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Harlem co-op offers 'stimulus package' to buyers

Beacon Towers

The new co-op building Beacon Towers in Harlem is offering a "stimulus package" to buyers, giving them $300 every month for their first year living in the building.

"We saw how the government is trying to stimulate the economy on a national level, so we are trying to stimulate it on a local level," said developer Frank Anelante, principal of Lemle & Wolff.

The incentive will be offered to buyers until July 5, but Anelante won't be handing residents a $300 check every month; the developer said $300 will be deducted from residents' monthly maintenance fees.

Anelante, who has been a developer in Harlem since 1981, said the goal of the incentive is to be sensitive to the economic climate, and to help local retailers around the co-op building, an eight-story building at 29 West 138th Street.

Buyers will be given welcome packets with information about local stores — like dry cleaners and hardware stores — and restaurants in the area. Anelante hopes the Beacon Towers residents will spend the $300 left in their pockets at local businesses.

The 73-unit Beacon Towers has 19 market-rate apartments, and the rest are middle-income housing. Sales started in March, and between signed contracts and accepted offers, Anelante said the building is about 45 percent sold. Prices for the one- and two-bedroom units range from $282,000 to $749,000. Halstead Property is the exclusive sales agent for the project.

Anelante said that buyers who previously purchased units will be offered a comparable incentive, but not the $300 a month.

Many developers are offering incentives to draw buyers, like paying common charges, broker fees, closing costs and coupons for free transfer taxes. Anelante said he chose the $300 incentive over typical concessions because those will likely be negotiated on a deal-by-deal basis anyway, and he wanted to do something "not only for our purchasers, but for the community at large."

This story originally ran on TheRealDeal.com.