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. [more]

Stuyvesand Town and City Council member Daniel GarodnickThe New York state appeals court ruled today that tenants in the blockbuster lawsuit at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village will be able to pursue millions in rent overcharges, tossing a move to dismiss the case by MetLife, the original landlord of the Manhattan complex (note: correction appended).

In 2007, Stuy Town residents, led by tenant Amy Roberts, filed a class action suit against Tishman and the previous landlord, Metropolitan Life, alleging they illegally deregulated apartments while receiving J-51 tax benefits, which are designed to help landlords renovate apartment buildings in return for keeping rents affordable.

The decision means that thousands of current and former tenants will be able to pursue more than $215 million in excess rent that was paid to previous landlord Tishman Speyer or MetLife, which had sold the complex to Tishman.
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CW Financial Services, best known in the city as the parent company of CWCapital Asset Management, will acquire Manhattan-based boutique investment bank Rockwood Real Estate Advisors, sources told Crain’s. Formerly known as DTZ Rockwood, the firm provides real estate advisory services, portfolio brokerage and debt and equity, according to its website. As The Real Deal previously reported, Rockwood filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009, two years after advising Mann Realty Associates on its $426 million purchase of the Apthorp. Over the last three years the firm has been involved in about $20 billion worth of real estate assets. Crain’s said the move helps CW expand its reach while providing the cash needed to help Rockwood become more competitive. The deal is not final and the terms remain undisclosed. [more]

From left: Stuyvesant Town, 300 Broadhollow Road and the Westin Ft. Lauderdale

Fitch Ratings yesterday downgraded a pool of commercial real estate loans
led by Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, a Florida hotel and a
Melville, N.Y. office property.
Fitch said the $2.42 billion loan pool, sold under the name Cobalt 2007-
C2, has 57 loans of concern, representing 38 percent of the pool, and 15 of
the loans are in special servicing, representing 17 percent. The current loan
balance is $2.32 billion.
The Peter Cooper Village and Stuy Town loan represents the largest
percentage of the pool, or 10.3 percent, and remains in special servicing
under CW Capital. The 80-acre site, with more than 11,000 units, is
currently under new management with Manhattan-based Rose Associates,
which declined to comment. [more]

Financial rating firm Fitch Ratings said today the special servicer at Stuyvesant Town plans to begin the renovation of 570 vacant units at the sprawling complex on Manhattan’s East Side. (Click here to see story posted Jan. 25 for more details.) CWCapital, the special servicer at the 11,227-apartment complex located on 80 acres, formally took control of the property in October. That same month it designated property manager Rose Associates as operator of the buildings, which are 95 percent leased. (note: clarification made) TRD [more]

Tenants at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village allowed a year-long freeze on their landmark class-action lawsuit regarding rent overcharges to expire today, but warned that a settlement was not likely before the end of the year, which could lead to a resumption of the case.
“While we remain hopeful a settlement can be reached before the end of the year and without need for further litigation, we are not optimistic,” Wolf Haldenstein attorney Alexander Schmidt, who represents thousands of Stuy Town and Peter Cooper tenants, said in a statement. [more]

Stuyvesant Town and City Council member Dan Garodnick

Tenants at the 11,000-unit Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village housing complex could see a rent adjustment in the coming weeks, according to Crain’s, as new owner CW Capital attempts to determine the value of the rents and how much in back rent current residents are due. With an interim agreement on rents set to expire tomorrow, figuring out rates is a top priority, according to City Council member Dan Garodnick, who has worked with CW Capital and has been a chief advocate for Stuy Town tenants. “For CW, determining the rent roll is critical to determine the value of the property,” Garodnick said. [more]

Even as Joseph Moinian attempts in court today to stave off an attempt by the Related Companies to wrest control of 3 Columbus Circle, the developer is battling on another front at 72 Madison Avenue, which has just been hit with a foreclosure lawsuit, too. Alleging that Moinian missed multiple payments on his $22 million mortgage there, creditors filed to take back the 12-story office building. Moinian took out the mortgage in 2007, but ran into trouble when the economy worsened, cutting into his rental income at the property.
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Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village

The first appraisal of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village since the complex went into default in January is in, and investors won’t be happy with the result: $2.8 billion. Tishman Speyer and BlockRock bought the 11-acre property for $5.6 billion in 2006, using a $3 billion first mortgage and $1.6 billion in mezzanine debt. According to the Wall Street Journal, special servicer CW Capital, which took control of the complex last month after reaching a buyout deal for some $300 million in mezzanine debt from a group of junior lenders led by hedge funder Bill Ackman, is likely to cut down on interest payments to subordinate CMBS debt holders now that the property is worth less than the amount owed on the loan. Prior to the new valuation, CW had been directing advance interest payments to all of Stuyvesant Town’s many investors with the assumption that they would eventually be recovered. [WSJ]

From left: Joseph Moinian of the Moinian Group; 3 Columbus Circle; Stefan Krause, CFO of Deutsche; and Stephen Ross, CEO of Related

The Moinian Group, led by developer Joseph Moinian, filed a $200 million suit against Deutsche Bank and the Related Companies, alleging the companies engaged in a predatory scheme to take over his financially troubled office building at [more]