2017 May
Focus on... Architecture/Design & Recreational Amenities/Programs

Community Living Playground Innovations
2017 May Playground Innovations

Most kids these days have never had more options when it comes to fun: video games and electronic entertainment of every kind are ubiquitous, and all sorts of mobile toys, too. But amid a national childhood obesity epidemic, the need for ch…

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Community Living Restoring Vintage Buildings
2017 May Restoring Vintage Buildings

Your home defines you. It’s where you spend most of your time. It’s where you hang your hat. It’s where you make precious memories with friends and family. And what your home looks like – whether it’s made of glass and steel or brownstone a…

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Community Living Maintaining ‘Niche’ Amenities
2017 May Maintaining ‘Niche’ Amenities

Once upon a time, when someone purchased a condo or co-op, their ownership came with the privilege of using the building’s amenities. Those who lived in a building with a fitness room equipped with treadmills and weights considered themselv…

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Maintenance Façade Cleaning
2017 May Façade Cleaning

Like people, buildings age. Even under the best of atmospheric conditions, dust, dirt and grime accumulate, changing a building’s appearance over time. Often it’s not until a building’s façade is cleaned that one notices how it was dirty to…

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Management Pool Safety
2017 May Pool Safety

According to the Association of Pool and Spa Professionals (APSP), there are 10.4 million residential and 309,000 public swimming pools in the United States. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), an agency that is independent of th…

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Real Estate Trends Rooftop Social Spaces
2017 May Rooftop Social Spaces

Jack and his wife Rachel live in Chicago, happy in a two-bedroom, two-bath condo with a parking spot. Assessments are criminally low, the building is dog friendly and it is literally a half block from a Chicago train stop. While they have a…

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Q&A Q&A: Management Fee Concerning Irrevocable Trust
2017 May Q&A: Management Fee Concerning Irrevocable Trust

Q. My question is about an irrevocable trust I have set up. I would like to put my co-op into the trust. I have paid the co-op’s attorney $700 and submitted appropriate papers. Now the management says first I need to pay them $625 to comp…

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Q&A Q&A: Subletting for Indefinite Periods
2017 May Q&A: Subletting for Indefinite Periods

Q. My Manhattan co-op has a liberal sublet allowance of four out of six years, and a five percent sublet fee. The person who purchased the apartment above me has been permitted to sublet for 7 1/2 years now. I have had a lot of problems d…

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