| His monthly cost at Carnegie House used to be $5,000 a month. Now, it could climb to roughly $13,000. Residents at the Midtown Manhattan building expected the rent to go up, but never this much, says Richard Hirsch, a marketing consultant for the healthcare industry and board president. He described the increase as "basically death." Behind the spike: an LLC tied to real-estate magnates Rubin Schron and David Werner. On July 18, an independent arbitration panel announced a ruling that would increase the annual rent at Carnegie House 450%, from $4.36 million to roughly $24 million, following an arbitration process triggered by failed negotiations between the landowner and the co-op. Like thousands of co-op owners across New York City, the residents of Carnegie House own their apartments, but not the land beneath. These so-called ground leases have become precarious, as deep-pocketed landowners raise rents, looking to capitalize on increasingly valuable land. The ruling is based on the value of the land and still has to be confirmed by a court. If enacted, the increase could push many residents to the brink and force the building into default, causing the owners to lose all their equity in their homes, according to the co-op board. | 
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