After six years, multiple mayors and a veto, the New York City Council on Thursday approved the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, a measure that gives certain nonprofit groups a first chance to buy distressed apartment buildings before they hit the open market.
Gothamist reported ahead of the vote that the bill, known as COPA, would initially apply to about 2,100 buildings citywide with serious safety or financial problems, according to an analysis from the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development. City Limits reported the bill passed 38-9, with two abstentions.
How COPA works
According to a City Council press release, Introduction 905-A, sponsored by Council Member Sandy Nurse, gives HPD-certified nonprofits, or joint ventures between nonprofits and other entities, a first opportunity to express interest in and buy certain residential properties when they are offered for sale.
Owners of covered buildings will have to notify HPD and qualified groups when they plan to sell. Those groups then have 20 days to submit a statement of interest and 70 days to make a first offer. They also get a right of first refusal if the owner receives an outside offer. Owners can apply for an exemption by showing undue financial hardship, and HPD must report on the program periodically, the Council said.
Gothamist reported the bill applies to buildings with at least four apartments that the city deems "distressed." That includes buildings with three or more violations per unit, buildings in a city housing code enforcement program, and properties with hazardous conditions that also face municipal foreclosure over unpaid taxes and fines. It also covers buildings with expiring affordable rental agreements with HPD.
Years of fighting
Gothamist reported the Council passed a version of COPA last year, but then-Mayor Eric Adams vetoed it days before leaving office. In May, Nurse changed the bill to shorten the window before a covered building can hit the open market, which won support from the Real Estate Board of New York. REBNY President James Whelan told Gothamist the group is OK with the Council's "more targeted and practical bill."
Not everyone in the industry is on board. "COPA will make New York City an affordable housing wasteland and trigger the extinction of small owners," Small Property Owners of New York Board President Ann Korchak said in a January statement cited by Gothamist.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani backs the bill. Supporters say the goal is to let nonprofits rehabilitate buildings while keeping rents low.
"COPA will keep thousands of struggling New Yorkers in their homes, preserve neighborhood affordability, and bring more at-risk housing into community control," Nurse said in the Council's release.
Land use votes
The Council also approved several land use items Thursday, according to its release:
- 48-50 Convent Avenue Cluster: Four partially occupied city-owned rental buildings in Manhattan will be converted to 77 affordable homeownership units and two superintendent units under the Affordable Neighborhood Cooperative Program.
- 1455 Coney Island Avenue: A rezoning will allow a nine-story long-term care facility with 300 patient beds in Brooklyn.
- 135-27 Sapphire Street: A rezoning will allow a six-story building with about 268 homes in Queens, 67 to 80 of them affordable under Mandatory Inclusionary Housing.
Why it matters for contractors
COPA is aimed squarely at buildings in bad shape, ones with multiple violations per unit, hazardous conditions or code enforcement problems. When a nonprofit buys one of those buildings, the whole point is to fix it. That means repair and rehab work: roofs, facades, boilers, plumbing, electrical, windows, lead and mold remediation and apartment turnovers.
Nonprofit-owned rehab work in New York City often comes with public financing, so contractors chasing it should be comfortable with HPD requirements, prevailing wage rules where they apply, and the paperwork that comes with public money. Firms that already work for nonprofit housing groups are likely in the best position.
The land use approvals point to more traditional work too. A 268-unit building in Queens, a 300-bed care facility in Brooklyn and a 77-unit co-op conversion in Manhattan are all jobs that will need general contractors and a full roster of trades once they move into construction.