Rendering of a new building in Crown Heights, Brooklyn by Marios Drakos
Alternate rendering of the same new building in Crown Heights, Brooklyn by Marios Drakos
Yes, I develop properties. No, I am not Trump...................
If you are familiar with New York city, you will know that we New Yorkers live in all kinds of weird housing. From houses built in 1880 to apartment buildings built in 2016. Mostly, it is houses built in-between.
I live in a high-rise built in 1957!
My apartment building. Photo by Ritu Saheb, Architect, AIA
Yes, New York housing stock is O-L-D................, which is where I come in. More as a Re-developer, than a Developer. I maximize the built-area of these buildings, upgrade them, modernize them, then put them back on the market for the common man (or woman).
Why aren't we building new buildings? A non-New Yorker may ask.
Well, there are no vacant lots, Everything is built over. If a stray lot remains, building new structure is DAMN difficult. As is assembling lots; moving rent-stabilized tenants is difficult too. Adding to old buildings is hard enough as it is. Regulations, regulations, regulations!
Two West Village townhouses developed with FZAD and HM Ventures. Photo by Ritu Saheb, AIA
Check out two properties I re-developed with FZAD and HM Ventures: 13 Eight Avenue and 21 Eight Avenue in West Village, Manhattan.
Stay tuned, we will talk about the development process in New York city in coming weeks.