For the second time in six years, the tenants at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village are seeking to buy the financially troubled complexes, which have served as a leafy refuge for generations of middle-class families in high-priced Manhattan.
The tenant association hopes to convert the adjacent complexes, with 11,232 apartments, into a condominium or cooperative under a plan in which residents could buy their apartments or remain as rent-regulated tenants.....The tenant association is holding a forum on Saturday to solicit recommendations and to explain the plan to residents of the complexes, which sit between 14th and 23rd Streets and First Avenue and the East River. The association and Brookfield have not worked out the details of a proposal, but several people involved in the discussions said that an unspecified number of apartments, perhaps 10 percent, would permanently remain as rentals. Residents could buy their apartments at a discount with restrictions on reselling, or at near-market rates with fewer restrictions.....
MORE AT THE ABOVE LINK.
Another article about Brookfield and the Tenants Association:
http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/11/29/brookfield-making-a-go-for-stuyvesant-town/
STR,
ReplyDeleteYour title to the story says it all.
Somebody will end up buying this place (again) but if they pay face for the note, they will be the second tranche of victims.
I am just hoping that we aren't the victims--yet again.
The TA is to be commended for its efforts to engage a viable finacial partner. One can only hope that they succeed and that the current managers are replaced and the properrty is returned to being a place where "families of moderate means might live in health, comfort and dignity" rather than a new chic commercial zone.
ReplyDeleteNo one will be giving away this place for free. The ever increasing maintenance charges will be the biggest negative in anyone wanting to own their own apartment. This will be a big game of "Hot Potato". Who ever is holding this place in the end, will be burnt.
ReplyDeleteBut that's the whole idea. The tenants don't have to extract a huge profit. Instead we can use the revenue to pay down debt and focus on maintenance.
ReplyDelete"No one will be giving away this place for free. The ever increasing maintenance charges will be the biggest negative in anyone wanting to own their own apartment. This will be a big game of "Hot Potato". Who ever is holding this place in the end, will be burnt."
ReplyDeleteI fear that this is the true story in a nutshell. If there is a sale (and I am sure there will be one eventually), the place will go to the highest bidder. That person will probably end up overpaying. Let's hope that's not "us."
The only way for this to really be a good deal for the 50% of us that pay lower rents is for them to sell the property under distress. I don't see that happening right now so this bid is probably going to be an expensive one--and it still may fail.
I agree with Commercial Free Oval. Kudos to the TA and Dan Garodnick for moving forward with a proposal. This community leadership should be encouraged I think. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. It will be a long road to figuring out what works but I hope we can become homeowners here.
ReplyDeleteI am a senior on a fixed income and there is no way in this world that I could buy my apartment. What does this mean for people like me? Eviction? We won't go quietly!
ReplyDeleteSo much negativity re; the 'deal'. How about we wait and get all the details before making
ReplyDeleteASS-UMPTIONS????
I think we will all be in for a rude Awakening when the final price comes out. Meny have visions of buying their apartments for a song and fliping them within a few years making hundreds of thousands of dollars. If it was that easy Tishman and BIP would of done it all ready. This is just a way for BIP to get back some of the money they lost and unload this pink elephant. No one will be giving this place away to us. I also think this will be held up in litigation for years to come. The investors who lost millions on the first deal are just not going to just walk away. The carrying charges will go straight up as soon as the conversion is done due to maintenance issues. This will become the largest boon-dongle in real estate since Tishman Speyer first bought this place. This place is way to large to have 11k apartment owners voiving how this place should be run.
ReplyDeleteI both love and hate this place.
ReplyDeleteBut maybe, in the end, it was never intended to be anything else other than a little piece of Met Life--which it will never be again. And maybe that was the only way it could survive in a form that would ultimately be acceptable to most of us. I'm an optimistic person but I am not optimistic that this proposed conversion will be a financial or sociological success.
Sorry, but I have a strong feeling that this is how it is all going to sort out.