Trinity School Allowed to Hike Rents at Mitchell-Lama Building

In a long-running effort to increase the rent at a Mitchell-Lama building on the Upper West Side, the owner, Trinity School, has succeeded in securing city approval to hike rents by as much as 13 percent in one year. This is more than three times the standard increase for rent-stabilized units this year. The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), which regulates Mitchell-Lama buildings with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, agreed to the plan.

Tenants of the 199-unit apartment building can expect to see the first increases next month, with a 9.5 percent climb planned for the second year and an additional 3 percent increase slated for the third year. Even with the increases, the overall cost at the building will remain far lower than the Manhattan average, hitting $484 per month for studios, $740 for one-bedrooms, $904 for two-bedrooms, and $1,089 for three-bedrooms once the new rents are fully phased in.

Despite Trinity School’s reputation for educating the children of Manhattan’s elite, the institution has struggled to earn more from the rental building, which was built with government subsidies in 1969. In 2007, Trinity tried and failed to sell the building. There are 97 Mitchell-Lama buildings in the city, according to HPD.