More rent-stabilized buildings face financing troubles

From left: Mo Vaughn, co-founder of Omni New York, Stuyvesant Town, and Rafael Cestero, Department of Housing Preservation and Development commissioner

More rent-stabilized buildings could be facing foreclosure, with some already in default, due to property owners overpaying for properties, WNYC reported. Most notable is Tishman Speyer and Black Rock Realty’s purchase of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. Other cases include the sale of Ocelot’s 14 troubled Bronx buildings to Omni New York, headed by former Mets first baseman Mo Vaughn.
“I think what we’ve learned through this crisis is that that pot of gold isn’t there and that owners really need to understand the rent regulation system, they need to understand local markets that they’re buying buildings in and that lenders that are making those loans need to reflect those conditions in their underwriting,” said Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Rafael Cestero.