Cooper Square CEO David Kuperberg and 95-25 Queens Boulevard

Cooper Square Realty, the largest residential property manager in New York City, has opened a new office in Rego Park, Queens, a statement from the company today said. The office is located at 95-25 Queens Boulevard, at Junction Boulevard, and employees moved in yesterday, a spokesperson for Cooper Square said. This marks Cooper Square’s fourth office in the five boroughs, with other offices in Staten Island, Brooklyn and Manhattan, at 622 Third Avenue. [more]

David Kuperberg

With the annual co-op board meeting season just around the corner for many New York City residents, property managers across the five boroughs say co-op unit owners might be surprised by the outcome of these conferences, which determine how much to raise maintenance costs, according to the New York Times. Despite the financial hits that the real estate market has taken in recent years, many buildings will see their maintenance charges increase by 5 percent or more, due to continually climbing building assessments and real estate taxes. Part of the problem, according to David Kuperberg, chief executive of Cooper Square Realty, is the so-called “phasing out” of building assessments. “A lot of people don’t realize that assessments are phased in over five years,” Kuperberg said. “We’re getting increases in 2010 from valuations that were done in 2006 at the height of the market.” [NYT]

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Co-ops in the city have raised their maintenance charges by as much as
15 percent recently as a result of rising property taxes and operating costs.
John Janangelo, president of Bellmarc Property Management, said taxes
for some of the buildings the company manages have risen by 35 percent this year. “It comes
at the worst time,” Janangelo said, adding, “You don’t want to pass through
these huge increases because people can’t afford them, but you have no
choice.” Buildings whose property values have soared in recent years
are experiencing even bigger tax increases because the assessed values
of their buildings have gone up. David Kuperberg, president of Cooper
Square Realty, said the assessments have increased based on last year’s
market, and assessments often take a while to catch up to the current
market.