Projects Around Town: Sealing a Sidewalk to Keep Water Out

The co-op hired Sullivan Engineering to work on the building’s sidewalk reconstruction and William Rogers Architects to plan a simultaneous aesthetic upgrade — extending the iron fencing to the ends of the front enclosure of the building and installing planters on the sidewalk. The budget for the sidewalk and ironwork was about $450,000.Unfortunately, tight schedules, even tighter quarters along the sidewalk and a spell of bad weather combined to make work hard and slow. "We did our best to let everybody in the co-op know that this would be a lengthy and noisy project," says board member Christen Johansen, "but we had to get the quality of design that we wanted."

Close Quarters

The limited physical space around the sidewalk caused logistical problems. The construction area was so close to neighboring work and properties that it affected the project, reports Adam McManus, the engineer. "Right across the street, there was façade restoration work being done on some New York University housing simultaneous to our work, so they had equipment on a shared one-way street, and various utilities contractors were doing street construction in the area all summer as well," he says.

Luckily, the co-op's resourceful superintendent, Faruk Karce, was always present and ready to help. Says Johansen: "He was instrumental in not only keeping eyes and ears open on site for us, but also dealing with tenants and facilitating the contractors' work."The bulk of the sidewalk reconstruction work finished in November 2013; the metalwork was completed this spring. The sidewalk is waterproofed and looks new."People know this is a building that cares about its aesthetic, so it was very encouraging in the latter months of the work when passers-by would feel the need to stop and say they like how it's looking," McManus says. "It's a good feeling to have that kind of impact. I know the building is proud of that.’ Project start: June 2013Project end: May 2014

PROJECT 

● Repairing and redesigning sidewalk● Repairing ironwork and installing new planters● Waterproofing and replacing concrete

INVESTMENT

$450,000

PARTICIPANTS

Larry Hohlt, board president Adam McManus, engineer, Sullivan Engineering William Rogers, design consultant, William Rogers ArchitectsFaruk Karce, superintendent Christen Johansen, board member  

RECENT SALES

5/8/2014: $1,285,000 9/16/2013: $1,600,0005/7/2013: $1,350,000

FINANCIALS

Estimated market value: $30,687,000Assessed value: $11,654,637 For more, see our Site Map or join our Archive >>Photo courtesy Sullivan Engineering