River Place Rosslyn Land Lease Agreement
In February, when we reported on the new penthouse units under construction on River Place at 1101 Arlington Boulevard (map), several commentators raised an interesting oddity related to the existing property: it is located on leased land and this lease will expire in 2052. In these cases, Nordheimer said, courts have typically told buyers and the owner of the property to “enter into some kind of business deal.” These situations could give an indication of the direction such companies are taking, he speculated. Nordheimer said more than half of residents have incomes of more than $25,000 a year and could afford to buy, but Witkowski said the income figures are not accurate. When leases were to be renewed, tenants were told they would need to have an income of at least $20,000 to continue renting efficiently, Witkowski said. This meant that some low-income people were already moving, while others were falsifying their profit and loss accounts, he said. “Now they`re 70, but let`s say someone who`s 20 buys a place and wants to sell in 60 and move into a nursing home. Will a bank pledge it again with the lease expiring in 10 years? ” she asks. Nordheimer said there was no way to tell what would ultimately happen because there had been no experience in the past from which to judge. He said similar ground lease agreements had been tried in California and some of those leases were about to expire. In and around Palm Springs, California, there are 7,671 residential leases owned by members or descendants of the Cahuilla Agua Caliente Indian Band and other state-approved tribes, according to a spokesman for the Palm Springs Office of Indian Affairs. Most leases were signed in the 1960s to 1980s for terms of 65 years, meaning some are about to be terminated. The office must approve extensions, which are generally valid for 25 to 34 years.
“First of all, none of us will be here in 72 years,” Nordheimer says. He says Monument Associates tried to buy the land from its owner, but Arland Towers would not sell it. While River Place homes tend to sell for less than comparable units in the area, many of them are rented at fairly high rental prices, which is a valuable investment asset for homeowners. A high percentage of units are occupied, suggesting that professionals have so far weighed the risks for buyers. The homeowner community is aware of the rental situation, but is not yet actively dealing with the upcoming end date. And what`s expected in 2022, when they`ll now be within 30 years of the end of their ground lease and you can no longer get a 30-year loan for the units, prices are expected to drop significantly at that time. However, tenant-owner coordinator Johnson takes a longer-term view. How much of Rosslyn is on a land lease? Only here? Elsewhere in the DC realm, which is probably the same? Westreich of Arland Towers agreed that it is still possible that cooperative buyers could arrange the purchase of the land when the lease expires, “but who knows what will happen in 70 years.
Everything they buy is a right to live in the building until then. That fear was mitigated by the developer highlighting the ground lease in its public offering statement, Johnson said, adding that “anyone who buys carefully will see this provision.” What the ads don`t say is that the newly converted River Place co-op is on leased land and no one knows what will happen when the lease expires or what rights the buyers of co-op shares will have over the building. The promoters of the cooperative do not have the opportunity to purchase or renew the lease when it expires in 72 years. Romance becomes sour when buyers realize that co-op apartments are located in a “ground lease” building (also known as a “hereditary lease,” “lease,” or “leasehold land”),meaning it was built on separately owned land. The building itself owes rent to the owner of the property. In New York Cooperatives, the proportion of residents of this rent is incorporated into a monthly fee that includes maintenance and taxes called “maintenance.” I see a chance for a deal, but I`m pretty confident it doesn`t make sense. In general, I want to buy, own and rent real estate while looking for an apartment. I live in northern Virginia where house prices are very high, but I saw that there is a building in Arlington, 2 stops from the subway, with stunning views of the National Monument and DC, which is ridiculously cheap. I look inside the building to find out that they are co-operatives and that the entire municipality has a ground lease that does not contain an extension clause. Here I know I have to finish looking at the properties and continue, because when the ground lease expires, you technically lose all ownership of the building and I would lose any value that the units hold. That being said, for some reason, I can`t help but think of them and look for a magical opportunity that others don`t see. www.washingtonpost.com/archive/realestate/1982/01/23/river-place-co-op-is-selling-borrowed-time/f4d72370-f529-4994-8562-86862b1e73f3/?utm_term=.b5054fbb4a3e That explains it well.
Good luck getting a 30-year mortgage on a unit here. If you buy with cash and rent it, it could be lucrative. dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/when_you_own_a_coop_on_leased_land/5417 You are referring to Riverplace. I would not touch that building. It`s also worth asking if they allow rentals? Most co-operatives do not. There is more than a price-to-rent ratio here as well, because you have inflated the co-op fee, in part because it is a ground lease. When this lease expires, the value of your asset can reach zero, or the owner of the land can increase the rent of the land to astronomical amounts, so that these co-op fees continue to explode. dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/when_you_own_a_coop_on_leased_land/5417 “It makes sense to me that at the end of the lease, the market value of each unit would approach zero,” Jeffrey Spangler, former owner of River Place, told UrbanTurf. Spangler is also a lawyer and has written extensively about the situation at River Place. “No one knows exactly how this land lease will unfold. No one knows what will happen to people`s investments,” said Nancy Johnson, Arlington County Tenant-Owner Coordinator. “There is concern that it will become more difficult to pledge the property as the rental date approaches.” The ad campaign refers to a co-op complex in Rosslyn called River Place — formerly known as Arlington Towers — and they say efficiency starts at $29,550 and one-bedroom units at $46,650.
He promises “the best prospects for Washington. lush landscaping and flowing streams” and a swimming pool. “People who buy part of the co-op will not buy the land, but only part of the building. There is no other conversion like this in Arlington,” she said. “Our initial concern is that tenants or other buyers may not understand this.” Part of me, and this could most likely be wishful thinking, finds it hard to believe that anyone, the city government, the state government, the cooperative association, etc., will not intervene and find a solution to this ground lease situation. Is it worth the risk? Is there an opportunity here that I don`t see that others can help me see, or can someone throw me a bucket of cold water and tell me that I could buy those 4 units for $500,000 and lose all my net worth when the ground lease expires in 2052, OR I could be reasonable and invest my time and money in something, who has a 1% return AND who will have “guaranteed equity” when is everything said and done? There`s a reason Riverplace units are as cheap as they are. Apart from price devaluation, there does not seem to be a clear solution for cooperative owners. While a lease extension is possible, it seems unlikely that landowners will opt for it, given the value of a property that offers views of DC, Rosslyn, and the Iwo Jima Memorial.
“This is a top-notch property. When the lease expires, they will turn it into a skyscraper, a first-class design skyscraper,” Spangler speculated. Besides the lease, the other problem is that a licensed lender told me that investors need to drop by 40% and that they only have 5/1 or 7/1 arms available. .