SITUATION

This landmarked coop building required that owners replace their exterior windows if they renovate. This triggers the need for a Landmark Preservation Commission (LPC) review in addition to the Building and DOB Reviews. The windows that were specified by the building had a 35-week lead time to delivery, which would significantly impact the projects timelines.

CHALLENGE

The windows could not even be ordered until after all 3 entities (the coop, LPC and DOB) approved the plans. Without careful upfront planning this would certainly delay progress of the project.

SOLUTION

mdg proactively confirmed vendor lead times, and then created a comprehensive schedule that illustrated the project critical-path at the beginning of the project. This highlighted that waiting to order the windows until final approvals would delay stone, millwork and window casings by 4-6 weeks. 

In order to expedite the windows, our strategy was to separate the application into two parts: (1) an exterior package for the windows and (2) an interior alteration package. This enabled windows and exterior scopes to be approved first, so the windows could be purchased, while we parallel-pathed the remaining design approvals.