Former Mitchell Lama Buildings

They are just like anyother buildings. I lived in one and there it was no different than a regular building.

1. usually very low taxes; and 2. a few more NYC eccentrics then a traditional coop or condo.

Most were built with the objective of providing comfortable, affordable housing for working people and families (or retirees), not winning architecture awards. Some of the apartments can be downright ugly--think popcorn ceilings, I'm hardly a design purist but that is one thing I can not abide, but they are usually spacious and well practical. Often the locations, Independence Plaza, Southbridge Plaza are f'ing amazing with spectacular views and surroundings that break the "cool-o-meter" (the reason of course being that when built, those locations were considered anything but prime and thus could be "wasted" on middle income housing).
Mitchell Lama developments also featured amenities popular in the 60s-70s such as landscaping, parking and playgrounds. I suspect that as part of privation and renovation however, things like gyms have also been added.
Personally, I think the loss of the Mitchell Lama program is one the key reasons for the hypergentrification of NYC (safe is great, rich is a bitch). M-L provided solid housing for the solid middle class. Maybe I'm extra passionate about it because SO MANY of the people I grew up with (including my grandfather and my then and now best friend) lived in Mitchell Lama developments and had none of the real estate or landlord angst suffered by the rest of us (until privation that is).

Just served jury duty for a violent crime that happened between a gang from a Mitchell Lama building in Tribeca.

I am in no way doubting your story flard...but I was curious since I knew at lot of people from what I assume was the only M-L building in Tribeca and wanted to see if they (or more likely their kids) were involved but when I googled "Tribeca crime" and "Tribeca gang" all got was film festival references. "Independence Plaza North Crime" came up equally empty.

I know you may be hesitant to share a jury experience but was this a teenage type of gang or more an organized crime thing?

flard's probably referring to an 80/20 in TriBeCa.

There is one Mitchell Lama Unit in Harlem that might work for us.
Funny, IPN would be nice, but the wait list is a lifetime + 1 year.
RIVERBEND in Harlem seems a slightly lesser wait!
Do Banks treat them like regular coops, and finance them also?
Are the monthly charges also tax deductible, an if you can finance them, can those monthly interest charges be deductible?
Also, are these Units the ones where you must sell back to the Owners Corporation for exactly what you paid for it, no profit potential at all?
So is there a sort of purchase price protection? Can a sale for a loss be enforced?

Riverbend is a M-L *coop*, and as such the underlying mortgage is financed, with the mortgage interest deductible by the shareholders, as are the RE taxes. You'll be hard-pressed to find a mortgage for the unit "purchase", which is something like $20K total. There is no possibility of a sale for a loss; the corporation is obligated to buy back shares.

You can only sell it back to the coop corporation, and only for what you paid (not even interest). As such, it's best to think of the "purchase" price as a sizable security deposit, and the "maintenance" (or "carrying costs", as they put it) as very very cheap rent. However, you'll have certain advantages of ownership: determination in how the building is run, the right to keep the apartment as your primary residence in perpetuity, the ability to renovate (within limits) to your preference.

Income windows are very tight, and "carrying charges" are surcharged up to 50% if, in any year, your income exceeds that window. However, even with the full 50% surcharge the monthly can be less than you'd pay in rent elsewhere.

The profit potential comes in your ability to have a little extra cash each month ... you can dribble that into any other investment in the hopes of profiting.

Thats enough to do a lot more further checking, Alan!

U know lots about the nitty gritty of this stuff given ya answer here and on UHAB et al!
THANKS much, its appreciated!

>Funny, IPN would be nice, but the wait list is a lifetime + 1 year.

Unless you want to pay market rate, no? Is there a shortage of market rate units in IPN also?

I think you can move right in to a SMALL IPN Unit!
Try getting a 3 bed TH or THE 1 or 2 4 Bedroom TH's and the wait ratchets up to a lifetime + 2 years!

I dont think IPN is the same type of ML Coop as Riverbend.
Riverbend you can actually purchase shares, and can only sell back to Corporation at same price, no profit or loss.
IPN I believe is straight Income Restricted Rental [ML] and free market otherwise!
How else to explain a 3 bed TH at 2000/month and a 1 Bed in The Tower for 3000??!!

IPN was (at least in part) a M-L rental, while Riverbend is a M-L coop. Both can opt out of the program after a few decades. I thought IPN's landlord did, which would make it either market-rate or rent-stabilized ... often with arrangements to keep current M-L tenants in place. So I'd be very surprised if there's any offer, waitlist or not, for a 3BR TH at $2k.

The very unlovely 3333 Bway is an ex-ML rental whose apartments go to market when they become available. You might as well check there while you're at it. Chances are better than excellent, if you're on this discussion board, that you make too much money for a (still-in-program) M-L coop.

your RIGHT ON as usual, Alan!
Open market at IPN will absolutely not land one of those 3 bed TH's as your home for 2K!
. . . but some of those folks ALREADY in those Units are paying less than 2K!
Rent Stabilization, or ML opted-out, at work, cause the incoming probably pay north of 5K for those same TH Units!

BUT . . . . why would someone on this discussion board presumably make too much money for ML??

I'm not one of the regular millionaires on here . . . . and doubt if i'm alone!

what the cross st for 3333 Bway? and why is the building UNlovely?

It's at 135th, it's megahuge, it was built in the 70s (M-L buildings from the 50s were built with thought and, at least at lobby level, some modernist panache; they got blander and more just-throw-em-up-quickly in the 60s, and by the 70s were "there, be glad you have anything at all, trash!"), tiny windows, and as an M-L rental, the barrier to entry was very low (no $20K "purchase" deposit to come up with), so the residents tend to be at the very lowest end of the allegedly middle-class scale. But most of it faces the Hudson, which is nice. The Broadway side, though, faces the elevated #1 train and a JHS schoolyard.

I know that building and location, and its a definite pass!

hmmn??!! no comment on the other comment, though?