Southbridge Towers residents vote to go private

Move could prove to be windfall for long-time tenants

Southbridge Towers at 90 Beekman Place
Southbridge Towers at 90 Beekman Place

Residents at Southbridge Towers in the Financial District have voted to turn their subsidized co-ops into market rate apartments.

Following a heated debate, the measure garnered support from two-thirds of residents, and the 1,067-unit affordable housing complex is now on track to go private, DNAinfo reported. Residents who paid $10,000 for apartments decades ago could sell their units for upwards of $1 million, according to the news site.

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The privatization will move forward if two-thirds of residents opt in. Those who opt out will become renters and lose the opportunity to sell their apartments.

Those opposed to privatization said the complex should be preserved as an affordable co-op development for future generations and warned of higher fees. [DNAinfo]Tom DiChristopher