Brick Underground

It’s important to set realistic expectations from the outset regarding what can be accomplished from a budget, scope, and timeline perspective. Compromises in brownstone renovations mostly arise because of budget constraints, which is tied to scope. Simply put, brownstone renovations are big projects. 

If you're looking for an apartment close to a subway, consider a new report from the listings site RentHop, which maps rental prices for one-bedroom apartments by train stop to see which way prices are going. It found that overall, the median rent for one bedrooms went up by 3 percent in the past 12 months.

There are four things to consider in every brownstone renovation: Timeframe, design, compliance, and build costs, says Anna Karp, CEO and co-founder of Bolster, a New York City-based design-build firm that has created a seamless renovation experience by delivering industry-leading expertise and a radically transparent process.

“Before you begin, you should know that renovating a brownstone is a very ambitious project. It’s like climbing the Mount Everest of renovations,” says Anna Karp, COO and co-founder of Bolster, a New York City-based design-build firm that has created a seamless renovation experience.

An analysis by the Community Service Society shows that evictions declined over five times faster in NYC zip codes where the Right to Counsel law is in effect compared to zip codes without Right to Counsel that have comparable rates of poverty, eviction, and rental units.

A couple, who had been living in the ground-floor one-bedroom apartment of their Harlem brownstone, hoped to move into the building's upper triplex, but an accessibility issue required the reconstruction of the main stairwell. They worked with Bolster to transform the brownstone’s upper triplex into a home in which they could grow old together.