New bill expands buying power for Bronx affordable housing groups over landlords and developers

The funding will support the HEARTS Center, a project led by South Bronx Unite, the organization that created the community land trust that controls the site.

Bronx Times

by Siddhartha Harmalkar

Bronx-based affordable housing groups won a City Council vote yesterday on the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), a bill that gives nonprofits new leverage to buy distressed apartment buildings and keep them affordable.

Introduced by Council Member Sandy Nurse –who represents majority-Hispanic neighborhoods along Brooklyn’s northern border– the bill gives city certified housing preservation groups first dibs on some apartment buildings when they go up for sale.

Landlord and real estate groups objected to the bill, saying it would expand government involvement in private property sales, while supporters say it will increase the supply of permanently affordable housing managed by tenants or nonprofits.

If signed into law by Mayor Adams by the end of the year, it will come into effect in 2027.