From left: City Council member Daniel Garodnick, Rose Associates’ Adam Rose and trees in Stuyvesant Town

Special servicer CWCaptial Asset Management is set to remove hundreds of trees from the sprawling Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village residential complex, according to the Wall Street Journal, after residents complained the greenery posed a safety threat. The trees, which former owner Tishman Speyer began planting at the 11,200-unit residential community in 2006, allowed “for somebody of ill will to hide and potentially perform a criminal act,” said City Council member Daniel Garodnick at the time. But while residents butted heads with Tishman Speyer over the arboreal plantings, Adam Rose, co-president of Stuy Town property manager Rose Associates, said he agrees with the tenants. [more]

Adam Rose of Rose Associates and the Riverton Houses

Rose Associates is taking over leasing this week at Aire, the new 310-unit luxury rental building on the Upper West Side. The project is the latest in a string of new consulting and management roles for the 82-year-old family firm, which Crain’s reported is doing better than most during the downturn. “We don’t have a single bad loan, no workouts and no distractions,” said co-president Adam Rose. Rose’s property management arm grew by 24,000 units, or 30 percent, during last year alone. The company was recently brought in to manage Harlem’s 1,230-unit Riverton Houses and to consult on the transfer of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village by special servicer CWCapital Asset Management. [more]

Richard Lefrak’s organization is a possible contender for Stuy Town

Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Realty were pilloried for aggressively pushing out tenants and running afoul of the city’s J-51 tax abatement rules. But some of the firms that are being mentioned as possible replacements as owners or managers at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village — such as developers LeFrak Organization and Rose Associates, and real estate firm Stonehenge Partners — come with their own skeletons in the closet. The New York City real estate world is bracing for a struggle among titans for management or ownership of the 11,200-unit housing complex on Manhattan’s East Side following the announcement  last month that the owners would cede control. Potential parties must negotiate with special servicer CWCapital Asset Management, the majority of which is owned by Canadian institutional fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. The special servicer represents the interests of the bondholders of the securitized loans on Stuyvesant Town. Other firms being bandied about as possible investors or investors are WL Ross & Co., Centerbridge Partners, Related Companies, WinnCompanies and Prudential Douglas Elliman, according to media reports. The thorny city tax abatement program known as J-51 that contributed to the forfeiture of Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village has dogged one of the leading contenders for the site, LeFrak. [more]

Adam Rose of Rose Associates and Sheffield57

Six months after the building was auctioned off in a fire sale, the New York State Attorney General’s office has approved an amended offering plan for the Sheffield57 condominium near Columbus Circle in a move that could lead to a resumption of sales for the first time since May 2009. Sales at the tower at 322 West 57th Street have languished for months, after former developer Kent Swig defaulted on millions of dollars in mortgage and mezzanine loans and failed to provide an updated plan with state regulators. The building’s current owner, Fortress Investment Group, has been working with Rose Associates, the building’s recently named management firm, to complete renovations at the building so sales could resume. “The Sheffield is moving steadily towards resolution and ultimately being a success,” Adam Rose, co-president of Rose Associates, told The Real Deal. Fortress acquired Sheffield57 for $20 million, plus the assumption of debt, in a so-called mezzanine auction in August 2009. [more]