A.I.R. and their effect on a commercial building's value

[crayolab]

Dear TenantNet,

I'm trying to find some information, and wonder if you might be able to point me in the right direction.

My husband and I are tenants in the top floor of a 26-floor commercial building on Eighth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. We are Artists in Residence in a building whose top three floors were rezoned and rented to residential tenants sometime in the 80s, I believe. Our landlord has been trying to evict my husband, who has lived in the building since 1994, for the last four years, along with three other tenants living on the 24th, 25th and 26th floors. The case has been postponed several times, but looks as if it will finally go to court next week. It sounds as if we will be discussing settlement figures. Indeed, we and the other three tenants involved in the case have of late been discussing them a lot.

Here's the question: We've been told that one figure that can be a powerful determiner of settlement limits is the difference between the value of the building if sold with us in it (if a buyer were to purchase the building and take us on as tenants/parasites) or with us out. We were told it would be wise to hire an appraiser to give us an idea of how much our presence brings down the building's value, as this would give us an indication of how much it would be worth to the building's owner to pay us out. Alas, we are told that it could cost upwards of $6K for a full appraisal, and since we're already burdened by legal fees, we are hard-pressed to go through with it. We haven't found anyone who would do a partial assessment.

Is there anyone here who would able to give me an idea of such figures? Or are there appraisers in New York who do pro bono work to support tenants protected by the Loft Law? We have heard of a similar case with a building in our area, in which the tenants received a sizable settlement. We are in danger of losing our homes—and in my husband's case, a window that is the subject of a now 13-year-long photography project. If we go, we are hoping to be able to force the landlord to compensate us properly. We would like to come to the table with some solid figures that say, It's worth this much to the landlord to get us to leave. Do you have any tips?

Many thanks for any help you can provide.