We also have a condo with no venting allowed (there is even no vent in the window-less bathroom!).

IMHO, just get a microwave over the range -- recirculating vent hoods are not worth the $$$ because they just don't work.

When I fry bacon I run the MW hood (loud as heck) and open the window -- luckily we are in Fl so you can open the kitchen window all year long!

I've had a couple of apartments in the past that didn't have external hoods. One solution where there was a double hung kitchen window was a window fan that fit in the upper sash, such that it would draw a little higher up. Other than being a pain to put in and plug in each time I was cooking with oil or had the oven on for roasting, it worked pretty well. Getting the heat out was as important as getting the steam and grease out. I completely agree with the OP that the OTRs are worthless for exhaust, and for both convenience and safety reasons I prefer my MW in other locations rather than over the cooking surface.

Grease particles float a long time and go a long way. You need an anti splatter screen over the frying pan.

Then, a recirc hood that filters odors and captures more grease is a good thing too.

Your building is an old one, converted to condos. In buildings designed as condos from day one everyone has ducts. AFAIK.

My mom's condo is only a few years old, and all kitchens have recirculating OTR.

I've never seen a multistory condo in my part of the world that was not built for recirculating only. Guess it's different where davidro1 lives.

Thank you for all the replies.

Davidro, all the condos have bathroom exhausts that vent through the roof. Hence I don't understand the board's hesitation. I am going to ask them to reconsider my application, and if they still reject, I will have to live with the recirculating vents.

I like the hoods from Futuro Futuro and will most likely buy one of the wall hoods in the ductless option.

Here are a few considerations - match the cfm required to your cooktops potential performance(ability to suck up the cooktop greae/smoke/moisture/odors) - rule of thumb you need 1cfm for every 100btu of output from the cooktop - however do some research on make up air if you have a beast of a cooktop(unlikely in a condo), if you must recirc ENSURE that the grease filters supplied are at least 6 layers of fine mesh to capture the max amount of grease/moisture - these MUST be washed in the dishwasher regularly(typically a $200 hood has poor grease filters. The final consideration is carbon filters - these absorb the odors and the smoke - the hood must be capable of taking carbon filters otherwise your condo will smell like a diner in no time. These carbon filters must be replaced on a fairly regular basis - once again a cheap hood wont have this option - the European hoods are good at this.
Hope that helps a little.

I requested the HOA to reconsider the my application, and this time, they unambiguously voted against it. One less thing to think about in my kitchen remodel saga!

Jackals, thank you for your very helpful comments - I will keep them in mind while choosing the recirculating vent.