Queens Co-op Seeks $3 Million in Tax Breaks After Landmarks Window Win

At The Berkeley, a 288-unit prewar co-op in Jackson Heights, the board is hoping to recoup $3 million in tax breaks after replacing more than 2,600 windows at the three-building complex. The tax abatement, through the newly reintroduced J-51 R program, is offered to qualifying co-ops and condos for major building upgrades. For The Berkeley, it would offset the $5 million cost of the project, which received approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). “If approved, we will get a tax saving of $3.1 million over eight to nine years,” says board president Walter Chadwick.

This would be a major win for the co-op, which refinanced the buildings’ mortgage when rates were low pre-pandemic, knowing the window replacement was overdue. “Windows were not closing properly; there were drafts in winter; glass was fogged,” Chadwick says. The J-51 R abatement program is limited to buildings with an average assessed apartment value at or below $45,000 (a figure used by the city for tax purposes, not actual market value). If successful, Chadwick says the board will keep the maintenance as it is. “We are going to put that money back in our somewhat depleted reserves,” he says.

In order to move forward with the upgrades, the co-op faced a unique challenge related to the history of the windows at two of the co-op’s neo-Georgian buildings. The original windows were casements, a style that swings open like cabinet doors. In the 1980s, these were replaced with double-hung windows, which slide up and down, making it easier to install air conditioning units. In 1993, the area where the co-op sits, spanning 77th and 78th Streets and along 35th Avenue, was designated a Historic District. In planning the recent window upgrades, the board had to persuade the LPC to allow the buildings to retain the double-hung windows instead of reverting to the original casement style, which would have been consistent with preservation requirements.

In order to get the necessary approvals, the windows needed to have the same look as casements even though they were double hung. The approval process took about a year, far longer than expected, and included a review by the full Commission at a public hearing. The result: The Berkeley is the first building in the Jackson Heights Historic District, a planned co-op and garden apartment community, to gain approval to retain non-original, double-hung windows when the original design featured casements.

As the window project moved slowly forward, the building decided to address water damage in about a third of apartments. “They were wind-driven leaks,” says Douglas J. Lister, the architect who oversaw both the waterproofing and window replacement project. Although the leaks were relatively minor, they had persisted after a facade repair project around 10 years earlier. A decision to make these repairs from the inside generated some savings, avoiding the need for scaffolding and masonry work on the brick exterior. Instead, a stucco waterproofing was added to the inside of affected apartments — a strategy that more than halved the cost of the $1.2 million project. “If we had tried to do that from the exterior it would have been $3 million,” Lister says.

To spare the budget, the building decided not to replace the co-op’s hallway windows as part of the upgrades. However, the board has LPC approval to streamline its application when they happen at a later date. Various other factors — including an increase in the price of aluminum — required the board to implement an assessment for the windows. Each shareholder is paying an average of around $100 per month for the next three years to cover the additional cost. However, in addition to the J51-R application, the co-op has submitted an application for state funding through the Historic Homeowners Rehabilitation Credit. If successful, this could generate a payback of $960,000 with shareholders receiving more than $3,000 each, almost covering the cost of the assessment.