http://town-village.com/2014/05/30/cape-crusade-aims-to-fight-predatory-equity/
On Wednesday, Council Members Dan Garodnick, Jumaane Williams and Ritchie
Torres announced the formation of a coalition of over 40 elected
officials who are committed to keeping affordable housing from turning
into overleveraged housing.
Specifically, the Coalition Against Predatory Equity (CAPE) was
organized in an effort to avoid the type of massive debt deals that have
led to the loss of affordable housing like at Stuyvesant Town.
“We have a wide-ranging, diverse group and together we have some
powerful principles,” said Garodnick, adding that the coalition is
“strength in numbers.”
The four goals of the group are:
To get Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to commit to not lending to any owner in a deal that puts affordable housing at risk.
Avoid investment of city and state pension funds in deals that harm tenants.
Stop offering tax abatements or subsidies to development deals that would lead to the loss of affordable units.
Come up with legislation aimed at limiting “the abuses of predatory equity, and assists tenants in over-leveraged buildings.”
More at the above link.
22 comments:
They should have done this years ago if they were genuine in their intentions. One has to look at what a politician does as well as why they do it when one determines the risk of supporting that politician.
This would have been a step in the right direction during the MetLife sale before Tishman took the reigns or anytime since then!
This is a desperate act by some who wanted to purchase and others who are up for election.
Yep folks, this is an election year and there will be a lot more grandstanding to come. And thanks to some posters on this blog we saw you fundraising for the "real estate developers and landlords who are against residents" last January.
We see who you really are. Its going to take a lot more than this "step" to change that. A lot more.
I agree that it's many steps too late, but at least it is a step forward. Whether it's just political cover remains to be seen.
Curious that the CAPE organizing and presence at City Hall wasn't mentioned on the TA Facebook or website, unless I missed it.
And the beat goes on.
This is nonsense. It's another ploy by dishonest people. Just another way for feckless Dan to line his pockets. The proverbial fox guarding the henhouse.
Isn't this a day late and a dollar short? Did these "caped crusaders" just wake up and realize there is a war being waged against the very people who elected them by the very people who filled their coffers?
STR, it is on the TA Facebook, but it was posted by a member, not by the so-called "Leadership."
Yes, now it is on the TA Facebook page, but it wasn't earlier. And, as noted, it hasn't been posted by the TA, but by a member.
Shouldn't the TA have been proudly posting this before anyone else?
STR - yes. Yes they should have. I'm not buying it.
Too little too late. Seriously?
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/realestate/middle-class-finds-few-affordable-manhattan-apartments.html?hpw&rref=realestate&_r=1
My sense is that since we're just hearing about this, that this was a rapidly devised event with not much planning. On the TA Facebook a member informed people that she had just received an email from Dan Garodnick about CAPE.
Step in the right direction but this really is a joke. Close to a year ago there was mention at blog sites of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac acting against their original missions. And criticism of Ed Demarco who was head of FHFA that had oversight over Freddie and Fannie. What can one say when the bloggers are ahead of the curve and the politicians are behind it. This looks more like sour grapes. Garodnick isn't going to get his way so he's going to do something to spoil the situation for someone and gain something for himself. It's not too late for this to do some good if Fortress or Brookfield were thinking about getting investment from the FMs or from pension funds.
Maybe they started writing this new proposed legislation AFTER your Sunday post? "where's Chucky?"
I scratch my head about this stuff. How can these elected officials actually look at themselves? How can the TA honestly stand in front of the tenancy without offering their resignations for their incompetence?
They've made misstep after misstep throughout this almost 10 year saga. I cannot recall one good move.
Maybe just political cover??? Quiet story about the East Midtown rezoning plan. de Blasio has put a panel together. Guess who's on the panel? Right, Danny G.
http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/255-14/de-blasio-administration-council-member-garodnick-two-track-planning-strategy-east
For some strange reason, I'm recalling the REBNY dinner and all the hand-shaking.
Gerald Guterman
I read with unusual interest, that Council Member Dan Garodnick is announcing a coalition of 40 elected officials who are committed "To get Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to commit to not lending to any owner in a deal that puts affordable housing at risk".
On September 20, 2010 I sent a letter to Alvin Doyle, Meredith Kane at Paul Weiss and William Derrough and Steven Moore at Moelis & Company, with a copy to
The Honorable Daniel R. Garodnick.
The letter outlined my interest in acquiring Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village and my specific intentions to protect non-purchasing residents.
The following paragraph appeared in the letter.
"All unsold tenant-occupied appartments at the date of closing, will simultaneously be sold to a nationally known, "not for profit" real estate organization that has agreed to finance the acquisition of the unsold units with tax-exempt bonds and to hold and operate such apartments as "stabilized" middle class rentals for the forseeable future (whether or not actual stabilization laws continue to apply)".
As incredible as it may seem, not one of the recipients ever acknowledged the letter or replied in any manner.
I then sent a copy of the actual Letter Agreement with the "Not for Profit" Organization, to each of the same people to whom I sent the original letter. However, I personally delivered the Letter Agreement to Dan Garodnick at a meeting in his office.
Not one of the people (including Dan Garodnick) ever acknowledged the letter or replied in any manner.
We still believe in STPCV as a viable community with resident owners and we continue to remain interested in acquiring STPCV.
I will pledge to follow the acquisition with a plan of conversion. I am confident that we can offer interested residents a viable opportunity to purchase their apartments. I am also confident, that we will continue affordable, rent stabilized housing, for all non purchasing residents.
The leaders of the Tenant Association might consider meeting with me to discuss the full range of options available.
Certainly, my experience over forty-four years as a professional real estate investor and thirty-five years as a sponsor of condominiums and cooperative housing, can be of some practical use to the residents.
Gerald Guterman: Unless there is money in it for them, Garodnick, Paul Weiss, et al are not going to be interested in what you or anybody else offers, not matter how much it would benefit the tenants of PCVST. The TA is just a tool of these greedy manipulators.
"Maybe just political cover??? Quiet story about the East Midtown rezoning plan. de Blasio has put a panel together. Guess who's on the panel? Right, Danny G."
Duh--because East Midtown is in his district.
Re: Guterman. What do we know about him? I doubt he's the white knight he professes to be. Years of experience in real estate? You could say the same thing of Tishman Speyer and lots of other operations. That is not a credential. And he wants to do a conversion, so that hardly placates the commenters who want ST/PCV to stay an affordable rental.
A letter from Alvin Doyle, then President of the STPCV Tenants Association, posted on the TA's website in 2011:
TA Comments on Guterman-Westwood Letter
There are some important facts about the Guterman-Westwood proposal that the T.A. and our Advisors find worrisome and that our community needs to consider.
1) Financial Commitment- Guterman-Westwood has outlined a “pricing plan” for tenants to purchase their apartments. We are concerned with the plan’s ability to raise the amount of capital needed to purchase the property from CW Capital. It is critical that any bid put forward by Tenants have the capability to engage CW Capital.
2) Short-Term Partner – When we began this process, the TA committed to finding a long-term partner to help our community buy the property – and then to stick around to help us improve it. Guterman-Westwood has made it clear that they would convert the property and have no continuing involvement
3) Converting to a co-op, instead of a condominium. Guterman-Westwood’s proposal calls for converting Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village into a cooperative. After careful review of this issue, we believe, along with our professional advisors, that a co-op conversion could present problems. For example, a co-op would mean a common tax lot and a master mortgage, increasing the chance of systemic financial distress that could impact every resident in the community. The risk of such financial headaches could make it difficult for residents to find lenders willing to help them buy their apartments during the conversion process. In addition, the costs of repaying a property-wide “master” mortgage would mean higher monthly maintenance charges for residents. A condominium conversion would avoid all of these challenges, allow for more flexibility when we choose our community’s governance structure, and allow us to target property tax abatements directly to rental or “affordable” apartments on a unit-by-unit basis.
http://www.stpcvta.org/ta/post/ta_comments_on_guterman_westwood_letter
This link was posted on the TA fb. Guterman is worse than a hungry two-headed shark:
http://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/28/business/new-yorkers-co-his-pitch-lures-instant-insiders.html
9:45 AM
How's life in the rock you're living under? The former mayor's Midtown East rezoning plan was reported on extensively in the press and on this blog. The city council and Garodnick ultimately voted to shelve that plan in order to let the next mayor come up with a new one. And that's exactly what de Blasio is doing.
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