Service Areas — New York
Manhattan Architecture & Interior Design
Manhattan is our home turf. From pre-war co-ops on the Upper West Side to loft combinations in TriBeCa and townhouses in Harlem, LEAP has the DOB and board-package experience to make Manhattan projects move — and the design chops to make the finished space feel worth the wait.
Apartment renovations and combinations
Combining two units, opening a plan without touching a bearing wall, adding a laundry where there was never a stack — we work with your building's structural constraints and your board's alteration agreement to design what will actually get approved.
Townhouse and brownstone work
Landmark districts, party walls, rear-yard restrictions, and the joys of 100+ year old joists. We handle full-stack townhouse renovations across Manhattan neighborhoods.
Boutique commercial
Retail, hospitality, and small office fit-outs designed for street-level Manhattan foot traffic and the performance metrics that matter.
Local knowledge that shapes the work
Building regulations in Manhattan
Manhattan work means DOB filings plus the overlays that make the borough unique: LPC review across its many historic districts, demanding co-op and condo alteration agreements, and buildings whose house rules constrain work hours, wet-over-dry layouts, and noise. We navigate all three layers in parallel so no single review becomes the bottleneck.
Neighborhoods and building stock
From prewar Classic Sixes on the Upper West Side to cast-iron lofts in TriBeCa, Harlem townhouses, and postwar towers in Midtown, Manhattan's housing stock demands different instincts block by block. We match the intervention to the building's DNA — opening a loft is a different craft from combining two prewar units.
Design considerations we bring
The borough's defining design problem is extracting light and flow from deep floor plates and load-bearing masonry. Our Manhattan work leans on borrowed light, enfilade sightlines, and millwork that makes every inch pull double duty — because in Manhattan, the square foot you waste is the most expensive one you own.
“LEAP handled our co-op board like it was choreography. The apartment combination went from impossible to permitted in six months.”
Questions we hear from Manhattan clients
How do apartment combinations work in Manhattan?
Combining two units requires board approval, DOB filing, and careful structural and mechanical planning — but the result is space you simply cannot buy in one piece in many buildings. The sequence matters: we confirm feasibility with the building first, design to the alteration agreement, and file a combination that keeps both units' certificates of occupancy clean.
What should I know before buying a Manhattan fixer-upper?
Have an architect review it before you waive contingencies. Building rules on renovations, wet-over-dry restrictions, electrical service capacity, and landmark status can change what's possible — and therefore what the apartment is worth to you. A pre-purchase review typically takes a week and routinely changes offers by far more than it costs.
Do prewar buildings limit what I can renovate?
They shape it more than limit it. Prewar structures usually offer generous ceiling heights and solid bones, but plumbing stacks, bearing walls, and board rules define where kitchens and baths can move. Good design works with those fixed points — we've rarely met a prewar plan we couldn't meaningfully improve within them.
How disruptive is renovation to my neighbors — and my board standing?
Manhattan buildings police work hours, protection, and noise strictly, and your board remembers how your project behaved. We design logistics into the construction documents — protection plans, quiet-work sequencing, freight scheduling — so your renovation ends with the apartment improved and the neighbor relationships intact.
Planning a project in Manhattan, NY?
Book a free, no-obligation consultation with Eric Davenport, AIA, NCARB. We'll listen first, ask the right questions, and show you exactly what's possible for your home, your budget, and your site.