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WANT TO OWN YOUR NYC APARTMENT? THIS NONPROFIT IS HELPING RENTERS BUY THEIR
UNITS.



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By
David Brand

Published Mar 18, 2024

58 comments

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Photo by David Brand

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By
David Brand

Published Mar 18, 2024

58 comments

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How would you like to own your apartment after years of renting?

One Brooklyn community group is trying to make that happen for tenants of a
four-story building in the Cypress Hill section of East New York through an
innovative housing program.

The East New York Community Land Trust bought the 21-unit, rent-stabilized
apartment building on Arlington Avenue for just over $3 million late last month
and plans to help tenants convert to co-op units in the coming years. Under the
“community land trust” model, residents own or lease their homes at permanently
affordable rates while the nonprofit owns the land below. But there’s a caveat:
Residents can’t sell their apartments for big gains down the road, which ensures
that the units remain affordable for the next occupants.

It’s the first time a community land trust has purchased an apartment building
from a private landlord in New York City, and comes as property owners and
investors consider unloading stabilized apartments where they say rising costs
and caps on rent hikes are limiting profits and repairs. Gov. Kathy Hochul and
other top officials have touted the model as a way to preserve affordable
housing, but the Brooklyn deal marks an important test for whether it can grow
in the five boroughs.

“We’re making sure that it’s affordable in perpetuity and making sure any fixes
that our people need, both emergency and long-term, are getting done and being
planned for,” said East New York CLT President Boris Santos. “We see our role as
stewards.”



Santos said his organization approached the previous owner, a limited liability
company tied to investor Philip Knoll, about buying the building last June.
Knoll was willing to discuss the idea and negotiate the sale in just a few
months.

“Throughout the process we both engaged in good faith and came to a mutually
beneficial sale agreement,” Knoll told Gothamist. “We wish the new owners and
the community the best of luck.”

Knoll’s company purchased the property in 2018, just before state lawmakers
enacted new measures significantly curtailing landlords’ abilities to raise
rents on stabilized units. Tenants in the Arlington Avenue building pay an
average rent of about $1,200 a month, according to East New York CLT records.



“We’re making sure that it’s affordable in perpetuity," said East New York
Community Land Trust President Boris Santos.

Photo by David Brand

But the community land trust says it can handle renovations and routine
maintenance with low-cost financing, and without the need for higher rents. It
raised more than $1 million in private donations and is seeking additional
funding from government sources. It plans to reinvest rent money into the
building without taking a cut, the way a typical landlord would, Santos said.

That’s good news for tenants who have been complaining that past owners weren’t
keeping up with repairs in the nearly century-old building.



“There were water leaks. We didn't have any hot water or any heat,” said Cathy
Mercado, a first-floor tenant who began organizing her neighbors and reaching
out to community groups three years ago. “And that's how we all started
advocating around the community.”

Mercado moved into her unit in the late 1990s and said she was just looking for
help getting improvements when she first connected with the East New York CLT.
She said she never imagined they might end up buying the building and initiating
a plan to turn the apartments into co-ops.

“I wouldn’t have ever thought this,” she said.



Cathy Mercado, a first floor tenant, began organizing her neighbors and reaching
out to community groups three years ago.

Photo by David Brand

‘ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS’

The four-story building rises alongside stately two-family homes on a street
where prices have soared in recent years. The elevated J and Z train tracks run
along Fulton Avenue a block south of it, while leafy Highland Park stretches up
a hill to the north.



First-floor tenant Eva Marte said she loves her home and the neighborhood.

“This is a building with a great foundation and history,” said Marte, who moved
in 17 years ago. “Most of the tenants have lived here for decades, they have
raised their families here and it holds special memories.”

But she said the site has its share of problems. A window on the front door is
broken. Tenants want to install a new gate and fix the busted lock on the
entryway.

“We are hoping that with this transition we can finally have the opportunity to
be active participants in the direction of the building going forward,” Marte
said. “We just want a safe and comfortable living space.”

Then there’s the ancient, oil-fired boiler that’s been breaking down for years,
leaving tenants without heat on chilly nights.

Building residents and the CLT board are trying to tackle those issues first.
They are planning to elect tenant representatives and a maintenance committee to
decide how to best upgrade the security and building system after a consultant
performed a physical needs assessment. The report found that the building is in
decent shape but recommended about $2.8 million in upgrades, including an
estimated $500,000 for a new heat pump.



Not everyone agrees on how to move forward.

Before the sale, tenant Jay Powell said he wanted to sue the previous landlord
for repairs in his apartment, like a broken door frame — even though litigation
may have complicated the deal.

Powell said he’s now thinking of moving out but is curious about how the new
ownership structure will work.

“I wish them the best of luck,” he said on his way into the building earlier
this month. “I don't know how they’ll handle that, but they seem like they're
willing and able to take on the challenge.”

Santos said the organization is prepared for a more democratic decision-making
process. He said East New York CLT and the residents hope to complete the
upgrades and convert to co-ops in three years.

“Building that consensus is a work in progress and it will always be, but that's
what democracy is about,” he said. “This is just the beginning, but we can do
it.”




The 21-unit building needs about $2.8 million in upgrades.

Photo by David Brand

SCALING UP?

The Brooklyn effort reflects a larger push from community groups and progressive
policymakers to create new approaches for building and preserving affordable
housing, or for reviving decades-old models that proved successful.

Community land trusts aren't a new concept, and have had a modest presence in
New York City since the early 1990s. The idea dates back to the Civil Rights
Era, when activists purchased land in Georgia to house Black farmers, including
sharecroppers who were evicted after registering to vote.

Over the past several decades, organizations bought land in various cities, like
Oakland, and leased or sold homes at affordable prices. Two groups in New York
City — the Cooper Square Community Land Trust and the East Harlem-El Barrio
Community Land Trust — manage about 450 units in buildings they acquired from
the city.

One crucial part of the arrangement is that residents can’t sell their homes for
high prices later on; instead, they agree to a resale formula that allows them
to make some money from the property. This ensures that the units always remain
affordable for low- and middle-income residents, said New Economy Project Senior
Program Associate Will Spisak. His organization coordinates the New York City
Community Land Initiative, a citywide network of CLTs.



Spisak compared the structure to other affordable housing initiatives like the
Mitchell Lama program, which allow residents in hundreds of complexes to sell
their units at any price once affordability requirements expire.

In those programs, he said, “only one generation of residents benefits from
buying at a subsidized rate and selling at market rate. The CLT guarantees
permanent affordability.”

Although the concept is still a long way from going to scale citywide, the
Arlington Avenue purchase is a crucial step for the growing movement, Santos
said.

“People have been talking about this for a while, and finally we’re doing it,”
he said. “There's enormous pressure to expand and do more of this.”

City and state policymakers have publicly supported community land trusts as a
way to foster affordable homeownership. The state’s Division of Homes and
Community Renewal awarded the East New York CLT tenants association a $19,000
grant to assist with planning for the co-op conversion. City councilmembers have
allocated discretionary funds to CLTs for several years and the city began
directing hundreds of thousands of dollars to various organizations in the
budget starting in 2019.

Ilana Maier, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Housing Preservation
and Development, praised the CLT effort, but the agency has not committed to
funding future plans.



“The East New York Community Land Trust pulled together an impressive amount of
private resources to make this purchase,” Maier said. “We’re excited to build on
conversations we started with the CLT years ago.”

Still, the East New York CLT's success could have big consequences for other
groups in the future.

If it succeeds, the city and state may be more willing to fund or finance
similar projects, said Regional Planning Association Vice President Moses Gates.

“If community land trusts are going to be able to scale, they’re going to need
to be able to buy private buildings, so the fact that they did it is a big
step,” Gates said.




Tagged

new york city
housing
brooklyn
economy
Politics

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David Brand


David is a reporter covering housing for Gothamist and WNYC. Got a tip? Email
dbrand@nypublicradio.org or Signal 908-310-3960.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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