Sunday, November 8, 2009

Tishman Speyer to collect "lucrative fees" on rent



These bastards are never going to go away.

From Reuters:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The joint venture that borrowed heavily to buy Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village in 2006 could be among the first to take advantage of changes in U.S. tax law that let borrowers seek payment relief, when it said last week that it could not keep paying interest on a $3 billion loan.

On Friday, the $3 billion senior mortgage was transferred to the special servicer CWCapital after the borrower -- real estate private equity firm Tishman Speyer and BlackRock Realty Advisors, the real estate arm of money manager BlackRock Inc -- asked for relief from paying the debt service on the $3 billion mortgage.

"We requested it now so we can begin to negotiate a restructuring before it goes into default," a spokesman for Tishman Speyer said.

The $3 billion senior mortgage was securitized into five commercial mortgage-backed security (CMBS) deals. Special servicers are the only ones who can modify troubled loans underlying CMBS.

Many commercial real estate experts don't believe that the special servicer will foreclose on the property, which would be costly to the bondholders and would require more cash for the property.

Instead, they expect Tishman and its partners to work out some type of deal that may allow them to manage the property, collecting lucrative fees that could be roughly 2 percent of all the rent on the 11,227 units.

More here.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is OUTRAGEOUS! The bastards have run the property into the ground.

Anonymous said...

Just having the Tishman Speyer name associated with the property will lower its value even more as they are the ones who have destroyed the value of the property in record time. The fact that the tenants absolutely hate and detest these incompetents isn't a great selling point. In fact, I doubt that anyone in the real estate world has much admiration for TS being as they have ruined it for all the crooks by inspiring the Roberts lawsuit. They were all getting away with it quietly until TS got too greedy and totally pissed off the tenants.

Anonymous said...

This is just the beginning. They are trying to keep a toe-hold in the place so that, once their fellow equity investors and mezzanine note holders are effectively wiped out, they can generously offer to assume the senior note and own the place for $3 billion. By the time they get around to it, it will be worth that again. Meanwhile, they collect $7 million a year in mismanagement fees.

Anonymous said...

“There will be many factors involved in the workout,” including potential legislative changes to rent-stabilization laws, Fitch said on Nov. 6. The $3 billion mortgage doesn’t mature until 2016 and works out to a “low” $267,213 per apartment, based on 11,227 units, Fitch said.

That is a very ominous statement. They are obviously counting on the RR laws sunsetting or being changed radically NOT in the tenants' favor in 2011. We had better be prepared for the fight of the century. This is no doubt one of the main reasons Bloomberg bought his third term. The fix is in!

Anonymous said...

I think you may be getting ahead of yourself with "the fix is in." I heard the same thing about the J-51 case. The fix was in there, too. NOT!

Don't get me wrong. I am worried. How could you not be?

That said, I find it hard to believe that the City is going to loosen RS rules as we face the most dire financial situation and the highest unemployment rates we have seen in 30 if not 80 years.

Be worried. Be vigilant. But don't be ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

You don't think they are going to try to abolish rent stabilization? You are ridiculous!

Anonymous said...

"Be worried. Be vigilant. But don't be ridiculous."

Did you actually read the Court of Appeals decision ? Catch the part where they "suggest" that the only way the defendants could deregulate the apartments would be through "LEGISLATIVE RELIEF" ??

I think that says it all. It's not that the fix is in, it's just that a really fat f*@k is sitting on the scales of justice, and his name is Jerry.

Anonymous said...

I know what they want to do. I just don't think they will be able to do it, that's all.

If ever there was an inopportune time to screw RS tenants, this is it. Can you just see the cover of the Post with the shot of the scumbag billionaire landlord in the pinstripe suit and the $200 tie dragging an old lady into the street?

I can.

If we had to fight this a few years ago, I'd say it would be tough. Right now, I'd say the RE lobby are going to look like idiots trying to get this done. We'll see.

That's my opinion, anyway.

Hey. I live here, too. And I want to keep it that way! I just think that we're in a pretty defensible position and it may not be such a bad thing that the RS laws are coming due for renewal right about now.

Anonymous said...

It makes no sense to argue the future because I think we all know the history and the variables involved. I'm generally pessimistic about the State Senate, and am even more so based on their actions this summer.

Don't forget that RS laws don't sunset until mid 2011 which means the Senate won't even take it up until 2 weeks before it happens. A lot can change (either way) between now and then. I won't feel better until the Dems have a clear majority.

Yes, we need to be politically active and mobilize to protect our homes, and yes, the current environment might be favorable to us but don't for a minute forget that money talks and bullshit walks, and if the RE lobby throws enough money around.... you get the idea. Might be a good idea for everyone to start writing checks to Tenants & Neighbors right about now.