Co-Op City Gets $621M Loan With Gov't Help

The nation's biggest cooperative housing complex, Co-op City in the Bronx, is getting a government-insured $621 million loan that will require it to stay in an affordable housing program for decades.
 
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the agreement Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Co. is making the loan. Government entities are guaranteeing it.
 
The loan will pay for various maintenance and repair projects at the 44-year-old complex. It's home to about 60,000 people.
 
The complex will pay off an existing, more expensive mortgage. It expects to save $150 million over 14 years.
 
Herbert Freedman is a managing agent for Co-op City. He says the new loan will let the complex do needed work without raising charges to owners.