Land lease buildings

Your question is too general. Every land lease does not have the same terms. Can you disclose the building you are thinking about with a land lease?

also depends who is the lease holder a private landlord or city of ny like battery park or ri buildings

land: why own when you can rent?

Right, lots of variations. The idea, though, is for the landowner to get an inflation-protected revenue stream while still holding onto the land.

Some landowners can't sell their land, so a lease is their only option. I think that's the story with the seminary and some churches.

Most ground leases aren't publicly recorded. Instead, a memorandum of lease is filed for reference by lenders, etc.

An exception, though, is the 1971 lease for 420 E 51st: http://a836-acris.nyc.gov/Scripts/DocSearch.dll/ViewImage?Doc_ID=FT_1290008484329

It was amended in 1995 (http://a836-acris.nyc.gov/Scripts/DocSearch.dll/Detail?Doc_ID=FT_1140004577614) to make it easier for the co-op to borrow against its leasehold.

Note the escalation terms, and the increase in minimum rent.