Tax increases spark rise in co-op fees
Many co-ops in the city have raised their maintenance charges by as much as 15 percent recently as a result of rising property taxes and operating costs. John Janangelo, president of Bellmarc Property Management, said taxes for some buildings the company manages have risen by 35 percent this year. Buildings whose property values have soared in recent years are experiencing even bigger tax increases because the assessed values of their buildings have gone up. David Kuperberg, president of Cooper Square Realty, said assessments often take a while to catch up to the current market, the New York Times reported.
Feds say minorities don’t pay higher mortgage rates
According to a New York Federal Reserve Bank study, minority borrowers did not pay higher interest rates for subprime mortgages, contradicting findings that indicated minorities were targets of expensive credit, Bloomberg News reported. The report was based on findings from more than 75,000 adjustable-rate subprime loans. The study merges data on race, ethnicity and gender of borrowers as reported by lenders under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act with data on mortgage pricing and risk variables like credit scores.
Tishman Speyer to appeal deregulation ruling
Tishman Speyer Properties was granted the right to appeal the New York State Appellate Court’s decision that the developer illegally deregulated rent-stabilized apartments in Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, Crain’s reported. The Appellate Division ruled recently that Tishman and the complexes’ former owner, Metropolitan Life, should not have deregulated apartments while receiving J-51 tax abatements, which are given for making building improvements. The ruling would have required Tishman and other landlords to re-regulate apartments and compensate tenants.
Bloomberg’s townhouse not so green
Mayor Michael Bloomberg hasn’t made the kind of energy efficient modifications to his own home that he said last month are now coming to the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s industrial park. Bloomberg, a proponent of green initiatives, said he converted almost all of the lights in his East 79th Street home to compact fluorescent bulbs, but he has not installed any high-tech solutions, Newsday reported. He did not comment on what green steps he had taken at his other homes in upstate New York, Bermuda, Florida, Colorado and London.
Gluck says lender is blocking foreclosure
Developer Laurence Gluck is trying to return Riverton Houses to its primary lender, Wells Fargo Bank, but in a recent lawsuit alleged another lender is interfering with the process. Gluck said in the lawsuit that Realty Finance is demanding $5 million from him to keep it from obstructing his effort to return the property to Wells Fargo, Crain’s reported. The suit also said Realty Finance threatened to sue Gluck if he returned the deed to Wells Fargo. In February, Realty Finance called off a foreclosure auction of Riverton Houses and Wells Fargo filed a suit to force the complex into foreclosure.
Clean-up of Gowanus Canal could delay development
David Von Spreckelsen, a vice president of Toll Brothers, said the company won’t be able to build its proposed Gowanus Canal project if the government decides to clean up the canal. The canal was named a possible Superfund site last month, which would allow the Obama administration to provide federal money for the clean-up. Von Spreckelsen said if the government cleans the canal, Toll Brothers’ adjacent land will have a stigma of being located on a Superfund site, and no one will want to invest in the property, the Brooklyn Paper reported.