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Landlords Scared Stuy Town Ruling Will Stymie Obscene Rents
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 23, 2009
Modified Oct 23, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 23, 2009
Modified Oct 23, 2009
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Yesterday the state's highest court ruled that it was illegal for Tishman Speyer to raise rents at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village beyond certain set levels while also receiving tax breaks from the city for major renovations. Now landlords are afraid the ruling will impact their ability to flip rent-regulated apartments into luxury units. Ed Kalikow, whose family owns 2,000 apartments in town, tells the Times, "It's terrible for the industry. A lot of people bought property with the thought that they would get the rents up. People made decisions on that. Banks made loans. This decision is another nail in the coffin." There is not a violin on Earth tiny enough to play at that funeral!
Joseph Strasberg, president of the Rent Stabilization Association, believes the landlords of as many as 80,000 apartments will be affected by the ruling. At Stuy Town and Peter Cooper, 4,352 of the 11,227 apartments have rents at market rate, up from 3,189 when Tishman Speyer made the controversial move to buy the sprawling complex for $5.4 billion, which until then had always been a rent-regulated oasis for the middle class in Manhattan. It's now worth maybe $2.1 billion, and Tishman Speyer may have to pay out an estimated $200 million in rent overcharges and damages to tenants.
Tenants at Stuy Town were elated over yesterday's ruling, and in a separate article, the Times visited the complex to gauge the reaction. One resident, Thomas Lim, pays $3,300 for a one-bedroom apartment. With Tishman Speyer now forced to turn market-rate units back to rent-regulated apartments, Lim estimates he'll soon be paying $1,000 to $1,300 less each month. He's also under the impression the reduction will kick in immediately, and when another tenant heard that, she crowed, "Immediately, you think? Yeah, baby."
Tagged
court
decision
rent regulated
ruling
stuy town
tishman speyer
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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