Capital improvements
Put us on the next board agenda.
Tell us about the building and the scope. We will walk it, estimate it, and come back with a plan that keeps your residents in place.
Request a QuoteNYC Building Renovation Contractor
Renovations your residents don't have to move out for.
Request a QuoteCapital improvements, occupied buildings
Renovations your residents do not have to move out for.
Co-op, condo, HOA, hotel, office, and retail owners across New York City bring Perennial Empire in for building-wide capital work that keeps the building occupied and running. Occupied renovation is not an exception we accommodate, it is the capability the business is built around. We self-perform under all three labor regimes: open shop, prevailing wage, and union project labor agreements. The same in-house crew runs the work under whichever one your project requires.
- Hallway, corridor, and common-area renovation
- Lobby and amenity-space upgrades
- Building-wide painting and unit turnovers
- Roof, facade, boiler, and LL11/FISP capital work
Sectors we serve
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Multi-Family
Co-ops, condos, and HOAs. Renovation services with minimal disruption to shareholders and residents.
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Hospitality
Hotels: complete renovations that improve guest experience and adhere to brand standards.
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Commercial
Office and retail renovations that enhance functionality and aesthetics.
Trusted by New York's leading residential owners and managers
Selected work
Buildings and portfolios we have renovated
A sample of the residential capital improvement work Perennial Empire has delivered for New York's leading owners and managing agents, from individual landmark properties to portfolio-wide programs.
- Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village
- Starrett City
- Co-op City
- Related Portfolio
- Rudin Management
- Southbridge Towers
How a capital project runs
A scope document your board or owner can vote on.
We issue line-item GMP or lump-sum estimates with trade-level detail and contingency called out explicitly, then phase the work by wing, floor, or elevator bank so there is always a route through the building. Close-out lands as a board-ready summary, not a pile of receipts.
- Governance-specific approval matrix at scoping
- Line-item estimates with contingency itemized
- Occupied-building phasing and dust control
- Board-ready close-out documentation
How we run a capital improvements project
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Governance-Specific Approvals
Co-op boards, condo boards of managers, HOAs, and property management companies each get a decision matrix at scoping (who approves what, at what dollar threshold) so decisions do not stall on the next monthly board meeting.
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Estimate-to-Contract Transparency
Line-item GMP or lump-sum estimates with trade-level detail, contingency called out explicitly (typically 5 to 10% for occupied work), and soft costs itemized rather than buried. Boards vote on a scope document, not a single-number proposal.
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Occupied-Building Logistics
Wing, floor, or elevator-bank phasing so residents and tenants always have a route through the building. Dust-control enclosures, sound-level monitoring, staged material deliveries, and a daily clean policy. Not an end-of-job clean.
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Close-Out Documentation
Punch-list sign-offs tied to the managing agent's walk-through. O&M manuals, warranty log, and a board-ready project summary your managing agent can drop into the annual meeting packet.
Common questions from boards, owners, and property managers
What kinds of buildings do you renovate in the capital improvements lane?
Our private-sector portfolio covers co-ops, condominiums, HOA-managed apartment buildings, hotels, office towers, and retail spaces across the five boroughs. Work ranges from a single-building common-area refresh (lobby, hallways, elevator banks, amenity floor) to portfolio-wide capital programs across multiple buildings under the same management company. If you are a board president, managing agent, asset manager, hotel GM, or landlord, and the building is occupied during construction, you are in scope for this lane.
Do you work directly with boards, or through property management?
Both, and we let the governance structure decide. On co-ops we typically run a triangle: board president or building committee, managing agent, and our project manager. On condos and HOAs the managing agent is usually the day-to-day client with board approvals on milestones. On hotels and offices we work with asset managers, owners' reps, or in-house facilities directors. Whatever the structure, we write a communications plan naming who decides what, so approvals do not stall on Monday-morning emails.
How do you renovate an occupied building without displacing residents or guests?
Occupied renovation is our operating default. It's the capability the business is built around. On co-op and condo common-area work we phase by wing, floor, or elevator bank so residents always have a route in and out. On hotels we pull a block of rooms offline while adjacent floors stay rentable. On office buildings we work nights and weekends around tenant business hours. In every case we run a dust-control and noise-control plan, stage materials so corridors stay clear, and clean the job site daily instead of at the end.
What is a typical timeline from board approval to start of work?
For a scoped, permitted renovation the timeline from executed contract to mobilization is usually 4 to 8 weeks. That window covers insurance certificates, alteration-agreement filings (co-ops), DOB permitting where required, long-lead-time material orders (elevator cabs, lobby stone, millwork), and building-wide resident notices. For unpermitted cosmetic work (paint, carpet, light fixtures), we can mobilize in 2 to 3 weeks. Emergency work (post-fire, flood, violation-driven repairs) mobilizes in days, not weeks.
How are renovation costs estimated and presented to boards?
We issue a line-item GMP or lump-sum estimate backed by a scope document a board can actually vote on. Estimates break out hard costs by trade, contingency (typically 5 to 10% for occupied work, higher for gut scopes), and schedule. Soft costs like permits, expediting, engineer fees, and hoist rentals are called out, not buried. If the board wants a board-deck version, we produce one. If they want value-engineering options (what do we cut to hit the budget) we produce that too, with photos or samples of what the trade-offs look like.