Ground Lease Condos in NYC: What You're Really Buying
In some NYC buildings, you can own your apartment without the building owning the land under it. We read the offering plans for Battery Park City, Brooklyn Bridge Park and Queens West to explain what a ground lease means for your monthly costs, your mortgage and your resale value.
Most NYC condo buyers own a slice of the building and the land it sits on. In a ground lease building, someone else owns the land, often a government authority, and the building only leases it for a long period. You still get a deed to your apartment, but what you own is a leasehold: the right to the apartment for as long as the lease lasts.
Some of the city's best-known waterfront neighborhoods are built this way. We read their offering plans to see how it works in practice.
The Short Version
- You own your apartment, but not the land. The building leases it, usually for about 70 to 100 years.
- The building pays ground rent to the landowner, and that cost is passed on to you through your common charges.
- In Battery Park City and Brooklyn Bridge Park, common charges also include PILOT (payments in lieu of taxes), so they look high but already include your property taxes.
- What matters most is what happens when the lease ends. Some leases let the owners buy the land; others don't.
- As the end date gets closer, apartments can get harder to finance and sell.
Where You'll Find Ground Lease Condos
In NYC, ground leases are most common on land the state or city set aside for redevelopment:
- Battery Park City, where the land is owned by the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA).
- Brooklyn Bridge Park, where buildings lease land from the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation.
- Queens West in Long Island City, where buildings like The View at East Coast lease from the Queens West Development Corporation.
The legal name for these is a "leasehold condominium." The offering plans call the Battery Park City and Brooklyn Bridge Park versions "qualified leasehold condominiums," a category the state's Condominium Act specifically allows.
How Ground Rent Shows Up in Your Monthly Costs
After the first sale closes, the condo board becomes the tenant under the ground lease. It collects each owner's share of the rent, which plans call Proportionate Rent, as part of common charges and passes it to the landowner.
At The Visionaire in Battery Park City, that share covers base rent, PILOT and "civic facilities" payments. In the first-year budget, those three lines add up to about $5 million of an $8.7 million budget, or about 57% of common charges. The co-op conversion at The Solaire, also in Battery Park City, budgets almost exactly the same share: about $6.3 million of $11 million.
| Building | Base rent | PILOT | Civic facilities | Total budget |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Visionaire | $917,611 | $3,914,114 | $137,002 | $8,732,784 |
| The Solaire | $297,183 | $5,797,903 | $167,692 | $10,958,573 |
Good to know: because PILOT replaces your property taxes, comparing common charges alone makes these buildings look expensive. Compare common charges plus taxes instead.
Ground rent can also go up. The Solaire's lease sets base rent differently for each period of the term, with a new formula starting in 2054. Read the rent schedule, not just the first-year number.
What Happens When the Lease Ends?
This is the most important question, and the answer differs from building to building.
- A $1 buyout. At One Brooklyn Bridge Park, when the 99-year lease ends, the landlord must sell the land to the condo board, and the board has the right to buy it, for $1, as long as the rent is paid up.
- No right to stay. At Quay Tower, also in Brooklyn Bridge Park, the lease expires in 2109 and the plan says there is "no right to a renewal term." Owners would have to give up their units.
- Negotiate or leave. The Visionaire's lease expires on June 17, 2069. By then the board has to negotiate a new lease or buy the land. If it can't, the plan says owners lose the right to stay in their apartments. The View at East Coast's lease runs to September 30, 2102, with no renewal option.
The plans make no promises here. The Visionaire's plan says no representation is made "as to whether the Lease will be extended or renewed."
Why the Years Left on the Lease Matter
A leasehold apartment loses value as the end date approaches. The plans say so directly: The View at East Coast warns that "as the Lease term diminishes, the value of the Units diminishes," and that financing can get harder.
Lenders care because your apartment secures the loan. Fannie Mae's guidelines generally require a leasehold to run at least five years past the end of the mortgage. With 40-plus years left, that's rarely a problem. When fewer years are left, it can narrow your pool of buyers when you sell.
Tip: work out how many years will be left when you plan to sell, not just today.
Other Things the Landowner Controls
- The lease wins. At The Visionaire, if the lease and the condo's own rules disagree, the lease controls.
- Exterior changes. Leases can limit changes to the building's height, bulk or facade.
- Board defaults. If one owner stops paying, that alone usually isn't a default on the lease. But if the board fails to pass the collected rent to the landowner, the lease can be terminated. That's a good reason to care how well the building is run.
What to Check in the Offering Plan
- The lease expiration date, and whether there's a renewal option or a right to buy the land.
- The "Summary of the Lease" section, especially how rent changes over time.
- Schedule B, the first-year budget, for base rent, PILOT and other lease payments.
- The Special Risks section near the front, where the ground lease risks are spelled out.
- Any amendments that changed the lease. See how to find offering plan amendments.
Search "ground lease" on The Condo Book Project to find other buildings, and compare costs on the common charge benchmarks. For how budgets work, see Schedule A and Schedule B.
Common Questions
What is a ground lease condo?
A condo where the building leases the land instead of owning it. You own your apartment by deed, but only for as long as the ground lease lasts, and the building pays rent to the landowner.
Why are common charges so high in Battery Park City?
Because they include ground rent and PILOT, payments made in place of property taxes. At The Visionaire and The Solaire, those lease payments are about 57% of the first-year budget.
What happens when a ground lease expires?
It depends on the lease. Some let the board buy the land (One Brooklyn Bridge Park can buy it for $1). Others have no renewal right, and owners would have to give up their units unless the board negotiates a new deal.
Can I get a mortgage on a leasehold condo?
Usually, yes, as long as enough years remain on the lease. Lenders generally want the lease to run several years past the end of the loan.
Is a ground lease condo a bad investment?
Not necessarily. Many are in prime locations and priced to reflect the lease. The risk grows as the lease gets shorter, so the terms and years remaining matter more than the label. Have your attorney review the lease.
Where this comes from: the offering plans for The Visionaire, The Solaire, One Brooklyn Bridge Park, Quay Tower and The View at East Coast, including their Special Risks sections, lease summaries and first-year budgets. Budgets are first-year projections. This is general information, not legal advice. Updated October 2026.