What It Really Costs to Get a Lobby Right

A West Village condo opened with a lobby designed by a high-profile architect, the kind of detail that helped sell apartments before anyone moved in. But once residents settled in, the design started working against them: materials that couldn't handle daily wear, finishes that felt more showroom than home, and a layout that made simple things harder than they should have been. Marilyn Sygrove, president of Sygrove Associates Design Group, unpacks what actually went wrong and how her team rebuilt the space from the ground up, balancing artistic ambition with everyday practicality. She shares how the board sourced local artists to anchor the redesign, the survey tactics that actually get honest resident input, and a budgeting approach that reframes a lobby project as a decades-long investment rather than a one-time expense. Habitat's Emily Myers conducts the interview.Thanks for listening. Subscribe to this podcast for more stories on how New York co-ops and condos have solved a myriad of problems. Brought to you by Habitat Magazine, the "bible" that hundreds of board directors turn to every day!