Are Co-ops Becoming a New York Dinosaur?

Since 2000, developers have filed just 75 plans for new co-ops in New York City – while 6,155 condominium plans have been filed, according to new statistics released by the Real Deal. To top it off, most co-op plans were actually for cond-ops, hybrid buildings in which the residential units operate like a co-op while the commercial units are treated as condos, allowing developers to profit off a building’s lucrative commercial space.

Why the huge – and growing – discrepancy?

“When you’re buying a condo you actually own it, and what the board can do to subvert your transfer of the property is very minimal,” says Shaun Pappas, an attorney at Starr & Associates.

One result of this is that over the past decade, the median price of co-ops has crawled upward by 12 percent to $755,000, while the median price of condos has leaped by 52 percent to $1.52 million.

And now the final irony: “Co-ops are loosening up and condos are adding restrictions,” says Dean Roberts, an attorney at Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, noting that it’s becoming harder for co-ops to reject potential buyers and more common for condo boards to tighten their own rules.