Renovating a Landmarked Co-op or Condo? It's Now Gotten Easier
Newly Landmarked Park Avenue Historic District
June 16, 2014 — For those in landmarked districts or buildings, tales of endless paperwork and stacks of forms can stop a board from doing needed renovations. But as with all things historical, time has a habit of changing things — even in the workings of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Early last year, the LPC changed the way certain applications were submitted and reviewed, and released a document outlining the streamlined process and offering assistance with filing an application. What does this mean for condo and co-op boards?
For one thing, boards now have a list of work that does not require an application. The majority of these exceptions are, not surprisingly, internal and not aesthetic, such as rubbish compactors, emergency generators, removal of interior partitions and various plumbing and pipe work. Here's a fact sheet for you.
FasTrack and XCNE
As well, to speed things up, the LPC now has an additional special application processes. The newest one is “FasTrack” filing, which applies to six specific types of repairs, including both indoor and outdoor work. The LPC says applications for this work will be approved within 10 days, as long as the paperwork is in order and your building has no outstanding LPC violations. Projects eligible for FasTrack include interior alterations on the first floor and certain work on secondary and non-visible facades.
The previous expedited application is an Expedited Certificate of No Effect (XCNE). This application enables boards to expedite interior work as long it doesn't involve window replacement or penetrating exterior walls or the roof, and if the space is not an interior landmark, among other criteria.
The commission reports that 30 percent of the applications it receives are now either FasTrack or XCNE.
And for landmark hunters, the city has an interactive map that allows users to plug in their address (or even just a ZIP code) to find all of the landmarked neighborhoods, buildings and interiors in a given area. Now that’s bringing history into the 21st century.
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Photo courtesy Landmarks Preservation Commission. Click to enlarge. Fact sheet courtesy RAND Engineering & Architecture.