The rebound began nearly 20 years ago and was led by the Community Preservation Corp.—a nonprofit founded to finance and preserve affordable housing—and by develop-ers Morton Olshan and Jeremiah O'Connor. They jointly set up Parkchester Preservation, and in 1998 bought the remaining 6,362 Helmsley units. The bargain-basement $4.5 million deal also came with five parking garages and a half-million square feet of retail space.

Using those assets as collateral for loans and persuading condo owners to agree to higher common charges, Parkchester Preservation funded a $250 million overhaul of the entire enclave. Pipes were fixed, wiring was upgraded and 65,000 casement windows were replaced."We knew that to increase the value of the Helmsley units we bought, we really needed to improve the property for all of its residents," said Andrea Olshan. "From the beginning, we were in it together with all the homeowners and the other investors."Parkchester's 171 buildings and acres of grounds have been largely restored. Flowers bloom, fountains spout and scores of whimsical, freshly restored terra-cotta sculp­tures surround residents who hail from all over the world—many of whom who sit on boards and committees, working to keep the complex humming."The hardest part is to keep people happy and meet their expectations," said Abu Shakoor, a 35-year resident and president of the Parkchester South Condominium, which encom­passes 130 of the complex's buildings. The boards oversee major purchases, infrastructure repairs and capital spending--tasks made more difficult by ever-rising costs and the varied interests of renters, owners and investors.Today, a one-bedroom apartment goes for about $110,000. Although that's five times what it would have fetched in 1997, before the restoration, it's far below the median price of $560,000 for a home in the city.Rents are up, too, but are still considered affordable.Meanwhile, tax abatements that helped offset the cost of the massive renovation will expire over the next few years. Rents are sure to go up. Some two-bedrooms rent for as much as $1,700, up from $700 at the bottom of the market, but less than half the starting rents at Stuy Town."We are always looking at opportunities to maintain afford­ability, [such as] reducing energy costs and making common elements more efficient," said Ryan Moore­head, the CEO of PPC and director of residential asset management at Olshan. "That's the job of management."