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October 15, 2009

Stuyvesant Town On Brink of Default

According to the Wall Street Journal, one of the biggest, most high-profile deals of the commercial real-estate boom is in danger of imminent default. New York's Stuvyesant Town, where so many baby boomers like me were born and raised, and which was purchased just three years ago by Tishman Speyer and a consortium of other investors for $5.4 billion, is running out of cash.

StuyvesantTown Brian Harkin for The Wall Street Journal

Stuyvesant Town was developed by MetLife for returning World War II veterans.  When I was growing up there the population was mostly young families cranking out kids...my mother said residents jokingly called it "The Womb." It remained a middle-class bastion even as rents in other parts of Manhattan skyrocketed, but militant rent stabilization kept ST apartments affordable. It really was a wonderful place to grow up, a place in the city where kids could be outside on their own, or like me, strap on their roller skates, jump on their bikes, and be completely safe.  I lived at 16 Stuyvesant Oval, apartment 10G (I shared the second bedroom with my brother) until I was in second grade. Then we moved to the L.I. suburbs.

GrowingUpinStuyTown

ST residents are a formidable lot. When the Tishman purchased the property from MetLife, the new owners predicted they would be able to convert thousands of protected apartments to higher market rents. Some of that happened.  But according to this blogger,

There are only 2 groups that are happy as this incident runs to a conclusion. MetLife

is got to be thrilled that they sold the units at the top of the market and got a premium for their share holders and policy holders.

Oh, and the other group? That is the long term rent controlled stabilized tenants who have fought off Tishman Speyer’s attempt to break through. That is as tough a bunch as I have ever come across and I should have known that no company could ever fight them and come away unscathed.


Posted at 03:50 PM in Hard Times, New York |

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Maureen@IslandRoar

Wow, my son lives there now. It's still an amazing family stable area. I had no idea; this is really too bad.

Posted by: Maureen@IslandRoar | October 15, 2009 at 08:21 PM

Charmaine

You are so damn interesting.

Posted by: Charmaine | October 16, 2009 at 04:34 PM

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