601 West 136th Street, HDFC

Beautifully designed by the Architectural firm of NEVILLE & BAGGE it was ready for occupancy in 1907 in time for the inauguration of the IRT # 1 subway line to and from 137th Street and Broadway in Hamilton Square.

The building provides apartments in 3 confortable sizes: 4 1/2 rooms of approximately 950 Sq. Ft.; 5 1/2 rooms of approximately 1150 Sq. Ft. and 6 1/2 rooms approximately 1300 Sq. Ft. Additionally this mixed use building offers approximately 4000 Sq. Ft. of commercial space designed to accomodate 7 stores and the corresponding basement area, on the Broadway side of the building.

Since 1988

In September 1988 the Tenants of 601 West 136th Street entered the Tenant Interim Lease (TIL) Program of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development,(HPD), Division of Alternative Management.

The Tenant's Organizing Committee consisted of: Cecilia C. Calderon*, Miguel Latuf, Lorraine Latuf*, Emma Flores*, William V. Morales, Michael J. Palma, William J. Palma*, Daniel Paulino and Jordi Reyes-Montblanc*.

On May 7th 1993 the Tenants purchased the building from the City of New York and converted into an HDFC cooperative. The Tenant's Organizing Committee was elected as the Board of Governance that upon conversion to cooperative became elected the Board of Directors. Through the years, Frank Llanusa, Sonia Peralta and Silvio Cevallos have served as members of the Board several times.

The Board of Directors through the years has gut rehabilitated 36 of its 38 apartments and renovated the basement and public areas of the building, the façade of the building, installed a new solid steel decorative replacement fence of similar design as the original.

The maintenance charges for the shareholders is based on $50.00 per room, the bathrooms counting as 1/2 room. The few rental units are priced at less than one fourth the current market rents. These prices are possible as the building's Broadway side, has 7 commercial spaces occupied by 3 stores. The commercial rents are fixed at approximately 50% of the market rate to insure that the merchants can afford the rent without having to opt for some of the illegal or extra-legal practices not infrequently found in the area, and yet the income derived by the cooperative is sufficient to be able to afford the constant improvements on the building structure and in the quality of life conditions.

The tenant-shareholders have initiated, supported and advanced many projects for the benefit of the neighborhood including the planting of trees on the block and the neighborhood, promoting quality of life actions and initiatives and providing leadership for several of the most active civic organizations of the area.

Located at the southern end of Hamilton Heights, at Hamilton Square, The Saxonia shareholders-home-owners and residents have made tremendous efforts in support of this resurgent part of the Heights.

* Denotes Current Members of the 2001 Board of Directors

The Third Millennium

As the 3rd Millennium starts The Saxonia faces a future of prosperity and comfort.

Further rehabilitation and renewal plans are under way to make The Saxonia, the Pride of Hamilton Heights.

The excellent management of the HDFC is performed by the very experienced Board of Directors.

Among the amenities available to the shareholders and tenants of The Saxonia are digital cable TV, (the standard Time-Warner package plus one premium channel), for $15 per month.

Reduced electric cost and energy conservation. By placing a master meter in front of the apartment's electric meters the shareholders and tenants can take advantage of the electric ''bulk rate'' cost at approximately 25% below current ConEdison rates for residential customers.

Since November 2004 the electricity is under ConEdison’s Rider M “real time pricing” the second building to do so in the country.
By using state of the art metering technology and high efficiency energy saving light fixtures, appliances, the savings on electric cost are further being reduced. The technological advance metering allows the management of consumption at peak demand periods, thus assiting in the reduction of the risk of ''brown-outs'' in the district. The advance energy management and savings are illustrative of the future in energy conservation, cost reduction and control of peak demand period.

These energy conservation and cost savings have been obtained by participating in several HDFC Coalition sponsored projects funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)under contracts awarded to EIS, Inc. (145 East 57th Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10022 Att. Lewis M. Kwit; Tel: (212) 366-6661 e-mail: lmk@eisincorp.com)

The HDFC Council along with members of the Federation of New York Housing Cooperatives and Condominiums, Coordinating Council of Cooperatives, the Mitchell-Lama Council and NYARM have established the Cooperative Coalition to Prevent Blackouts (CCPB) a group that is intended to eventually include all the cooperative and condominium groups that have buildings that are master meter/submetered, using advance interval meters that will create an “aggregation” to encourage further savings and greater opportunities for conservation by managing the peak demand periods.

This site's address:
www.neighborhoodlink.com/neighbor/thesaxonia


Last Update: 1 July 2005 21:30:15 EST

Email us:
601W136HDFC@nyc.rr.com