What Is a Condop? How NYC's Condo-Co-op Hybrid Works

Updated Oct 12, 2026 · 9 min read

Short answer: A condop is a building that's legally a condominium with just a few big units, usually one holding all the apartments and one or more commercial units, where the apartments' unit is owned by a co-op corporation. So what you buy is almost always a co-op apartment: shares in the co-op plus a lease, with board approval, maintenance payments and co-op financing, and no deed to your own home. Some listings use "condop" loosely for a co-op with condo-like rules, so check the actual structure in the offering plan.

How a Condop Is Built

Think of it as a co-op sitting inside a condo. The condo is the outer layer: it splits the building into, say, "the apartments" and "the stores." The co-op is the inner layer: it owns "the apartments" unit, and each resident owns shares in the co-op plus a lease on their own apartment.

The Renaissance at 130 Malcolm X Boulevard in Harlem shows the structure. Its plan sets it up as a two-unit condominium: one "Residential Unit" holding all 241 apartments (240 for sale, plus the superintendent's), and one "Commercial Unit." Its co-op offering plan is titled "A Plan for Cooperative Ownership of the Residential Unit of the Renaissance Condominium."

A co-op corporation, which the plan calls the Apartment Corporation, owns the residential unit. Buyers purchase shares in that corporation and get a lease on their apartment. Bradhurst Court at 300 West 145th Street was set up the same way, with its 127 co-op apartments in the residential unit of the Bradhurst Court Condominium, alongside two retail units and a parking unit.

Both are income-restricted co-ops built with city housing programs, so buyers had to meet eligibility rules. That's not part of being a condop; market-rate condops use the same two-layer structure without those rules.

So there are two layers of governance:

A co-op board runs the residential side: approving buyers, setting maintenance and managing the apartments.
A condo board of managers runs the shared parts of the whole building. At The Renaissance, the co-op appoints two representatives to that board and the commercial owner appoints one.

Why Would a Building Be Set Up This Way?

To separate the stores from the homes. The commercial owner can lease, sell or renovate the retail space without needing the co-op, and the co-op isn't the landlord for the stores.
Taxes, mostly in the past. For shareholders to deduct their share of the co-op's mortgage interest and property taxes, a co-op must pass the federal "80/20 rule" (Internal Revenue Code §216). Until 2007 the only test was that 80% of the co-op's income came from residents, so store rent could sink it, and a separate commercial condo unit kept that rent out. Since a 2007 amendment, a co-op can instead pass if 80% of its square footage is for residents or 90% of its spending benefits them, so the condop is no longer the only fix.
Financing. Each unit can be financed on its own. At The Renaissance, the residential unit carried mortgages from city housing agencies, while the developer kept the commercial unit.

Why Not Just Make Every Apartment a Condo?

Splitting off the stores doesn't need a co-op; a regular condo building can have a commercial unit too. The reason to put the apartments in a co-op is what a co-op can do that individual condo units can't.

The building can borrow, so buyers don't have to

In a condo, each apartment is its own piece of real estate, so each buyer pays the full price and takes out their own mortgage. In a co-op, the corporation owns the apartments and can take out one mortgage for all of them. Each buyer pays only for their share of what's left, and their monthly maintenance covers their part of the loan.

The Renaissance shows how big the difference can be. Its plan prices the 240 apartments at about $48.1 million in total, but only $1.84 million of that is cash from buyers, under $8,000 per apartment on average. The other $46.3 million is mortgage debt the co-op carries, about $193,000 per apartment, mostly from city housing agencies. As condo units, each apartment would have needed a buyer with a full mortgage of their own. The city loans to the building are what kept the buyers' cash so low.

Every buyer goes through the board

A condo owner holds a deed and can sell to anyone. The board's only tool is usually a right of first refusal, which means buying the unit itself. A co-op board approves every buyer. In an income-restricted building like The Renaissance or Bradhurst Court, that's how the income limits are enforced, at the first sale and every resale after it.

What kind of building a condop makes sense for

Affordable homeownership with stores downstairs. The co-op carries the city mortgage and screens buyers for income, while the stores stay separate. Both buildings in this article are this kind.
An older co-op with ground-floor retail. Turning the building into a two-unit condo lets the co-op sell or borrow against the store space, or keep store rent out of its income, without changing anyone's apartment.
A developer keeping the commercial space. The developer holds on to the retail as its own unit while the homes are sold as co-op shares.

It rarely makes sense for a new market-rate building. Buyers and lenders generally prefer owning by deed, condos are easier to finance and resell, and buyers don't have to pass a board. That's why new developments today almost always sell every apartment as its own condo unit.

The Most Recent Condop Plans

Condops are rare in new offering plans. These are the 9 accepted condop plans in our records, newest first: plans the Attorney General classes as cooperative/condominium, plus one that describes itself as a "cond-op" structure. After the newest, from 2021, the next was accepted in 2004, and most are conversions of existing buildings or income-restricted co-ops.

#	Building	Where	Homes	Plan	Good to know
1	1402 York Avenue	Upper East Side	10	Accepted Jul 28, 2021	Income-restricted HDFC co-op owning Unit 1 of the condominium
2	Bradhurst Court	Harlem	127	Accepted Sep 29, 2004	Income-restricted; two retail units and a parking unit
3	The Astor Place Condominium	NoHo	39	Accepted Sep 29, 2004	Conversion of an occupied building
4	Tower Residences at One Carnegie Hill	Upper East Side	212	Accepted Sep 29, 2004	Conversion of an occupied building
5	The Washington	Harlem	103	Accepted Oct 16, 2003	Conversion of an occupied building
6	Madison Plaza Cooperatives	East Harlem	91	Accepted Jun 20, 2003	Conversion of an occupied building
7	Madison Court Cooperatives	East Harlem	95	Accepted Sep 3, 2002	Conversion of an occupied building
8	455–469 Greenwich Street	Tribeca	38	Accepted Jun 4, 2002	Conversion of an occupied building
9	The Renaissance	Harlem	240	Accepted Jun 2, 2000	Income-restricted; one residential and one commercial unit

Condop offering plans in our records, newest first, by the date the Attorney General accepted the plan. Plans withdrawn before acceptance are left out. Homes: the co-op apartments in the plan.

The newest, 1402 York Avenue, shows the structure is still used for affordable homeownership: its plan is for Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) co-op ownership of Unit 1 of the 1402 York Avenue Condominium, with 10 affordable apartments.

Two Newer Uses of the Structure

Some recent plans that the Attorney General classes as plain co-ops, so they aren't in the list above, use the same two layers to solve two newer problems.

Converting an occupied building

450 Washington Street in Tribeca, an occupied building whose condominium was formerly called 34 Desbrosses Condominium, filed a co-op plan for "the Co-Op Unit at 450 Washington Street Condominium." It's a non-eviction conversion: tenants who don't buy can stay. The plan offers shares for 176 apartments, at $400,662,000 in total to tenants and $534,216,000 to outside buyers (cover page). Putting the apartments in one condo unit lets the co-op own the homes while the rest of the building stays separate.

Building on land the developer doesn't own

At 201 East 23rd Street, filed in 2024, the developer leases the land. The plan creates a two-unit leasehold condominium, one residential unit and one commercial unit, and a co-op corporation owns the residential unit with its 96.06% interest in the condominium (p. 5). The sponsor got a no-action letter from the Attorney General to form the leasehold condominium and then convey the residential unit to the co-op (p. 60). Buyers get co-op shares, and the stores are a separate unit, the same as in a classic condop, except that nobody in the building owns the land.

Ground leases are the main reason market-rate developers still file co-op plans; see why developers are still filing new co-ops and ground lease condos in NYC.

Condo vs. Condop vs. Co-op

	Condo	Condop	Co-op
What you own	Your apartment, by deed	Shares in the co-op that owns the residential unit	Shares in the co-op that owns the building
Board approval	Usually a right of first refusal	Co-op board approval, unless the bylaws say otherwise	Full application and interview
Monthly payment	Common charges plus your own tax bill	Maintenance, which includes the co-op's share of condo common charges	Maintenance, including taxes
Mortgage recording tax	Yes	Generally no (it's a co-op loan)	No
Who runs the stores	Varies	A separate commercial unit owner	The co-op is usually the landlord

At The Renaissance, the plan says your monthly maintenance covers your share of running the residential unit and the co-op's share of the condominium's common charges. You see one bill, but two budgets feed into it.

"Condop" as a Marketing Term

Sometimes "condop" just means a co-op with condo-like rules: easier subletting, a lower down payment, or a light-touch board review. Those are perks worth having, but they come from the co-op's bylaws and policies, which a board can change. They don't come from the building's legal structure.

Ask the listing agent which kind of "condop" it is. If it's really a co-op with friendly rules, ask for the house rules and the sublet and approval policies in writing.

What to Check Before You Buy

The offering plan's title and structure. If you're buying shares, it's a co-op plan, even if the building is also a condominium.
Who controls the condo board. How many seats does the co-op have compared with the commercial owner?
How costs are split between the residential and commercial units, usually by common interest percentage.
The co-op's own rules: approval, down payment, sublets, pets and any flip tax.
What the commercial unit can be used for. A restaurant or nightlife use downstairs can affect your daily life.

Search "cooperative ownership of the residential unit" on The Condo Book Project to find more condop plans. The Condo Buyer's Guide compares condos and co-ops in more detail, and what is a condo offering plan explains the documents.

FAQ

What is a condop in NYC?

A building legally set up as a condominium, where the residential part is one condo unit owned by a co-op corporation. Residents buy co-op shares, and the commercial space is owned separately.

Is a condop a condo or a co-op?

For a buyer, it's usually a co-op. You buy shares and a lease, pay maintenance, and generally need co-op board approval. The building as a whole is a condominium.

Why not make every apartment its own condo unit?

Because a co-op can do two things condo units can't: carry one mortgage for the whole building, so buyers need little cash, and approve every buyer, which is how income-restricted buildings enforce their limits. For a new market-rate building, individual condo units usually make more sense.

Why does the condop structure exist?

It lets one building hold two kinds of ownership. The stores (or other commercial space) are a condo unit that can be sold, leased or financed on its own, while the apartments are a co-op that can carry one building mortgage and approve every buyer. Newer filings also use it for rental conversions and for buildings on leased land.

Do condops require board approval?

Usually, yes, because you're buying into a co-op. Some condops have lighter rules, but that depends on the co-op's bylaws, not on the condop structure.

Are closing costs lower in a condop?

Typically they're closer to a co-op's: co-op loans don't pay the mortgage recording tax. Transfer taxes and the mansion tax still apply. Your attorney can confirm costs for a specific building.

Why do some condops have condo rules?

Some co-ops adopt condo-like policies on subletting or financing to attract buyers. Those come from the co-op's own bylaws and rules, and the board can change them.

Where this comes from: the co-op offering plans for The Renaissance (130 Malcolm X Boulevard) and Bradhurst Court (300 West 145th Street), each a plan for cooperative ownership of the residential unit of a condominium, and, for the list of recent condops, the plans the Attorney General classes as cooperative/condominium and the 1402 York Avenue co-op plan; for the newer uses, the co-op plans for 450 Washington Street and 201 East 23rd Street. This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Updated October 2026.