Why condos caught on in America
The tragic collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, on June 24, 2021, made
millions of Americans focus for the first time on the risks of high-rise construction and oceanfront living.
Many also became more aware of the pitfalls of condominiums and other forms of co-ownership in
which each unit in a multifamily building or other kind of housing complex is individually owned, while
the structure itself is owned, and managed, collectively.
As I explain in my book “High Life,” however, there are many benefits to co-ownership. People
who buy condos can more easily afford choice locations, have less maintenance to deal with and get the
freedom to remodel. Those advantages have made this kind of lifestyle popular for more than a century.
As U.S. cities grew dramatically in the 19th century, many of the people moving into urban areas
clustered together in new kinds of housing. Low-income Americans moved into tenements, the middle
class resided in boarding houses and residential hotels, and the prosperous inhabited apartments.
Many Americans, though, were squeamish about sharing a building with other families,
especially if their neighbors would be temporary. There were also complaints about sky-high rents. By
the 1880s, about a decade after the first apartment buildings went up, the co-ownership model
emerged in U.S. cities.
At first, mainly upper-middle-class bohemian types bought these properties, especially
successful artists and writers like Impressionist painter Childe Hassam and novelist William Dean
Howells. Lawyers, doctors, bankers and businessmen quickly joined them. By the 1920s, affordable co-
owned buildings were being built in New York City.
Buying rather than renting an apartment, owners believed, transformed a relatively public space
into a more private home and helped strengthen a community of neighbors. It also allowed many
people to own homes in places they otherwise couldn’t afford to.
Initially, most co-owned buildings were in popular areas, including Manhattan’s Upper East Side,
Chicago’s lakefront, San Francisco’s Nob Hill and the area around Rock Creek Park in Washington.
After World War II, more Americans moved to Florida and other warm-weather resort areas,
either permanently or for regular stints. These newcomers and visitors often sought beachfront views.
Not only does co-ownership allow people to share housing in convenient or beautiful locations,
it usually keeps their home-related expenses down.
Part of the savings comes from sharing land. Many families can live on a lot that might
otherwise have fit just a few houses. Paying for services as a group saves money, too. It’s cheaper to
share boilers, roofs, doormen and janitors than to pay for all that on your own. Apartment owners can
also share the expense of amenities like gyms and swimming pools.
Further savings come from the fact that buildings aren’t owned by landlords but by their
residents. And those people do much of the management themselves. In co-owned buildings, walls,
roofs, parking lots and other common elements technically belong to a special kind of nonprofit, usually
a condominium association, run by an elected board of tenant directors who volunteer their time.
The tragic collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida, on June 24, 2021, made
millions of Americans focus for the first time on the risks of high-rise construction and oceanfront living.
Many also became more aware of the pitfalls of condominiums and other forms of co-ownership in
which each unit in a multifamily building or other kind of housing complex is individually owned, while
the structure itself is owned, and managed, collectively.
As I explain in my book “High Life,” however, there are many benefits to co-ownership. People
who buy condos can more easily afford choice locations, have less maintenance to deal with and get the
freedom to remodel. Those advantages have made this kind of lifestyle popular for more than a century.
As U.S. cities grew dramatically in the 19th century, many of the people moving into urban areas
clustered together in new kinds of housing. Low-income Americans moved into tenements, the middle
class resided in boarding houses and residential hotels, and the prosperous inhabited apartments.
Many Americans, though, were squeamish about sharing a building with other families,
especially if their neighbors would be temporary. There were also complaints about sky-high rents. By
the 1880s, about a decade after the first apartment buildings went up, the co-ownership model
emerged in U.S. cities.
At first, mainly upper-middle-class bohemian types bought these properties, especially
successful artists and writers like Impressionist painter Childe Hassam and novelist William Dean
Howells. Lawyers, doctors, bankers and businessmen quickly joined them. By the 1920s, affordable co-
owned buildings were being built in New York City.
Buying rather than renting an apartment, owners believed, transformed a relatively public space
into a more private home and helped strengthen a community of neighbors. It also allowed many
people to own homes in places they otherwise couldn’t afford to.
Initially, most co-owned buildings were in popular areas, including Manhattan’s Upper East Side,
Chicago’s lakefront, San Francisco’s Nob Hill and the area around Rock Creek Park in Washington.
After World War II, more Americans moved to Florida and other warm-weather resort areas,
either permanently or for regular stints. These newcomers and visitors often sought beachfront views.
Not only does co-ownership allow people to share housing in convenient or beautiful locations,
it usually keeps their home-related expenses down.
Part of the savings comes from sharing land. Many families can live on a lot that might
otherwise have fit just a few houses. Paying for services as a group saves money, too. It’s cheaper to
share boilers, roofs, doormen and janitors than to pay for all that on your own. Apartment owners can
also share the expense of amenities like gyms and swimming pools.
Further savings come from the fact that buildings aren’t owned by landlords but by their
residents. And those people do much of the management themselves. In co-owned buildings, walls,
roofs, parking lots and other common elements technically belong to a special kind of nonprofit, usually
a condominium association, run by an elected board of tenant directors who volunteer their time.
