Allen A.
Google
I strongly urge other co-ops and property owners to proceed with extreme caution before hiring HLZAE. In my building, their estimates were significantly higher than other firms, and communication has been extremely one-sided, they rarely consulted with shareholders, and at times came across as dismissive or demanding. The firm often didn’t listen to our concerns and seemed more intent on pushing their agenda with a board that’s closed off all Shareholders and other board members rather than collaborating properly.
This felt controlling, and some interactions were so heated that they bordered on hostile. We also uncovered prior disagreements they’ve had in other buildings.. Check their court records!
HLZAE gave our building a very high quote without inspecting every part of the property. Instead of conducting a thorough, detailed review of all areas that actually needed attention, they provided one sweeping number that felt generic and inflated. As shareholders, we expect professionals to carefully evaluate each part of the building before making recommendations, and in this case the lack of inspection made the estimate feel unreliable and unjustified.
Since then, communication has been very one-sided. Decisions appeared to be run only through our board president and vice president, while shareholdersand even other board members were left out of the loop and locked out. That is not the level of transparency we expect from a professional firm working in a co-op environment.
On pricing, HLZAE’s number was the highest of the companies we researched. We were given a large quote without a thorough, building-wide inspection or clear line-item scope, which made the estimate hard to trust. In my opinion, the pricing was excessive and not well-justified.
Bottom line (my opinion): Controlling approach, poor listening, weak transparency, and extremely high pricing. I would not work with this company again. Other buildings should get multiple bids, insist on written, line-item scopes after full inspections, and require open Q&A with all shareholders before moving forward.
