From left: Tenant Amy Roberts and Stuy Town

A New York state judge today approved a $68.8 million settlement in the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village tenant class action, in which residents alleged that the complex’s owners had improperly deregulated rent-stabilized units, according to Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP, co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs. [more]

Scott Galin and the Chrysler Building

Lewis Baach, a Washington D.C.-based law firm, has signed a four-year lease at the Chrysler Building, Crain’s reported. The firm will take 3,867 square feet on the 32nd floor.

Rents in the 83-year-old Art Deco landmark, owned by Tishman Speyer, are in the $60s per square foot. Lewis Baach, which also has offices in London and Buenos Aires, was looking for an “elite Midtown address” for its New York City expansion, said Scott Galin, a principal at Handler Real Estate Organization who represented Lewis Baach, in a release. [more]

666 Fifth Avenue

Lending that occurred with the aid of commercial mortgage-backed securities has helped fuel the growth in the real estate market, Crain’s reported.

Some $19 billion worth of CMBS were issued in the first two months of 2013, roughly four times the volume that was issued in the first quarter of 2012, in an encouraging sign for a market that saw record delinquency rates in 2012. “It’s a key driver of sales, especially in New York, where we have these larger trophy-asset deals,” Douglas Mazer, the co-head of Wells Fargo’s CMBS lending group in Manhattan, told Crain’s. “”Borrowers and sellers on both sides will have the confidence to enter into these larger acquisitions knowing the CMBS financing will be there.”  [more]

Stuyvesant Town

Thousands of residents in Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village are flummoxed by a lease clause that allows their landlords to hike their rent in the middle of their lease, the Wall Street Journal reported. Roughly 40 percent of the 11,200-unit complex could see rents rise as much as $1500 due to the clause, which was the result of a previous lawsuit tenants brought against a consortium of investors led by Tishman Speyer and Metlife, and against landlord CWCapital Asset Management…. [more]

From left: Amy Roberts and Stuy Town

Tenants of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village have reached a settlement in their long-running class action lawsuit against the owners of Manhattan’s largest apartment complex. The deal, signed today, is worth roughly $146.9 million, including almost $68.8 million cash in compensation for rent overcharges over a nine-year period.

“We believe this settlement provides an extraordinary recovery for our clients and we couldn’t be happier for them,” Ronald Aranoff, an attorney at Bernstein Liebhard who represented the tenants, said in the statement. [more]

Chrysler Building

The Chrysler Building may not light up like its fellow Midtown landmark, the Empire State Building, but the iconic property just got a little greener. Owner Tishman Speyer Properties has received a LEED gold certification for the 1.2 million-square-foot office tower, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Tishman spent two years updating the building’s energy, waste, water and maintenance systems. The upgrades include new plumbing fixtures that will cut the property’s water consumption by 64 percent; a waste-management policy that will ensure 81 percent of the building’s waste is recycled; and a 21 percent reduction in energy usage. [more]

From left: the Rainbow Room and LPC Chairman Robert Tierney

The Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center today became the city’s 115th interior landmark with a unanimous vote by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, according to an LPC press release issued today. The famed Art Deco-style supper club set atop 30 Rock offered dining and dancing and was home to some of the city’s most lavish events, before it closed in 2009. The Cipriani restaurant family, the operators of the space, left due to high rents.

“The Rainbow Room came to epitomize New York City glamour,” said Chairman Robert Tierney in the release. “It retains not only many of its original characteristics, but also several generations’ worth of memories.” [more]

The Rainbow Room

Add another name to those backing the Rainbow Room’s “interior landmark” status: Tishman Speyer. Keith Douglas, managing director for Rockefeller Center at Tishman Speyer, which owns the property, this week came out in favor of the landmarking. There is still no word on when the Commission will take a vote on the matter or on who will operate the space. [more]

Rockefeller Center

Tourists won’t be the only shoppers stampeding to Rockefeller Center if Tishman Speyer gets its way. Crain’s reported the landlord is remaking the retail at its iconic complex, in an effort to “bridge the gap” between the tenants of Fifth Avenue in the streets numbered in the mid-40s and those in the 50s.

Last week menswear shop Onassis opened at 30 Rockefeller Center, replacing a souvenir shop. This year apparel chain Free People and handbag company Longchamp also opened around the center, and Canadian fashion store Aritzia (replacing Espirit), Michael Kors (replacing Kenneth Cole at 610 Fifth Avenue) and hip coffee shop Blue Bottle have also signed on for spaces. [more]

From left: LPC Chairman Robert Tierney and the Rainbow Room

The Landmarks Preservation Commission is slated to hold a vote tomorrow to give the awaiting-a-facelift Rainbow Room nightclub at 30 Rockefeller Center “interior landmark” status, the New York Post reported. If the majority vote comes out in favor, the next step would be to hold a public hearing.

The club has been closed since 2009 when the Cipriani restaurant family that operated it departed because of high rents. [more]