Category: Building Operations

Of all the duties - and challenges - a co-op or condo board has to keep track of, insurance likely doesn't rank among the most thrilling; but of course that's no excuse to remain in the dark about changes to coverage-related legislation. In…

Passed last summer, New York’s Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) is facing a second lawsuit, reports Real Estate Weekly . The New York State Home and Community Renewal Agency (HCR)/Division of Housing and Community Rene…

Most buildings will have to undergo some kind of exterior or facade-related work at some point in their useful lives - it's inevitable. But sometimes those projects can be noisy, dusty, and disruptive to not just the building being worked o…

After 60-year-old architect Erica Tishman was tragically killed the week before Christmas by loose material falling from a building façade near Times Square, the New York Department of Buildings (DOB) is expediting changes to its façade ins…

Few things can negatively impact the appearance of your building (and the morale of the people living in it) like dirty, grimy windows - and deteriorating frames, sashes, and seals can waste hundreds, even thousands of dollars in heating an…

Like people, co-op and condo buildings come in all shapes and sizes, and have different personalities and tastes. Regardless of size however, all buildings face similar challenges – coping with ever-increasing numbers of deliveries, for exa…

Insurance is cyclical; there are hard markets and soft markets, and insurance companies typically make money in two ways: underwriting profit, and investment income. When the market is soft, insurance companies are looking for market share,…

The governing documents of a housing development—be it a cooperative, condominium, or homeowners association—spell out the rules, regulations, and policies that all unit owners or shareholders are obligated to follow as a condition of their…

Like so many other sectors of the economy, residential real estate management has changed and evolved since the turn of the millennium—and like those other sectors, much of that evolution is directly linked to the development and adoption o…

Despite the best intentions of board members, residents, and even managers, co-op and condominium properties don’t always run like well-tuned machines. Sometimes they hit a bump in the road...and sometimes they break down completely. The re…