After years of battling persistent leaks, Northbridge Park Co-op in Fort Lee recently completed a $1.6 million exterior repair program.
Water is a formidable foe, and keeping it from infiltrating a building is a constant battle, as one New Jersey cooperative knows all too well.
RAND recently completed a major exterior repair program at Northbridge Park, a 14-story residential co-op in Fort Lee that was suffering from serious leaks and water damage—and lots of complaints from shareholders and residents.
Leaks From Every Corner
The exterior of the 48-year-old, 280-apartment property, located at 2200 North Central Road, had been repaired over the years, but that didn’t prevent water infiltration and deterioration, especially after heavy rains and then Hurricane Irene in 2011. "We had leaks coming out of every corner of the building," said Allan Heussinger, chairman of the co-op’s engineering committee. To get a better understanding of the extent of the leakage and the overall condition of the facades, the board hired RAND to do an engineering survey.
As expected, the findings were not encouraging. RAND discovered defects in the original construction, blocked and missing weep holes, cracked inner walls, and concrete deteriorating so badly it was falling off, especially from the spandrel beams, which posed an obvious safety hazard.
Based on the survey findings, RAND developed a repair and upgrade program, which included repairing defective brickwork, spandrel concrete, cast stone windowsill segments, and coping stones, as well as completely removing and replacing more than 15,000 linear feet of waterproofing membrane.
No Change Orders
Knowing that it was undertaking such a huge project, the board refinanced its underlying mortgage to finance the work. Construction, which RAND administered, began in September 2012 and was completed on time about a year later. The cost was approximately $1.6 million, with no change orders on the base bid.
Throughout the job, RAND met with the board regularly and kept the directors informed with detailed weekly reports. “This board is very proactive," said the co-op's general manager Christopher J. West. "They are a great board to work with, and this is a great place to live."
The board also has other major capital improvements planned, including replacing the chiller, installing new exhaust fans, and restoring the garage deck.
In the meantime, the building is finally staying dry and, as Heussinger notes, “on solid footing and going in the right direction.”
For more on this project, see the article in Habitat magazine.
Esin Pektas is a Senior Architect at RAND.
