Washington Plaza

[7]

Thanks everyone for all the comments here, they are really useful.

We are thinking about buying an apartment in Washington Plaza and were wondering if anyone had comments about the shared laundry situation. Our understanding is that the shared laundry in the basement is closed at night and early in the morning, is that right? When it is open, is it hard to get a machine?

Thanks!

[JacksonHeightsCPA]

Hey 7 -

That is correct.  Access to the basement is restricted overnight.

I have only had one instance in the last year where are all the washing machines were full and I had to come back at another time....and that was only because it looked one person was doing six weeks worth of laundry and filled up every machine.  Usually, there is at least one machine available.

[Simka]

My luck with the machines being available is not as good as JacksonHeightsCPA's. I just need one washer/one dryer, and there are times I go down and not even one washer is available. Or my washing is done but the dryers are all full.

Of course, there are two laundry rooms. If there's nothing free in one, you can trek over to the other one—you might luck out.

BTW, the basement (including laundry rooms) closes at 9:00 p.m. When the courtyard sidewalks were being redone and we couldn't enter our buildings that way, the basement was open all night, with guys stationed at two doors to let people in. You could do your laundry late at night, and you could come in through the side doors if you got home after 9, rather than walking around to the front. It was fun while it lasted.

[Joyce45]

My experience has been the same as with other buildings. No real issue - as long as you don't wait to do a month of laundry and try to get in at prime time. On occasion you might have to wait, go to the other room or try another day. It is fine. I'm not waiting around all weekend and my clothes are clean.

[Lilybell]

I think the basement hours will have to increase when the gym is finished. 6am seems early, but it's really not when you consider a 45 minute workout and then having to go shower before work. I don't think it makes any difference to simply change the elevator timer so we can go down a 5am instead of 6am. Honestly, I think keeping the basement locked between midnight - 5:00 am would be reasonable.

[7]

Thanks everyone for the laundry info!

Apparently it is not possible for every apartment to have an internal laundry, due to the contract with the shared laundry company in the basement (Hercules laundry corp?) that artificially limits the number of internal laundries in the building

[Lilybell]

Where did you hear that?  That's not the reason.

The building cannot handle the water pressure from multiple washers and dryers and we would have soapy water backing up into our sinks. There are no hookups and it would have to replace your dishwasher.  It's the reason you don't see individual washers and dryers in most pre-war buildings.

Only the 3 and 4 bedrooms have them (there are only a few apartments that large so it doesn't cause problems. But it's not feasible for 194 apartments). 

Also, even if it were possible logistically, it would increase our maintenance fees because of huge increases in the water bill - and we'd have to absorb the bill from all of the stabilized tenants.

[7]

Where did you hear that?

From an agent, but we haven't seen the contract with Hercules to confirm it. Have you seen it?

BTW, it looks like not even all the 3+ bedroom apartments are getting laundries (e.g. http://wplazanyc.com/availability/ has one listed without a laundry). Odd...

[Lilybell]

The agent fed you a line of BS. My agent lied to me about the bathroom flooring during the buying process. It's easier to blame the laundry room provider than to say the water supply can't handle it.

Maybe it's in the contract, but it's meaningless. It wouldn't change anything if it weren't in the contract.

The 3-bedroom you are referring to without laundry is a converted two bedroom (if you meant D35). I think it might only be the true three-bedrooms that have laundry hookups. But I'm not positive! I would love to have laundry in our apartments. I'd give up my dishwasher for it if I had to choose.

[7]

The agent fed you a line of BS.

Thanks for the info! We would also trade a dishwasher for a laundry any day.

[7]

Maybe silly question, but does the sponsor control the board at Washington Plaza, at least until more apartments are sold? Or are the residents running the board now?

Asking because I'm a bit curious, if residents are running the board now, then why allow some residents to have washing machines while not allowing others to? I mean, if the issue is the old pipes, then the board could decide to fix the pipes, right? Or, the board could even decide to ban all washing machines, in order to be "fairer" for everyone, right?

[Lilybell]

The sponsor didn't promise something and then reneg on it - the only apartments with laundry are the ones that were two apartments that were merged into one - they were massive gut renos so they were able to add laundry hook-ups. They were added as a selling-point to the very largest units (I don't know the exact number - maybe 4 or 5 units?). It's not like they always had laundry and no one else did - it only happened with the gut renovations.

The other apartments were never advertised to have in-unit laundry and I think it's even in the contract that we can't have them.

The building just can't handle the water pressure it would take to have laundry hookups in every apartment - it would be a sudsy mess. And like I wrote in an earlier comment, I sure as hell don't want higher maintenance fees  - we'd have to eat the cost for the renters as well.

The cost to modernize the piping system would be prohibitive. It's the reason you don't see pre-war buildings with in-unit laundry - it's just not feasible. The pipes at Washington Plaza were modernized about 5 years ago - but adding laundry hook-ups is a whole other ballgame. 

However, the laundry room hours really don't affect things all that much. I do laundry at around 6 or 7 am on weekends and I rarely even see another human.  I can only think of two times when I had to come back later because the room was full (that's two times in 11 years). 

If it's something you absolutely need then you'd probably have better luck with post-war buildings.

[7]

Thanks again for all the info! We saw a single (not combined) apartment that had a laundry too, I think D05, but that might be an exception.

[Lilybell]

I think D05 is two units combined into one. I can't remember if I'm thinking of the correct apartment - it's on the right when you enter the lobby to the building (across from the elevator).

[MrPlaza]

I can't imagine a single unit having a laundry hook-up. Lilybell hit on all the correct points. I'm not going to lie, having laundry in our unit is a godsend. But if I didn't have it, I don't think I'd lobby for redoing the pipes to accommodate. It's simply not worth it. The cost would be astronomical.

But to answer your first question: No, the residents don't control the board. The Sponsor does, and she always will. I don't believe she ever plans to own less than 51%.