Stuy-Town, Peter Cooper residents to buy their homes?

Stuyvesand Town and City Council member Daniel Garodnick

The tenant association for Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village voted yesterday to partner with Brookfield Asset Management to explore buying the properties, the New York Times reported. The association is aiming to convert the complexes, with 11,232 apartments in total, into an affordable condominium or cooperative in a plan that could see residents choose to buy their apartments or remain as rent-regulated tenants.

The tenants are hoping that the lenders who control the property, who are represented by CW Capital, will sell it to them rather than someone who may wish to displace the properties’ long-term residents, the Times said.

“We hope that CW Capital recognizes the historic importance of this community and what the tenants are endeavoring to do,” said City Council member Daniel Garodnick, a lifelong resident of the complexes. “We look forward to putting together a plan that will not only satisfy CW’s bondholders but also protect the long-term stability and affordability of our community.”

The association previously attempted to buy the properties in 2006, but Stuy-Town and Peter Cooper’s then-owner MetLife opted to sell the buildings to Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Realty for $5.4 billion. [Times]