In the Matter of the Application of 4-6 White Street, Inc.
ORDER
NEW YORK CITY
LOFT BOARD
In the Matter of the Application of
4-6 White Street, Inc.
/ Loft Board Order No. 2807Docket No. LE-0267
Re: 4-6 White Street
New York, New York
IMD No. 10408Order:
The Loft Board accepts in part and modifies in part the report and recommendation of Hearing Officer Arthur Bangs, dated May 23, 2003.
The post-legalization rent adjustment for Units 3A, 3B, 4A, 5B and 6B at 46 White Street is determined to be as set forth in the report and recommendation. The initial legal regulated rent for the units is as follows:
3A: / $794.643B: / $794.64
4A: / $398.57
5B: / $794.64
6B: / $794.64
The term for the rent of these units is December 1, 2001 through November 30, 2003. All other registered units have been bought out pursuant to Multiple Dwelling Law [MDL] §286(12) and are not subject to rent regulation.
The report and recommendation is modified insofar as the owner submitted a MDL §286(12) Sales Record for Unit 5A on May 29, 2003, thereby making the unit no longer subject to rent regulation.
4-6 White Street, Inc., the owner of the building, is directed to register Units 3A, 3B, 4A, 5B and 6B with the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal [DHCR].[*] Furthermore, the owner is directed to provide the residential occupants of these six units with residential leases subject to the provisions regarding evictions and regulations of rent set forth in the Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974, pursuant to the terms set forth in the report and recommendation.
Effective the date of this order, this building is no longer an IMD building, and is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Loft Board.
DATED:June 19, 2003
Leslie Torres
Executive Director
DATE LOFT BOARD ORDER MAILED:
Members Concurring:Chairperson Rauch, Barowitz, DeLaney, Mason, Schill, Vitullo-Martin, Wilde-Biasiny (7)
NEW YORK CITY
LOFT BOARD
In the Matter of the Application of4-6 White Street, Inc.
/ REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONDocket No. LE-0267
RE: 4-6 White Street
New York, New York
IMD No. 10408
ARTHUR BANGS, Hearing Officer
Background
On May 2, 2000, 4-6 White Street, Inc. [the owner] submitted a Rent Adjustment Application for Units 3A, 3B, 4A, 5A, 5B and 6B at 4-6 White Street, New York, New York, pursuant to 29 Rules of the City of New York [RCNY] §2-01(i)(2). The owner had previously filed a Notice of Rent Guidelines Board [RGB] Increase, docketed as RG0187, for Units 3A, 3B, 4A, 5A, 5B and 6B on November 30, 2001.
Upon receipt of the rent adjustment application, the Loft Board audited the application in accordance with 29 RCNY §2-01(i)(2)(iii)(A). On November 20, 2002, the residential occupants of Units 3A, 3B, 4A, 5A, 5B and 6B, were sent copies of the owner’s application and the auditor’s report for their respective units. The owner was sent a copy of the auditor’s report as well.
Under 29 RCNY §2-01(i)(2)(iii)(C), residential occupants have 45 days to respond following the mailing by the Loft Board of the auditor’s report. Upon a request by their attorney, the tenants of the six units were granted an extension to January 27, 2003 in which to respond to the audited application. On January 27, 2003, the tenants submitted a response to the audited application, disputing several items in the schedule of costs.
On January 29, 2003, the case was transferred to the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. In a stipulation of settlement dated May 1, 2003, the owner and the tenants set forth the base rent amounts and agreed upon a code compliance payment schedule for the six units.
Analysis
The record shows that the final certificate of occupancy (#118539) for the subject building was issued on December 29, 1999. The certificate of occupancy lists eleven loft dwellings, two per floor on the second, third, fifth and sixth floors, and three on the fourth floor.
According to the Loft Board’s records, the building was originally registered by the owner as an interim multiple dwelling [IMD] with ten IMD units, two per floor on each of the second through sixth floors, on April 8, 1983. In 1994 the building's registration information was updated to include an eleventh unit on the fourth floor. The Loft Board’s records also indicate that the owner bought the rights to Unit 2A on November 30, 1990, the rights to Unit 6A on November 11, 1982, the rights to Unit 4B on December 14, 1994, the rights to Unit 4C on July 11, 2000, and the rights to Unit 2B on October 1, 2000. Pursuant to §§286(6) and (12) of the Multiple Dwelling Law [MDL], none of these five units are subject to rent regulation.
Terms of the Stipulation of Settlement
Under the terms of the stipulation of settlement, the base rent amounts on both the date of the issuance of the building's certificate of occupancy on December 29, 1999 and the date of the filing of the Notice of RGB Increase on November 30, 2001 were as follows:
Unit / Base Rent Amount3A / $779.06
3B / $779.06
4A / $390.75
5A / $779.06
5B / $779.06
6B / $779.06
The tenants selected RGB increases applicable to two-year leases, and the rents were adjusted by 2%, the applicable RGB increase on November 30, 2001, the date of the filing of the Notice of RGB Increase.
Unit / Rent with RGB Increase3A / $794.64
3B / $794.64
4A / $398.57
5A / $794.64
5B / $794.64
6B / $794.64
The period of these rent levels is December 1, 2001 through November 30, 2003. The rent levels should be deemed the initial legal regulated rent for the respective units.
In the stipulation of settlement, the owner and tenants agree upon the following prospective monthly code compliance passalong amounts:
Unit / Prospective PassAlong3A / $82.70
3B / $92.72
4A / $84.94
5A / $82.03
5B / $82.89
6B / $106.58
The tenants agree to pay these passalong amounts prospectively for 80 months, starting on May 1, 2003.
In addition, the tenant agree to pay the passalong amounts that have accumulated from January 1, 2000 to April 30, 2003 at the rate of 20% of their base rents as of December 29, 1999 for the number of months indicated, plus a final payment, as follows:
Unit / 20% of Base Rent / Total Retroactive Amount / Monthly Retroactive Amount / Final Payment3A / $155.81 / $3,308.00 / $155.81 for 21 months / $35.99
3B / $155.81 / $3,708.80 / $155.81 for 23 months / $125.17
4A / $78.15 / $3,397.60 / $78.15 for 38 months / $47.90
5A / $155.81 / $3,281.20 / $155.81 for 21 months / $9.19
5B / $155.81 / $3,315.60 / $155.81 for 21 months / $43.59
6B / $155.81 / $4,263.20 / $155.81 for 27months / $56.33
Items of General Applicability
The owner must register the building as a multiple dwelling with the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development [HPD], and must register Units 3A, 3B, 4A, 5A, 5B and 6B with the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal [DHCR] as rent stabilized units. See 29 RCNY §2-01(m); see also MDL §286(3). Furthermore, the adjustments attributed to the cost of code compliance do not become part of the base rent for the purpose of calculating future rent adjustments pursuant to Rent Guidelines Board increases. See MDL §286(5) and 29 RCNY §201(m).
The owner must offer the residential occupants of Units 3A, 3B, 4A, 5A, 5B and 6B leases subject to the provisions of the Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974 and the Rent Stabilization Law and Code. See MDL §286(3) and 29 RCNY §201(m). Pursuant to 29 RCNY §201(m), the terms of these leases shall end upon the expiration of the RGB increase period currently in effect, which will be November 30, 2003. The monthly rent for these leases should be the initial legal regulated rent set forth above and the code compliance passalong amount.
Recommendation
I recommend that the Loft Board grant the instant application under the terms provided in this report. In addition, I recommend that 4-6 White Street, LLC, the owner of the subject building, be directed to register the building with HPD and Units 3A, 3B, 4A, 5A, 5B and 6B with DHCR. I also recommend that the owner be directed to provide the rent-regulated residential occupants with leases subject to the provisions regarding eviction and regulation of rent set forth in the Emergency Tenant Protection Act.
Arthur Bangs
Hearing Officer
Dated: May 23, 2003
1
[*] As a point of information, the owner must register the building with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, under MDL §325, before the building can be registered with DHCR.