Two investors vying for control of the massive apartment complexes Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village have proposed a plan to partner with residents, creating an affordable housing co-op, a published report said today.
If successful, it would be the largest co-op conversion in U.S. history, experts say. A final proposal is a long way off, as the a group that includes Pershing Square Capital Management and Winthrop Realty Trust try to assume ownership of the buildings -- home to some 25,000 people.
The New York Times reported today that they are now in court trying to gain control of the complexes from the senior mortgage holder, who is seeking a foreclosure sale.
Last month, investor William Ackman says the group hoped to convert rental apartments into affordable co-ops, The Wall Street Journal reported. Ackman said his group would work with the complex's tenants association to ensure the co-ops would be affordable so people who live there now would be able to buy their units, the newspaper said.
Other creditors and potential buyers also are wrangling for control of the property.
A group led by Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Inc. said early this year that it was giving up the complex to creditors.
The purchase of Stuy-Town and Peter Cooper Village in 2006 amounted to the biggest real estate deal in the country's history. The partnership purchased the 110-building Stuy Town/Peter Cooper Village rental complex for a $5.4 billion. Earlier this year it was valued at just $2.13 billion by a credit rating agency.
