Page 15 - CooperatorNews New York January 2022

COOPERATORNEWS.COM COOPERATORNEWS — JANUARY 2022 15 Providing Practical Legal Advice and Representation to Cooperative and Condominium Associations for More Than Forty Years • General Counsel • Residential and Commercial Real Estate and Leasing • Real Estate and Commercial Litigation • Mortgage Financing • Commercial, Corporate and Business Law • Comme • Mitchell-Lama Housing • Transfer Agent Services • Construction Law and Gas Conversions Jack Lepper: jlepper@kll-law.com Ronald Gold: rgold@kll-law.com Adam Finkelstein: afinkelstein@kll-law.com Fran Lawless: flawless@kll-law.com Fran L ‘boutique’ doesn’t mean a company with less ply don’t take them on. Your decision should ability or experience. “Boutique fi rm man- agers will fi nd what the client needs,” says who off ers the services you need, and what David Goldoff , president of Camelot Realty type of relationship you want to have. Large Group, a New York City-based management companies can provide great service, but fi rm. “If necessary, boutique fi rms will go out smaller fi rms know more about the property. and hire someone to fi ll a specifi c need for a Th ey know every customer and unit owner. client. A big company might have someone Do you want a close, day-to-day relationship? like that already, but access is typically lim- ited.” Aft er all, with a huge portfolio of clients you like. You need a good fi t.” to cover, that in-house person may be han- dling problems at numerous properties. “So sue is whether a property employs a staff that size is not the issue,” says Goldoff . “Expertise needs to be managed. If there are doormen, is, and that applies to any management fi rm concierges, handymen, etc., a larger man- of any size. It’s really more about access and agement fi rm may be more likely to have attention to individual client needs.” Andrew Marks has seen both sides of this component, including personnel and payroll quandary. He is senior vice president of new management. business and marketing for New York-based management fi rm Maxwell-Kates and was face diff erent needs. Th ey rarely have a build- president of his Manhattan co-op for seven ing staff to speak of, and with fewer owners/ years. (Maxwell-Kates is a subsidiary of Asso- cia Community Management Corp, located experience among board members and trust- in Fairfi eld, New Jersey.) According to Marks, ees, and therefore need more support from “Large fi rms off er the potential for greater re- sources and bulk purchasing options to be overseeing the fi nancial health of the com- accessed for the benefi t of managed prop- erty, board, and community. Larger scale also vidualized approach of a boutique fi rm spe- means more stability and staying power in cializing in small co-ops and condos might the event of a downturn, as we’ve seen with be in order. COVID. “On the other hand,” he continues, “mar- ket pressures and a ‘grow at all costs’ men- tality can stretch managers and back-offi ce sponsiveness, and communications from operations, leading to breakdowns in basic their managing agent. Th ey can’t rely on communications and responsiveness, one of their management company to do the ba- the biggest frustrations and most common sics, and too much falls on the shoulders of complaints I’ve seen from my vantage point board members. Th is is actually an issue for on both sides of the table.” For Daniel Wollman, CEO of Gumley of our larger competitors as their managing Haft , a management company serving about agent, as well as \\\[those that use\\\] some of the 6,000 units across 75 New York coopera- tive and condominium buildings, “personal in my 210-unit co-op for fi ve years, and while service is the diff erence. Because we are a we did have a larger corporate entity as our smaller company, we are nimble and fl exible. managing agent, until we demanded more We work with less red tape, and have fewer accountability and attention, we experienced layers to get through in order to get some- thing done, whether managing a renovation nication and attentiveness, as well as a lack or a complicated repair job.” Wollman adds of innovation. \\\[Th ey weren’t\\\] as nimble with that “our managers communicate daily with things like technology, communications, and superintendents and resident managers of other necessary innovations.” all our buildings, and stay in touch with our board members throughout the week. We are fl exible and accessible, in a way that simply cannot happen in larger companies.” Building Size & the Choice of Management Should your choice of a management turn may infl uence what management model company be based on the size of your associ- ation or corporation? Clearly, a 200-unit high of larger management fi rms, getting a prompt rise with a full staff has diff erent needs than response from a manager on questions about a 10-unit walk-up, or an 80-unit townhouse fi nancial issues can sometimes be a problem; development with acres of landscaping, but in the case of smaller fi rms, sometimes there your choice should still be made based on the is a lack (real or perceived) of individual spe- needs of the community as a whole, not ex- clusively on its size. DiNocco says, “Communities should pick a management fi rm with which they can have a good relationship and work as a team. Th e truth is that many larger fi rms can’t make a profi t from smaller properties, so they sim- not be based on large or small, but rather on Or does that not really matter? It’s about what Goldoff points out that one important is- the ability to handle the human resources Smaller corporations and associations members, they may have a shallower pool of management in terms of understanding and munity. In this case, the more tailored, indi- Marks observes that “many clients com- plain of the same pain points over and over: they suff er from a lack of attentiveness, re- both clients we’ve interviewed that have one smaller agents. I was president of my board quite a bit of frustration with lack of commu- Board Confi dence & Management Support One area of particular concern to board members and trustees is their ability to un- derstand and adequately monitor the fi nan- cial health of their community—and this in feels best for their co-op or HOA. In the case cialization within the fi rm about those issues. Boards may question their current manage- WHAT SIZE... continued from page 1 continued on page 16