Tenants and community land trusts press state to fund Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act to keep buildings permanently affordable

Tenants and community‑based developers used the hearing to urge lawmakers to pass and fund the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), which would give tenants a first opportunity to buy their buildings when owners sell and provide dedicated capital and technical assistance to make purchases feasible.

Multiple witnesses — including organizers from Housing Conservation Coordinators (HCC), tenants from a Hell’s Kitchen building, community land trust advocates and the Fifth Avenue Committee — described on‑the‑ground situations where neglectful ownership, absentee landlords and speculative sales have put long‑term tenants at risk of displacement. Tenant union leaders described a building where long‑running code violations and landlord departures left residents with an opportunity to pursue purchase if they had capital and an acquisition pathway.

POINTS TESTIFIED - TOPA would create a preemptive right for tenant associations to make an offer and would allow qualified nonprofit purchasers, including community land trusts (CLTs), to partner with tenants to buy, preserve and hold buildings as permanently affordable shared‑equity housing. - Witnesses requested dedicated funding to finance acquisitions and predevelopment costs — advocate testimony recommended a roughly $250 million annual capital pool over several years — and urged funding for tenant technical assistance and legal counseling to execute buyers’ plans on housing’s tight timelines. - Tenants and organizers argued TOPA is a response to speculative purchases and a complement to other proposals (e.g., limits on institutional investor offers) that aim to curb market pressures driving displacement.

LOCAL EXAMPLE A tenant leader described a two‑building block in Manhattan (30 units and 15 units) with persistent neglect, a previously low sale price and a current listing near $4 million; tenants said they have an existing CLT partner and are ready to buy if capital and a statutory right are available. Tenant testimony emphasized the speed needed: opportunities to purchase can appear quickly and tenant groups need both cash for acquisition and immediate technical/legal assistance to finalize deals.

WHY IT MATTERS TOPA supporters say the policy multiplies the effect of state investment by converting transient ownership transfers into permanently affordable, community‑controlled housing. Permanent affordability via CLTs, advocates argued, can reduce future subsidy needs and blunt speculative pressure on neighborhoods.

LEGISLATIVE CONTEXT There are alternate TOPA bill texts circulating in the Senate and Assembly; supporters urged negotiators to include TOPA and an acquisition/technical assistance appropriation in the final FY2026 budget.

WHAT ADVOCATES ASKED An annual dedicated acquisition and TA appropriation (advocates suggested $250 million annually), quick predevelopment funding and legal/technical assistance grants to tenant groups working with CLTs and community developers.