ATLANTIC TOWERS, P.2

Discussions among the board members and the three-member lobby-renovation committee "were endless," Stern recalls, which is usual and far better than not enough. Both she and Letkovsky give the board kudos for being, as the latter puts it, "very generous in their time throughout construction. There was a great deal of positive energy that came from them and Arlene, and that increased the quality level of the project. Frank Reda was a project construction manager who'd worked on substantial hospital projects and Jaime Diaz is a principal of a mechanical HVAC company. I was dealing with professionals, not novices."

As well, "Dialog was always in abundance," Letkovsky says. "We had a lot of project meetings on site, at least once a week, and a lot of phone communication."

The project ran from winter 2008 through spring 2009, with all the normal, attendant construction mess and detours to side entrances. Was it worth it? Well, the $1.3 million renovation pro rates to $2,653 for each of the 490 apartments. And if it doesn't increase the resale value of each apartment by at least that, well, we'd have to renovate our whole view of real estate.

Photos courtesy Andreas Letkovsky. See more renovation photos >>