Selling a below ground basement apartment in NYC

[showtime]

As you may know, a lot of buildings on the Upper West Side have the building superintendent's apartment located in the basement. If the apartment is now vacant, can the building sell the apartment to generate some cash for the reserve fund?

To be clear, this is a below grade, fully in the basement room. I don't think it's a legal bedroom because there are no windows, and only one means of egress through the door. Just wondering what we can get for it on the market and if it's legal to sell it.

[Benny]

You definitely can't sell that as is. Cheapest way to monetize is if you link it up to a tiny bit of space on the main level. Otherwise if it's entirely in the basement you'd never get a Certificate of Occupancy or a mortgage.

Also, I don't think it's legal to put a full bathroom in the basement, you can only put a half bath in the basement. That's why sponsors will whisper to you verbally that the pipes are right there, you can easily install a full bath if you want. Unfortunately they don't disclose that any city violations are on you for doing so!