Prewar Apt Combo & Remodel on the UWS
40 W 72nd St, NYC
Construction Duration for Combination of 3 BR/3Bath apartment with 2 BR Estate: 7 months with COVID interruption (Planning phase including Approvals and Permits 11 months, 3 zone Central Air Complete Gut Renovation of the Estate 2 Bedroom, 2 Bath apartment removing its gas kitchen, expanding wet over dry for Master Bath, and combining with the existing 3 Bedroom, 3 Bath into a 2,500 sf, 4 BR, 4 1/2 Bath with Family Room, Formal Open Dining Room and Living Room, Classic Foyer with tons of storage, Wall to wall radiator cover/storage in almost every room and more!!
UWS Prewar Apartment Combination & Remodel
The goal was to combine the apartments utilizing every inch of space we could, moving wet over dry for the Master Suite created as one wing, opening the Family room between the Formal/Open Dining Room and Living Room with 6 foot pocket doors. Adding Central Air required sound testing meeting NYC Code. This required building and engineering reviews, Board Approvals, Landmark Approvals, Full DOB plan reviews to pull DOB permits. The Building Architect and Engineering reviews and final Co-op Board approval was faster then we anticipated, with permits taking longer then expected, and then COVID stopped us completely! Yet, we managed to finish construction overall in 6 1/2 months, a little longer with COVID start/stop factors.
40 West 72nd Street, NYC: Our Remodel Challenges
This was a complicated project for demo with the 2 BR side being an estate condition apartment that required ripping open walls to change kitchen, moving the master bathroom over dry areas, adding a powder bath off the foyer. Ripping up old wood floors and leveling between the apartments is always a challenge, bedrooms and adding closets, new radiators where we were adding sleeves for condensers creating new openings for three 2 ton Condensers through the walls and new duct runs to the Air Handler locations. Always challenges leveling subfloors and we ripped out the estate side floors to add new, matching the existing apartment with Pre War details and a beautiful Provincial stain with a beautiful satin finish. We custom built wall to wall covers, with the most difficult being the Condensers in two bedrooms. Complete rewiring in the new apartment side to integrate the load balancing between apartments, dropped ceilings, added soundproofing so we couldn’t hear the adjoining apartments in the walls and under the new wood floor, new plumbing for the bathrooms, wall paper in specific rooms, wall changes to combine rooms/ reconfigure layout with new pocket doors, closet changes, new door openings, and all new door/door hardware. Every detail, from baths to trim, is perfection!
We installed matching new oak floors (2 1/4”) with a herringbone field and borders in the foyer, framed the floor with borders in the living room/dining room along with flush saddles, one of my must haves, and stained Provincial throughout was a nod to its PreWar heritage. Expanded the Kitchen with extending the peninsula facing the Family Room to create a bar and hutch for extra storage. We added a wine cooler and coffee bar with additional storage in between the dining room with another pocket door entrance to the kitchen. We added crown molding, straightened out the ceiling beams over the more than 25 foot open living room/dining room along with new window casings replacing the 100 years of paint to create a crisp, new tailored finish. Every room has Custom built-ins to hide the radiators with integrated pure white Caesarstone tops to complete this Pre War transformation into a great family home!
A 2500-sf Transformation into a Prewar NYC Oasis
Coupled with extremely difficult approvals by management, and despite the COVID Disruption, we were able to transform this apartment into an amazing, classic Prewar with an open main living area when desired thanks to pocket doors! We know that they were truly amazed at how we were able to create their gorgeous New York home with Central Air and their specific input that perfectly suits their lifestyle and tastes, despite challenges every step of the way!! It exceeded both our expectations!!