Should co-ops go condo?

Even $95 million asking prices are not enough to tempt the city’s co-ops to convert to condos, the Observer reported. Most co-ops these days are simply not interested in making the switch.“Frankly, most co-ops don’t want to convert,” said Jeffrey Reich, an attorney at  Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz. “There was a lot of interest in conversions 10 years ago, but during the downturn people really grew to appreciate co-ops.”

And while it’s possible for a building to convert from co-op to condo, it’s not easy. In order to become a condo, a co-op would have to pay off its underlying mortgage. Individual owners, meanwhile, would need to trade in their share loans for mortgages, and face “huge tax liabilities,” the Observer said. [NYO] – Christopher Cameron