http://www.planNYC.org/ PlanNYC | New York City Planning Information Portal en-us ja3n@earthlink.net http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=86#4478 Since developer Tishman-Speyer purchased Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village two years ago, they have converted a number of previously rent-stabilized apartments to market rate. Despite this conversion, sources say revenues for this past year have dropped. This drop is attributed to legal fees from fighting tenants who contested the conversions and also from the weakening housing market. The conversions have been highly contested by elected officials, tenants, and housing advocates, however the developer maintains the conversions only took place where tenants were abusing the system. 2008-07-23 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=86#4270 Tishman Speyer Properties, owner of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, alleges that several hundred of its rent-stabilized tenants are not using their units as primary homes. Over the past year and a half, Tishman Speyer has turned down the renewal of roughly 800 rent-stabilized leases because the company believes that these households are living in other locations the majority of the time. However, these tenants believe that this claim is merely an attempt to replace low-rent households with high-rent ones. Tishman Speyer maintains that they would like to create a community of full-time residents in Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. 2008-05-27 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=86#4116 Work has begun on one of the largest landscaping projects in the history of Manhattan. Tishman Speyer, owner of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, is overseeing the re-landscaping of 60 acres of the 80-acre housing developments. The project involves planting 200,000 plants and is about 20% complete, with a target completion date of June 30. Tishman Speyer did not reveal how much the project was costing, simply noting that it was a “significant price,” but said that it was worth the money for the increased quality of life for current and future residents. 2008-04-20 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=86#2963 A Manhattan state Supreme Court judge has thrown out a class-action lawsuit by tenants of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village alleging that the complex’s former owner, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, and new owner, Tishman Speyer Properties, charged higher rents than allowed by rent regulation rules. While nearly 11,000 units in the complex are rent regulated by law, some 3,000 units are not under the same control. Metropolitan Life sold the complex for $5.4 billion in 2006 to Tishman Speyer, raising fears among many tenants of a potential rent hike. 2007-08-24 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=86#2665 Tenants of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village who hold leases on their rent-stabilized apartments are saying that their new landlord is probing their lives in order to legally issue them non-renewal notices on their leases. Tishman Speyer, which purchased the developments last year for a record-breaking $5.4 billion, is claiming that hundreds of tenants actually hold residence elsewhere, which provides them with a legal foothold to refuse to renew tenant leases. 2007-05-30 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=86#2655 Long-time residents of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village are alleging that the complex's new landlord is attempting to expel middle-income residents by investigating their property records. Tishman Speyer, the new landlord, is handing out nonrenewal lease letters to tenants with secondary properties, according to some current residents. Daniel Garodnick, member of the New York City Council and resident of the complex in Manhattan, says, "These are scary letters to get." 2007-05-29 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=86#2649 Residents of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village claim their new landlord is going to extreme measures to force them out of their rent-controlled apartments, hiring private investigators to dig up financial information which would allow them to issue non-renewal lease notices. Tishman has responded that non-renewal notices are standard practice when there is reason to believe that a lease was being held illegally. 2007-05-27 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=86#2631 Several thousand people were present for a rally at Stuyvesant town yesterday to protest the loss of affordable housing in New York City. Manhattan Borough President Stringer supported the rally, calling for better legal protection for low and middle-income renters. Stuyvesant Town has been an emblem of the problem since being sold to a private developer who has been trying to remove rent-stabilized tenants. Mayor Bloomberg has promised to create 165,000 units of affordable housing, but some are concerned that the city continues to loose affordable units faster than it can build them. 2007-05-24 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=86#2624 Tenants of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village have joined with New York Is Our Home, a collective of New York renters, labor leaders and elected officials, and are planning a rally this Wednesday in protest of the potential loss of affordable housing as a result of the $5.4 billion sale of the East Side housing complexes. 2007-05-22 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=86#2614 A large rally for affordable housing has been planned for next Wednesday at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village. The site was chosen because the controversial sale of the two developments was such a well-known event and was criticized from removing a large amount of affordable housing from the New York City market. However individuals are expected to come to the rally from all over the city and outer boroughs, including from Starrett City and other buildings that have recently been taking out of the Mitchell-Lama program. The rally’s organizers are asking from reform of rent-stabilization and Mitchell-Lama, as well as increased control by New York City of vacancies and high rents. 2007-05-17 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=86#2340 Residents who were concerned about the possibility of a drastic change in life at Stuyvesant town after it was sold by MetLife to Tishman Speyer Properties have so far experienced only incremental changes, at least some of which are positive. Residents reports that they are pleased with the professional attitude with which the new owners operate, and Tishman has promised to bring in new services such as a fitness center and a greenmarket. However according to the New York Times residents continue to expect that Tishman will try and reduce the number of rent-stabilized apartments, bringing as much of the development as possible up to market rates. However Stuyvesant Town continues to provide a unique neighborhood environment, which is important to many of the long-time residents. 2007-04-01 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=86#2198 In this NY Metro interview City Comptroller William Thompson discusses the implications of the city's projected $3.9 billion surplus for fiscal year 2007 as well as the challenge of managing the city's $105 billion in pension funds. According to Thompson, nearly $1.2 billion of city pension funds have been invested in housing or real estate and between $500-$600 million, in particular, in affordable housing. Thompson, who opposed the $5.4 billion mega sale bid for Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, says that the city does not invest pension funds in real estate transactions that lessen affordable housing options for lower and middle-income residents. 2007-03-12 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=86#2153 This New York Times article assesses the recent mega sales of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village and Starrett City, the former receiving the blessing of city officials including the mayor and the latter vilified by city officials and public advocates. Why did the city and its leaders react so differently to the $5.4 billion and $1.3 billion sales respectively? The article contends that the Stuyvesant Town sale satisfied the concerns of those interested in preserving affordable housing for the mostly middle-income residents who live there because the developer, Jerry Speyer, has an "insider" reputation in New York that Starrett City developer David Bistricer does not have. In addition, the article contends that the massive amounts of city, state, and federal subsidies at Starrett City contributed to the public's unease with such a large sale to a private developer. 2007-03-03 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=86#1916 A group of tenants of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village has filed a lawsuit in the State Supreme Court contending that Metropolitan Life, previous owner of the apartment complex, unlawfully charged market-rate rents for greater than 3,000 apartments. Metropolitan Life, which sold the complex for $5.4 billion in October to Tishman Speyer Properties, had received $24.5 million in tax breaks since 1992 under the city’s J-51 property tax program. The class-action suit alleges that the receipt of city tax breaks prevents the buildings’ owners from converting a majority of the apartments from rent-regulated to market-rate units. 2007-01-23 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=86#1888 After the mega $5.4-billion sale of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village in October by Tishman Speyer Properties, some residents of the 110-building complex have complained about dramatic increases in their rents. The first wave of lease renewal letters post sale reflects “sticker shot” to many long-time Stuyvesant Town residents, who have always prized the complex for its affordability. Some renters argue that the recent rent increases are directly attributable to the massive sale in October, citing 33% increases in some cases. Tishman Speyer disagrees, arguing that the rent increases simply reflect the market rates in the neighborhood. The company points to the fact that 80% of current tenants have already renewed leases for the future. 2007-01-16 00:00:00