IPNTA Newsletters

March 2003

Bank Group Open to IPNTA on Alternative to Buyout

A coalition of banks established to promote affordable home ownership has expressed serious interest in IPNTA’s efforts to purchase our buildings under a program that would enable us to keep our apartments either as cooperators or renters or both.

The president of the Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), a non-profit mortgage lender comprised of 94 banks and insurance companies, met twice with IPNTA officers, including President Neil Fabricant, over the past few months to discuss financing, purchase and rental prices, and related issues.

While the CPC has made no final commitment, the fact that it considers IPNTA’s strategy worthy of serious consideration is noteworthy. CPC’s presence adds an equal, if not superior, degree of financing for us against Laurence Gluck, a would-be private owner, and Harold Cohn, the current owner.

Gluck, who is under contract to purchase IPN from Cohn, has publicly announced his intention to remove the complex from the Mitchell-Lama program, and charge market rents.

In other Mitchell-Lama projects whose landlords are seeking to exit the program, such as Phipps Plaza on Manhattan’s east side, the new proposed rents range from $1,825 for a studio, to $3,150 for a 2-bedroom with terrace. Much higher rents apply to 3-bedroom apartments.

Formed in 1974, CPC states that it specializes in “financing low-, moderate- and middle-income housing throughout New York and New Jersey.” So far it has financed more than 92,000 affordable housing units. The organization says its mission is “to stabilize, strengthen, and sustain low- and mixed-income communities.”

That is exactly the aim of IPNTA.

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