Opinion: The Legal Case for Passing COPA Now

New York City has a long history supporting these types of building conversions often led by tenants and nonprofit organizations COPA builds on this legacy and lays groundwork for a new generation of tenant- and community-run housing Councilmembers and COPA supporters at a rally for the bill at City Hall on Nov Gerardo Romo NYC Council Media Unit As real estate attorneys who have spent decades representing clients in affordable housing transactions in New York City we felt it was crucial to respond to the concerns raised in Erica Buckley s op-ed regarding Int -A the Neighborhood Opportunity to Purchase COPA In our view the version of COPA now before the Council is a practical well-crafted framework that will meaningfully strengthen New York City s ability to preserve stable affordable housing COPA creates pathways for tenant ownership as well as preservation of rental apartments without forcing parties into negotiations It leverages existing state and local preservation financing programs such as Neighborhood Pillars and the NYC Acquisition Fund which are already geared to mission-driven developers Private lenders including New York s expansive framework of area advancement financial institutions will be at the ready with additional capital to execute COPA purchases function d u ac var s d createElement 'script' s type 'text javascript' s src 'https a omappapi com app js api min js' s async true s dataset user u s dataset campaign ac d getElementsByTagName 'head' appendChild s document 'u kmqsczew vunxutxmd' We applaud the City Council for taking meaningful policies to restore balance to an affordable housing area that in our experience is frequently distorted by speculative pressures We urge the City Council to pass COPA right now The law would create a proven common-sense strategy that gives mission-driven developers with demonstrated financial capability and track records of success a first opportunity to buy buildings when a landlord chooses to sell These prequalified buyers must make competitive offers which owners are free to reject Where offers are productive these mission-driven buyers would work with tenants to determine their building s future whether that means preserving apartments as permanently affordable rentals or converting them to limited-equity cooperatives New York City has a long history supporting these types of building conversions often led by tenants and nonprofit organizations COPA builds on this legacy and lays groundwork for a new generation of tenant- and community-run housing New York has a robust landscape of housing preservation organizations ranging from nonprofit population maturation corporations and region land trusts to M WBEs and other for-profit developers Our firms have represented these kinds of organizations in preservation deals for years While debates around the housing problem presently focus on zoning changes to enable new construction preserving existing affordable housing remains one of the the greater part cost-effective and reliable strategies for keeping low-income New Yorkers securely housed Yet in the present day s field responsible purchasers are at a disadvantage when competing with deep-pocketed investors and all-cash buyers who can move rapidly and bankroll projects As a consequence largest part preservation opportunities are lost before responsible buyers even learn a building is for sale That s where COPA comes in COPA gives attentively vetted nonprofits as well as for-profit affordable housing developers something they rarely have currently notice that a building is being sold a brief window to express interest and the opportunity to make a competitive domain rate offer Under COPA sellers remain free to reject those offers and sell their buildings on the open territory We know this approach works San Francisco enacted its COPA law in and it has swiftly become one of the city s majority of effective preservation tools without slowing the region At present the city s real estate sector remains among the fastest and preponderance proceeding in the country The City Council s five years of work designing and refining COPA based on feedback from New York s affordable housing population and lessons from San Francisco and other cities reflects a thoughtful and collaborative process Int -A is a balanced bill that focuses on a strategic subset of multifamily buildings where expiring affordability agreements or physical or financial distress expose tenants to heightened menace of harassment or evictions Notably small properties including owner-occupied buildings with five or fewer units and property owners experiencing hardship are fully exempt from COPA It s a legally-sound and market-compatible plan that will meaningfully advance the city s affordable housing and preservation goals The City Council should pass the bill this session David Dubrow is senior of counsel at ArentFox Schiff LLP writing in his individual threshold Matthew Hall is a senior partner at Goldstein Hall PLLC writing in his individual threshold The post Opinion The Legal Circumstance for Passing COPA Now appeared first on City Limits