Habitat (magazine)

"Habitat" is an American real estate magazine founded in 1982 and aimed at co-op boards, condominium associations, and related professionals such as attorneys and managing agents. The print magazine concentrates on the greater New York City metropolitan area while its Web site contains features for general-interest co-op/condo directors, residents, and buyers/sellers.

Publication history

Journalist Carol J. Ott founded what was then titled "N.Y. Habitat" in New York City in 1982, for a primary audience of co-op and loft owners/renters. [ [http://habitatmag.com/publication_info/about_habitat Habitatmag.com: "About "Habitat"] ] The magazine had evolved from Ott's 1980-82 newspaper, "The Loft Letter". ["Habitat", May 2007: Influences: Top 25 People, Events, & Organizations: "Co-op and Condo Publications: Filling a Niche Market", by Bill Morris] Originally bimonthly, in 1997 the publication schedule increased to 11 times yearly, with one double-issue. As of 2008, Ott remains publisher and editor-in-chief. Senior director of sales and marketing is Jeffrey Stein, who joined the magazine in 1994. The operations manager is Jennifer Wu.

Editorial and art

"Habitat" publishes both human-interest feature stories e.g. how a co-op board avoided a financial collapse, and how a motivated board put through a green initiative, and service articles, such as those detailing guidelines for hiring a property management firm, illuminating group decision-making dynamics, studying implementation of solar or geothermal power, reviewing methods co-op boards may use to increase revenues, enact 'flip' taxes, enforce alteration agreements, attract film companies to shoot at their buildings, plus advocacy journalism, such as stories about shoddy new construction and poor enforcement of building codes. Shorter pieces provide updates on co-op/condo legislation, judicial decisions, policy trends.

Art contributors include illustrators Danny Hellman, Jane Sanders, and New Yorker artists Liza Donnelly and Marcellus Hall. Writers include Bill Morris, Alan Saly, Jennifer V. Hughes, Renee Serlin, and Frank Lovece. As of 2008, the longtime editorial director is Tom Soter, who joined the magazine with its second issue in 1982, and the art director is Michael Gentile, the founding art director of "New York Press".

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.habitatmag.com "Habitat"] (official site)

External links

* [http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:F50mYVRn8zYJ:query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html%3Fres%3D9807E1D71338F93BA35752C0A962948260%26sec%3D%26spon%3D%26pagewanted%3Dall+%22carol+j.+ott%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=12&gl=us "The New York Times" (January 8, 1984): "Managing a Building In-House", by Andee Brooks] (cached article)
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9901E1DC1F39F931A15750C0A96E958260 "The New York Times" (March 22, 1998): "Your Home: A Troubling Legacy of Conversions", by Jay Romano]
* [http://nymag.com/nymetro/realestate/columns/gothamrealestate/5942/ "New York Magazine" (April 22, 2002): "Boards Get Stiff", by Joy Armstrong]