Hillman Housing Cooperative
A beacon of Postwar working-class unity, the Hillman Housing Coop transformed downtown housing and elevated living conditions in the Lower East Side. The coop hired DBI Projects to serve as its Owner’s Representative on an ongoing basis, starting with the oversight of a series of capital improvements to the historic properties.
DBI Projects was initially engaged by Hillman to provide project management services for a series of critical infrastructure projects. Since the initial engagement, DBI has assisted Hillman with many projects, such as laundry room legalization and upgrades, LL11 and FISP work, garage renovation and LL126 work, and capital project planning.
We were further entrusted by the Board of Directors to evaluate and understand a long list of desired and deferred capital projects throughout the three housing blocks. We examined over 100 possible projects that included deferred maintenance, necessary capital improvements, and desired enhancements, and were required to prioritize key projects based on availability of funds, critical needs, and shareholder value. The coop is currently undergoing a dozen campuswide improvement projects, from waste management upgrades, access control, administrative office renovations, to various other shareholder amenity improvements.
Hillman’s building management, Board of Directors, residents, and vendors have all relied on DBI for its consistent and clear communication of scheduled work, which has led to minimal disruption to the daily lives of those living in the complex’s more than 800 units.
