Bill Rothchild

PLAN FOURTH FLOOR

1955 to encourage improvement of existing apartment buildings, for which the owner received a reduction in the real estate taxes instead of the usual increase in line with the higher valuation. In 1976 the law was broadened to include nonresidential buildings that could be converted to apartments, co-ops, and condominiums. Subject to New York's own rental laws and eligible for Mitchell-Lama limited profit financing, the program prompted the creation of 3580 units of housing city-wide between March 1976 and March 1977.

Despite the latitude in the city program, however, illegal conversion still goes on. The J-51 law requires owners to conform to local zoning laws and codes before qual-

tures special options addressing the 30-ft rear yard requirement. The law now allows apartment windows to open onto a 20-ft rear yard, a 20-ft interior space, or onto the street. The ten percent ratio of windows-to-floor area in the living room now shifts gradually to 5 percent in 1000 ft spaces.

Still, as architect-developers Peter Nelson and David Solomon point out, tracking down good J-51 buildings isn't that easy. The right kind of dimensions and orientation of the existing building are needed for units that will be competitive with other housing. The structural system of loft buildings more frequently yields long dark bowling-alley-type apartments that may not prove to be very marketable. (Although

PLAN 19TH FLOOR