Retail slump affecting Coop maintenance?

I wish my coop owned some retail. In many cases, the sponsors took the retail with lower share allocation than justified by price of the retail space resulting in favorable real estate tax treatment.

I don't think that's exactly right... Sponsors were barred from allocating shares to units which were not residential (or could be converted to residential - like doctor's offices which just needed a kitchen added). So they wrote themselves 99 year master leases on the commercial parts of the building at way below market (known as "Sweetheart leases"). When Sweetheart leases were barred by law in 1979, Sponsors began shifting to CondOps, where they made the commercial unit a condo and the residential unit another condo, and then turned the residential unit into a Coop. This was even better for them because they owned the space outright instead of merely having a leasehold interest.

I'm concerned about the double whammy of retail space rent regulation plus ever increasing property taxes. I understand the concern about Mom and Pop but my building and I'm sure others are seeing radical increases in property taxes.