Also the "Facilities Building", which until now only has a Subway outlet is actively being marketed to attract new renters for restaurant or other services.

The building itself has several features that Mr. Lind expects to attract renters.

Apartment buildings outside of Battery Park City have also been attracting interested renters.

That was an era that landlords remember for the generous sweeteners needed to help attract renters to their properties.

Some of the buildings, like his, are in neighborhoods that could attract renters with incomes of $50,000 a year or more, brokers and lenders say.

Mr. Ferrer said he thought the owners had trouble attracting private renters because "they're asking almost midtown Manhattan rates."

"Many neighborhoods now attract renters who 5, 10 years ago wouldn't have considered them, places like East New York, Red Hook."

Trying to attract affluent renters as the recession deepened, the developers slashed rents by 35 percent.

To attract renters, landlords had to lower rents dramatically, attracting less affluent tenants with less funds to maintain the homes.

Since taking over as property manager in 2001, Insignia has spent $250,000 a year to landscape the property, in part to attract market-rate renters.