Closings glossary
Land lease
A building whose land is leased rather than owned. The lease term and rent reset schedule sit in the offering plan and shape much of what the apartments are worth.
What is a land lease building in New York City?
Quick Answer
The full definition
A building whose land is leased rather than owned. The lease term and rent reset schedule sit in the offering plan and shape much of what the apartments are worth.
Also called: Ground lease.
Which related terms should you know?
These are the terms that come up alongside land lease in the same file.
- Proprietary lease
- The occupancy lease a co-op corporation grants a shareholder for a specific unit. It is assigned at closing together with the stock certificate for the allocated shares, and its amendments, rather than the original text, carry the building's current rules.
- Offering plan
- The sponsor's filed disclosure document for a co-op or condominium, carrying its budget, share or common interest allocation, building rules and sponsor commitments.
- Maintenance (co-op)
- The monthly charge a co-op levies on each shareholder, covering building operations plus that shareholder's share of real estate taxes and the underlying mortgage.
- Fee simple
- Ownership of land held indefinitely and freely transferable, subject only to recorded encumbrances and to government powers such as taxation, zoning and condemnation.
- Assessment (co-op or condo)
- A charge levied by a co-op or condominium board beyond ordinary maintenance or common charges, typically to pay for a capital project. It is disclosed in the managing agent's closing letter.
Where does land lease come up in a New York City closing?
An Upper East Side land lease co-op faces a 2029 rent reset, and lenders shorten loan terms as the ground lease runs down toward expiration.
What else should you read before closing?
Questions this raises
- What is the risk in a land lease co-op?A land lease co-op rents the ground under the building. Rent resets can raise maintenance sharply and the lease end date limits financing and resal...
- Do I need an owner's title policy if my lender already requires one?A lender's policy protects the bank, not you, and ends when the loan is paid. What an owner's policy adds on a New York purchase, and what it costs...
Building types
- Land-lease co-opA cooperative that owns its building but leases the ground beneath it from a separate landowner, on a lease with a reset schedule and an expiry date.
- Standard co-opThe ordinary New York City cooperative: you buy shares in a corporation and receive a proprietary lease to occupy a specific apartment.
- Mitchell-Lama co-opA limited-equity cooperative in the State and City Mitchell-Lama program, sold from a waiting list at a formula price rather than on the open market.
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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.