Kyiv residents are taking their property beefs to the courts in a fight against extra floors atop historic buildings
A resident of 13 Tereschenkivska Street, opposite from Kyiv’s Taras Shevchenko Park, remembered returning home in August to a giant crane affixed to his roof.
He soon learned one of the owners of a top-story flat launched a construction project at the building originally constructed in 1910.
The residents of 13 Tereschenkivska banded together, filing letters of complaints with half-a-dozen local government offices and the mayor’s office against Vadym Popov, one of the top-story owners.
They are among many Kyiv residents who are taking their property beefs to the courts and government halls in a fight against development of extra floors atop historic buildings.
In their defense, those backing the development, often residents themselves, claim they are acting within the law, adding value or creating extra space in a real estate market in short supply.
Popov denies involvement in construction, and said his neighbor is merely renovating the roof.
Residents offer another version, telling the Post that Popov attempted to gain their permission to develop the attic two years ago, with plans to build another two or three floors for a penthouse.
They flatly rejected the proposal.
Claims of renovation don’t explain the crane on the roof, residents said, noting the work exceeds the costs of simple renovation. They claim the roof’s cornice has begun crumbling because of the added weight of the heavy machinery and building materials atop the building.
Chunks of the cornice have fallen on top of two cars causing them damage, residents said. Construction nevertheless went ahead in August.
Residents said they were not shown plans for the current project, but architects told Popov he must reinforce the building’s foundation to add extra floors.
Residents claim the foundation has not been strengthened.
When it was built nearly 100 years ago, the building had three stories. Another three floors were added and the building was reconstructed in 1948 after being bombed during World War II.
Today, 300 tenants live in 100 apartments on the building’s six floors.
At a meeting several weeks ago, owners representing nearly 70 of the 100 apartments signed a petition against Popov’s alleged project.
The signatures were submitted with letters to Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetskiy, the chief city architect, as well as construction, architecture and city planning officials.
Two agencies said they would investigate the alleged infractions.
The Shevchenkivskiy district government levied a $10 fine against Popov for conducting renovation without proper documentation.
Trying in the courts
Amidst growing opposition to their downtown projects, owners pushing such development projects have become adept at finding legal schemes and loopholes that make it very hard for residents to protect their property.
Two apartment owners in the four-floor, 10-apartment residence at 2 Muzeyniy Provulok are suing another property owner, real estate developer Artem Margulis, for allegedly attempting to add four floors to the building without the residents’ permission.
The plaintiffs filed their lawsuit and the first session was scheduled for Oct. 30, which has since been postponed indefinitely.
According to well-known Kyiv expat and telecommunications consultant Eric Franke, one of the plaintiffs, construction began nearly a year-and-a-half ago for other purported reasons.
Margulis allegedly told the residents he would reconstruct the building’s facade and open one balcony.
Residents were not consulted, as required by law, when an obscure investment company bought the rights to the roof from the city in 1999, Franke said.
One of the schemes allegedly hatched by Margulis to protect his construction project involved creating a fake homeowner’s association in 2004, to which 19 alleged property owners joined.
The Post was unable to contact Margulis for comment.
However, owners of only three of the 10 apartments were represented, and 16 were registered in Apartment 11, which happens to belong to Margulis.
Franke lives at 2 Muzeyniy Provulok, at the base of Hrushevskiy Street, with his wife and two-year-old son and is concerned about their safety and health. In the stairwell, detritus and plaster specks from the walls are constantly blowing around and scaffolding blocks the building’s entrance.
Franke said he isn’t opposed to the project, but every owner has the right to vote as part of an authentic homeowner’s association.
“We all own a little piece of this roof and someone just gave it away,” Franke said.
“If everyone was involved in the project, it would be more organized, safe and clean. Right now, the builders are just ignoring the fact that there are people living here.”
Forming a homeowner’s association is an excellent way to protect against unwanted construction, said Alex Frishberg, a partner of the Frishberg and Partners law firm in Kyiv.
That would enable them to hire armed guards and pursue lawsuits more effectively, he said.
Otherwise, the residents will face a procession of court cases that can be endlessly appealed until the project is finished.
Homeowner’s associations give residents more authority to protect their property from developers, he said.
Unless 13 Tereschenkivska’s residents create a homeowner’s association, Frishberg said, they do not own the roof and attic space.
Also a resident of 13 Tereschenkivska Street, Frishberg said he offered legal services to the resident suing Popov, but he chose to represent himself.
Adding floors necessary
Perry Construction President Mike Perry, with more than 13 years of construction experience in Ukraine, adamantly defends the right of developers to build penthouses without the permission of every resident in a building.
Laws in Kyiv “overprotect historical buildings,” he said.
Having worked on over 400 job sites throughout Ukraine, Perry said about 40 percent of construction projects in the city are initially conducted without appropriate permits, which is considered completely normal by authorities and developers alike.
This is not corruption, just a way of allowing legitimate projects to start while developers go through the bureaucracy of gathering and filing the necessary documents, he said.
Perry criticized the law that requires developers to get permission from each apartment owner as an “absolute absurdity,” and said the process needs to be made much simpler.
“I don’t think that a penthouse construction project should be held up because some stalwart Communist on the third floor wants some extra money and a TV,” Perry said, adding that most “penthouse projects enhanced the look of the city and increased property values.”
“This city is facing a housing crisis,” Perry said, emphasizing the need for developers to have the ability to build more housing.
Incidentally, penthouse development has largely fallen out of fashion due to the long list of regulations involved, he said.
