City Council passes COPA, giving nonprofits first shot at distressed buildings

What happened

The New York City Council on Thursday passed the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, known as COPA. The bill gives qualified nonprofits and eligible joint ventures the first chance to buy certain distressed multifamily buildings before for-profit buyers. The Real Deal reported the vote as 38 in favor, 9 against and 2 abstentions. The bill was first introduced in 2020. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he looks forward to signing it into law, 6sqft reported.

The final bill is narrower than earlier versions. The Real Deal reported that it covers distressed buildings with 100 or fewer units that have regulatory agreements managed by HPD. To qualify, a building must have three Class B or C violations per unit or take part in certain distressed programs. Large mixed-income and affordable buildings with 485x or 421a as-of-right tax abatements, or other city zoning enhancements, are exempt. The final version also drops language that would have let HPD add buildings to the program and extend certain eligibility deadlines.

Under the bill, qualified groups get 20 days to submit a statement of interest when a covered building goes up for sale. They then get another 70 days to make an offer before the building hits the market, 6sqft reported. Qualified entities also get a right of first refusal if the owner receives an offer from someone else. The two outlets describe the size of the covered pool differently. The Real Deal said about 10,000 buildings were once in scope and the final number is roughly one-fifth of that. 6sqft said the pool was narrowed from 10,000 to between 2,000 and 3,400 buildings.

This was the Council's second time passing COPA within a year. 6sqft reported that the Council approved a similar version in December 2025, and that former Mayor Eric Adams vetoed it on his last day in office, along with 18 other bills. The Real Deal reported that Julie Menin, in one of her first moves as Council speaker, let that veto stand. Small Property Owners of New York says the bill will devalue buildings. The Real Deal noted that landlords in Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., which have similar laws, claim the laws have hurt their ability to sell, refinance or get title insurance.