per sf to residences a block east, within PS 321, new/clean interiors, parking, one block off 5th Ave and close to subway.
Sounds aweful, doesn’t it?