When Jason Biggs and Jenny Mollen bought their TriBeCa loft in 2013, they weren’t concerned that the living room windows were on the side of the building that bordered the adjoining property. In fact, they were perfectly positioned to offer views of the Hudson River over the parking lot next door.
Then the parking lot owners got bought out.
Related Companies began construction on a 10-story luxury rental building on the site and, within a year, the couple’s wide shot of the river became a close-up of a wall. In 2017, according to public records, the couple, who are both actors, sold the home for just a sliver above the $2.55 million they originally paid — even though TriBeCa prices had soared during the years they owned it.
“I wasn’t even sure if we were going to be able to sell it,” said Frances Katzen, who represented the pair with fellow Douglas Elliman broker Maggie Zaharoiu. “It was definitely a little bit stressful.”
Mr. Biggs and Ms. Mollen, who is also an author, were the unwitting owners of lot-line windows — the technical term for windows that lie on the invisible boundary between two properties. If that sounds like an obscure real estate concept, you’re probably not one of the countless New Yorkers who have lost views, light, air and entire windows when something new popped up next door.
“Lot line is no joke,” Ms. Katzen said.
Most New Yorkers understand that their views will change, for better or worse, over time. But lot-line windows are by definition temporary, allowed to exist and provide light and a view, on the condition that the next door neighbor doesn’t want a new building or addition.
Owning or renting a property with a lot-line window means living in limbo. It also means that sales transactions can be more complicated and that what is happening next door can have a big effect on your property’s value.
The windows appear mostly in older buildings that were originally erected next to empty lots or lower structures, said Tom Fariello, first deputy commissioner for the New York City Department of Buildings. Some newer buildings will put them in and submit a document filed with the deed so that anyone, including future potential buyers, can know that if something is built next door, the windows will have to be blocked up.
And occasionally, residents will install one-off lot-line windows, which explains some of the odd walls that appear across the city, studded with one or two seemingly random openings.
For more read the full of article at The Nytimes
