What is a condop? The NYC co-op and condo hybrid

A condop is a building divided into condo units in which the apartments form one unit owned by a co-op, so a buyer gets co-op shares and a lease, not a deed.#

Last updated: 2026-11-11. General information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rates and rules change, so confirm the numbers for your deal with your real estate attorney and lender.#

A condop is a New York City building that has been legally divided into condominium units. The commercial space (stores, a garage, doctors' offices) is held as one or more condo units, and the residential floors are a single condo unit owned by a cooperative corporation. If you buy an apartment there, you buy shares in that co-op and get a proprietary lease, just as in any co-op. Brokers also use the word loosely for a co-op that has relaxed, condo-like rules on approval and subletting, so the label in a listing does not tell you which one you are looking at.#

As a condop in real estate listings, the term covers two different things.#

The legal structure. The building is a condominium under New York's Condominium Act (Real Property Law Article 9-B). The developer or the converting owner makes the commercial space its own condo unit or units, and puts all the apartments into one residential unit. A co-op corporation owns that residential unit. The co-op has its own board; the condominium as a whole has a separate condo board that runs the shared structure and systems. Brownstoner, quoting a real estate attorney, puts it as: the residential portion is a co-op, and all of it together is one condo unit.#

The structure grew out of the federal tax rule for co-ops. Shareholders can deduct their share of the co-op's mortgage interest and property tax only if the corporation qualifies as a cooperative housing corporation under Internal Revenue Code §216. Until a 2007 change, that required 80% or more of the co-op's gross income to come from shareholders, so rent from a large store could cost every resident the deduction. Splitting the store off as a separate condo unit kept that rent out of the co-op's income. Since the change took effect, a co-op can also qualify if 80% of its square footage is for shareholders' residential use, or if 90% of its spending goes to the property for shareholders' benefit. The structure stays because buildings that were set up this way rarely undo it.#

The market usage. Brokers and some new developments use "condop" for a co-op whose rules feel like a condo's: little or no board review of buyers, and freedom to rent the apartment out. The ownership is still co-op shares. Brownstoner counts fewer than 300 condops of the legal kind in New York City, so a listing labeled condop is often the loose kind.#

In both versions of a condop, you own shares in the co-op corporation and hold a proprietary lease on your apartment. You do not get a deed to the apartment. That is the main condop vs condo difference, and almost everything else follows from it. The proprietary lease guide explains what the lease and the other co-op documents say.#

The co-op's documents (proprietary lease, by-laws, house rules) set the rules for your apartment. In a legal condop, the condominium's declaration and by-laws sit above them and govern the building as a whole, including what the commercial owners can do with their space.#

Because you are buying co-op shares, you buy the way a co-op buyer does:#

It depends on the co-op's own documents, not on the label. Some condop co-ops review buyers the way any co-op does, with a full board package and interview. Others have rules written to make approval and subletting easier. Read the proprietary lease and house rules, and ask the managing agent what the application involves and what the sublet policy is. If a full review applies, see the board package and interview guide.#

Some condops, like some co-ops, do not own the land under the building. They lease it from a landowner on a long ground lease and pay land rent, which is passed through to residents in maintenance. Apartments in these buildings often sell for less, but the remaining lease term affects financing and resale. The Council of New York Cooperatives & Condominiums has said it is almost impossible to get a traditional 30-year loan in a building within 30 years of its ground lease ending, because lenders cannot tell what the apartment will be worth after that. Lenders' rules vary. Before you bid, find out:#

The building's offering plan and financial statements should disclose the ground lease. A law signed in September 2024 lets some land-lease co-ops renew their ground leases at any time instead of waiting until near the end of the term; co-ops on city, state or federal land are excluded. Ask your attorney whether it applies to the building.#

The co-op vs condo guide compares the two ownership types in full. A condop is the co-op column with a condo wrapped around it.#