Building types in Manhattan
Converted building condos in Manhattan
Manhattan conversions include the loft buildings of SoHo, NoHo and Tribeca, where legalization history and the certificate of occupancy are the live questions.
What is different about buying a converted building condo in Manhattan?
Quick Answer
Manhattan conversions include the loft buildings of SoHo, NoHo and Tribeca, converted from manufacturing use under the loft legalization framework. The live questions there are the building’s legalization history and its certificate of occupancy, because those decide what the unit may lawfully be used for.
Which condominiums of this kind are actually in Manhattan?
- Former manufacturing and warehouse buildings in SoHo, NoHo, Tribeca and the Flatiron district
- Office buildings in the Financial District and Midtown converted to residential condominiums
- Pre-war apartment buildings converted from rental to condominium rather than to cooperative
- Buildings that passed through interim multiple dwelling status on the way to a residential certificate of occupancy
What changes about the waiver and the loan file in Manhattan?
- A building that has not completed legalization can have a certificate of occupancy that does not match how the units are used, which lenders treat as a defect
- Joint live-work quarters for artists is a use restriction still written into some downtown certificates, and it is not merely historical
- Where the conversion is recent, warrantability turns on the same presale and sponsor tests as a ground-up building
- Lenders ask for the certificate of occupancy on a converted building more often than on a new one
Which taxes and recording steps apply in Manhattan?
- Mortgage recording tax applies to the recorded mortgage, and the deed and mortgage record with the City Register through ACRIS
- Conversions frequently carried a rehabilitation tax benefit, and where one remains it steps down on a schedule
- New York State transfer tax and the New York City real property transfer tax apply, shifted to the purchaser in a sponsor sale
- The mansion tax is reached on a large share of downtown Manhattan loft sales
What pattern does a purchaser meet in Manhattan?
- Pull the certificate of occupancy and read it against how the unit is actually used, because a mismatch is the purchaser’s problem after closing
- Open Department of Buildings permits from the conversion are common, and an open permit can hold up a later alteration
- Landmarked districts downtown add Landmarks review to facade and window work
- Loft floor plates mean unusual layouts, and the declaration’s definition of the unit boundary is worth reading carefully
Why does the certificate of occupancy matter in a Manhattan loft?
Because it states the building’s lawful use, and loft buildings changed use through a legalization process that some never finished. A certificate that still shows manufacturing use, or that restricts residential use to artists, limits what the unit may lawfully be used for and can complicate financing and resale.
What is an open permit on a converted building?
A Department of Buildings permit that was pulled for work but never signed off. It sits on the building record and can block a later permit or a certificate amendment. On a converted building the open items usually date from the conversion itself, and clearing them is the condominium’s job rather than the purchaser’s.
What else should you read before closing on one of these?
In the glossary
- Certificate of Occupancy (C of O)The Department of Buildings document that fixes a building's legal use and occupancy. Lenders and title companies read it to confirm the property c...
- Open permitA DOB permit filed for work that was never signed off. Closing it usually means a licensed professional filing for inspection or formally withdrawi...
- Offering planThe sponsor's filed disclosure document for a co-op or condominium, carrying its budget, share or common interest allocation, building rules and sp...
- Violation (cited against the premises)An agency record that a condition at a property does not comply with a code or rule. It attaches to the premises and follows the property through a...
- Letter of No ObjectionA DOB letter confirming the lawful use of a building constructed before Certificates of Occupancy were required. It stands in for a C of O on many ...
Questions this raises
- What is a non-warrantable condo?A non-warrantable condo fails secondary market eligibility, so conventional financing is unavailable. What causes it and how buyers finance around it.
- What is an alteration agreement?An alteration agreement governs renovation in a NYC co-op or condo: plans, permits, insurance, deposits, work hours and liability. What buyers shou...
Building types
- Condo in a converted buildingA condominium created by converting an existing rental building, where non-purchasing tenants, the reserve fund and building-wide conditions carry ...
- Standard condoA New York City condominium unit: real property conveyed by deed, recorded in ACRIS, with an undivided interest in the common elements.
- New-development condoA first sale from the sponsor of a newly built condominium, governed by an offering plan, often delivered on a temporary certificate of occupancy.
- Mixed-use condo with commercial unitsA condominium holding both residential and commercial units, where the declaration allocates common charges, voting rights and use restrictions bet...
This building type, borough by borough
- Converted building condos in BrooklynBrooklyn conversions run from DUMBO warehouse lofts to Bushwick factory buildings, and interim multiple dwelling history follows many of them.
- Converted building condos in QueensQueens conversions center on the former factory and warehouse buildings of Long Island City, where zoning overlays sit alongside the legalization q...
- Standard condos in ManhattanIn Manhattan the condominium is the minority structure, which is why condos there carry a price premium over comparable co-ops and why the approval...
- Mixed-use condos in ManhattanIn Manhattan the commercial unit in a mixed-use condominium is often large and valuable enough to have real power over the building’s decisions.
- Condops in ManhattanA condop is a condominium regime split between a commercial unit and a residential unit that is itself run as a cooperative, and Manhattan holds th...
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Legal Disclaimer: This page is general information about New York practice. It is not legal advice, it does not account for the terms of any particular contract, building or transaction, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. This is attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.