Kew Gardens Hills home additions

The detached and semi-detached houses around Kew Gardens Hills sit mostly on R3 and R4 type lots, which means your buildable square footage is governed by FAR, required side and rear yards, and a lot coverage cap rather than by how much open ground you have. Before we draw anything, we measure the lot, pull the existing certificate of occupancy, and calculate how much floor area you have left so the addition you picture is one the DOB will actually permit.

For the postwar detached homes here, the most feasible moves are usually a rear extension into the back yard or a one-story bump-out off the kitchen or a bedroom, both of which respect the side yards that these lots depend on. A full second story is possible on many of these houses, but it hinges on the existing foundation and framing, your remaining FAR, and the perimeter wall and yard rules, so we confirm structural capacity early instead of late. Co-op and apartment units follow a different path: the work stays inside the unit footprint and runs through board approval and alteration agreements rather than a yard expansion.

Every addition that touches the building envelope goes through DOB filing, typically as an Alt-1 or Alt-2 with a registered architect or engineer, plumbing and electrical sign-offs, and inspections through to a new or amended certificate of occupancy. We coordinate that filing, the contractor of record, and the trades so the addition is legal on paper and sound in the framing, not just finished on the surface.