Street Widening on map

[Barbara S.]

My neighbor is selling his property and I absolutely love it! It is the unicorn property in the neighborhood.  I am in NYC, this property is tremendous for NYC standards the problem with it is on the survey and street map, a line runs through it labeled "street widening".  Basically stating if the city wants to expand the street there, they can take the property to do so.  How would this effect me? And will it effect resale value? I have searched but cannot find any real information on this "street widening" line.  BTW, this house has stood on the property for about 100 years, it is one of the original farm houses in this area.  Thanks!

[Nathan Gesner]

How it affects the property value depends on how the property is set back. Does the home sit on the front of the lot? Would a wider street make your driveway short? Bring heavy traffic closer to the house?

Ideally, you want a minimum of 20 feet for your driveway AFTER the street widening. If the house is 30 feet or more from the current road, you should be safe. I would talk to the City Planning and Zoning to get a better idea of what you could expect and go from there.