New York City is putting co-op boards on the clock.
The City Council on Thursday approved a bill aimed at cutting down on co-op board application response times. Members voted 46 to 2 in a veto-proof majority, which means the bill will become law.
The bill, proposed by Majority Leader and known as 1120, Amanda Farias, would require co-op boards to let applicants know within 15 days that they’ve received their application and whether their application is considered complete or if they need more information to proceed. Once the application is whole, the board has 45 days to accept or reject a prospective sale.
The legislation was part of a controversial package designed to make the co-op board application process more transparent and to reduce discrimination. The bill was the only one of the three to make it out of the housing committee and go before the full Council for a vote.
At a committee meeting earlier this month, co-op board leaders rallied against the package, which included a provision that would require boards to disclose their reasons for denying an application.
Though the so-called Reasons Bill drew the most criticism, board members also told lawmakers that imposing timelines on application responses could be burdensome to small boards, who may already be struggling to comply with their usual duties.
However, their chief concern was a portion of the bill stating that if a board failed to meet the timeline, the pending application would be automatically accepted. That piece, however, was removed from the version of the bill approved by Council members, replaced instead by fines beginning at $1,000 for the first violation.
Even if boards aren’t too fond of regulation, some brokers are welcoming the changes to the application process, historically known for causing much hand-wringing for buyers, sellers and the people who represent them. They’re hopeful that the bill could keep boards from holding their deals — and their commissions — hostage.
“Time kills all deals,” said The Agency’s Mike Fabbri. “I’ve had co-op approvals take 8, 10, even 12 weeks with no clear reason other than ‘the board hasn’t met yet.’ That kind of uncertainty is brutal for buyers and sellers, and it makes co-ops feel riskier than they need to be compared to condos.”
Fabbri added that he doesn’t think the proposed law would “take power away from boards,” but instead “just puts a clock on a process that’s historically been completely open-ended.”
Delays in the application process can make it difficult for buyers, especially, who could be facing a lease renewal or whose mortgage deals may lapse in the time it takes for an application to be reviewed, said Douglas Wagner, Bond New York’s director of brokerage services. If timelines are imposed, buyers and sellers will at least have a better idea of how long they’ll need to wait.
“Being able to plan those things in advance saves money and stress,” Wagner said. “This is fairness and accountability.”
Not so fast…
Donna Olshan once called December one of the best times of the year to shop for a luxury home — and buyers in Manhattan appear to agree.
As the year winds down, the borough’s luxury market has stayed busy, with buyers signing contracts for more than 60 homes asking $4 million or more in just the first two weeks of the month, according to data from Olshan Realty.
The priciest deal inked so far this year is shaping up to be a blockbuster. Sources told The Real Deal earlier this week that a buyer agreed to pay $129 million for multiple units at Zeckendorf Development and Atlas Capital Group’s 80 Clarkson Street.
The pending deal, if it closes for that price, would become the most expensive sale in history in Downtown Manhattan, though we won’t have the final verdict until next year at the earliest.
News of the signed contract came after two units at Zeckendorf’s 15 Central Park West, asking $27 million and $25 million respectively, also found buyers and topped the week’s contract reports. The pending deals were accompanied by two recent closings at the Upper West Side tower, including for Unit 29A, which sold for $22 million, and for Unit 5B, which sold for $19 million.
The spark of activity at the building, dubbed “Limestone Jesus,” followed the death of its famed architect, Robert A.M. Stern. The former Dean of Yale’s architecture school died in late November at the age of 86.
NYC Deal of the Week
The most expensive deal to hit the city rolls this week was a condo at Extell Development’s 50 West 66th Street, which sold for just under $47 million, or roughly $6,700 per square foot. The apartment, which was never publicly listed, sold to a buyer whose identity was shielded by an LLC.
Unit 41E spans 7,000 square feet and has six bedrooms and six bathrooms. It also features nearly 300 square feet of outdoor space.
Read more
Co-op boards clash with NYC lawmakers over transparency bills
Housing wallop: City Council passes COPA, other legislative overhauls