Fannie Mae to step up Battery Park City financing

Battery Park City condominium owners and buyers may soon find it easier to obtain government financing for their purchases in the area. Fannie Mae had, in recent months, taken issue with Battery Park City’s ground leases, which vary widely from condo to condo and have an additional layer of complexity that comes from the Battery Park City Authority holding a master lease for the entire area. As Fannie Mae became more cautious, its mountain of paperwork grew and those complex ground leases got more difficult to sift through. But the government-sponsored mortgage giant has now hired an outside law firm to help it tackle the Battery Park City logjam, which, sources told the Broadsheet Daily, will make the process move much more quickly. State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is also said to have reached out to Fannie Mae officials to discuss financing difficulties in Battery Park City. In a letter to the Battery Park City Authority dated April 5, a Fannie Mae executive wrote, “Fannie Mae is ready and willing to purchase eligible loans secured by condominiums in Battery Park City,” though he did not reveal which condos would be eligible. [The Broadsheet Daily]