On Solid Ground

O'Donnell said he believed that Cohen would have come back later and offered to sell the lease because the return from the ground rents was low.

He also worried, he said, that some retirees on fixed incomes would not be able to afford the deal. O'Donnell said his ground rent payment of $214 a month is increasing to about $549 for a mortgage to meet his share of the $10 million purchase price.

While O'Donnell said he could afford the mortgage, he said he objected to being forced to take out a new loan. "We had worked for a long time to get in the position we were in, not owing anybody a dime," he said.

Egerton, however, said the condo board set up special provisions for those who could not afford to pay up front. The association will carry the loan for them until the unit is sold.

Egerton said she recognized that the change was upsetting and frightening to some of the residents, many of whom are older. However, she said, "Most people understood that it would be a very bad thing if the land was sold to someone else, because it would terminate our right of first refusal and because of the devaluation" of the condo units caused by the lease.

Egerton drew on her professional training in "change management" to try to reassure residents that the economics behind the move were sound. Change management, in the tech world, she said, basically means helping people who are getting new technology understand how their lives and their ways of doing business will shift. "That way people aren't frightened and are able to adjust," she said.

Diamond said, "There was angst among some of the older people over 'Can we afford this?' and 'Are we overpaying?,' " but he said the studies by Fairweather and Delta Associates supported the buyout.

"The property was certainly worth $9 million to the developer because he offered it," Diamond said. And Fairweather's analysis suggested removing the lease "could be worth $20 million more" in future sales.

Tim Hanlon, a retiree who has lived at Kenwood Place for 15 years and is a board member, said he backed the deal. "It was a dream to have this happen. . . . Now, it's ours," he said.

Helene Bress, a noted weaver and author who owns the five-bedroom apartment where Tauber and his family once lived, said: "If you were leaving anything behind to your children, buying the ground made a lot of sense, because there wouldn't be any value without it."

She said, "Of necessity the place would go downhill over time, because who would fix the roof in the 10 years before the lease expired? Who would fix anything, knowing that the land could be sold?"

Another owner, Wayne Blackmon, said money was not his motivation. Instead, he said, he worries about what could happen after Cohen moves ahead with redevelopment of the shopping center next door. "This is an unusual building. It would never be built today," said Blackmon, a psychiatrist and lawyer. "There are huge green spaces, including three courtyards, a park and a pool, and you just don't get that anymore."

He added: "At the end of the day, when you do all the numbers . . . it's a minimal increase in cost. But if we don't protect what we have, it would be a big loss. . . . I have no idea what [Cohen] wants to do, but it's going to be big."