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Fairview Owners Corp. Began Major Climate Retrofit

The Forest Hills co-op launched a $20 million project to install heat pumps and flood protections for 430 units.

Updated on Sept. 30, 2026 in Home Renovation

Screen-print poster illustration of a brick building facade with a heat pump and new steel flood gate barrier.
Fairview Owners Corp. has initiated a $20 million climate retrofit in Forest Hills, installing new heat pumps and flood protection for 430 units. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Fairview Owners Corp. in Forest Hills initiated a $20 million renovation in April 2025 to install 1,100 heat pumps and new flood gates. This project aims to address damage from Hurricane Ida while meeting compliance requirements for Local Law 97.

Why it matters

The upgrade helps the building avoid future carbon emission penalties while lowering energy costs. These improvements are designed to protect the property against extreme weather and long-term regulatory climate mandates.

The co-op is utilizing $19 million from a 2022 mortgage refinance to fund the $20 million effort, which includes $600,000 for flood gates. Officials expect to offset costs with $1.84 million in NYSERDA rebates and a $6 million J-51 tax abatement.

The players

Fairview Owners Corp.

A 430-unit residential housing cooperative located in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens.

NYSERDA

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, which provides financial incentives for building energy efficiency upgrades.

The details

Contractors are installing heat pumps through the building facade as part of broader exterior repairs to minimize disruption. To prevent future flood damage, the co-op moved boilers from the basement to an elevated catwalk and installed automatic flood gates. These measures ensure the building meets the carbon reduction benchmarks established by Local Law 97.

Timeline

  1. The co-op refinanced its mortgages in 2022.

  2. Construction work began in April 2025.

  3. Project completion is expected early 2027.

  4. Emission penalties for Local Law 97 begin in 2035.

The Home Front

This project reflects a growing trend of large New York City co-ops financing expensive decarbonization upgrades to comply with the emissions limits mandated by Local Law 97. The renovation aligns with broader efforts to transition aging residential infrastructure away from fossil-fuel boilers.

Co-op residents should track the progress of these facade-integrated installations to understand potential maintenance access requirements in their units. Homeowners in similar buildings should review their annual financial disclosures to determine if their board has secured state rebates like those from NYSERDA.

The takeaway

Large-scale building retrofits often rely on a mix of refinanced debt and state-level energy rebates to cover high upfront costs. Owners should review board minutes or financial reports to see if their own buildings are planning similar energy-saving capital improvements.

Further reading

For more on residential building improvements, see the Home Renovation section.

Source note: This article includes information reported by Habitat: Co-op/condo Real Estate.

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Is now a good time for local buildings to invest in major climate-related retrofitting projects?