BrickUnderground

I went yesterday to the StuyTown tenants' association meeting. The abridged version is here -- or, In more detail than you likely would ever want (unless you happen to live there, perhaps), here is a summary of some of what was discussed:

• Tishman Speyer and Blackrock remain legal owners of the complex, although CW Capital (the special servicer appointed to oversee the complex on behalf of the senior debt holders) has cleared most, if not all, obstacles to taking control of the property. CW Capital will likely not transfer title to the property until they have determined what they intend to do with it.
• The lawsuit Roberts v. Tishman Speyer is still active. Tishman Speyer is interested in settling, has allowed class certification, and attorneys for the former free-market tenants are hopeful that all issues involving Tishman will be resolved by December.  MetLife has shown no interest in settlement, and litigation is active.
• More than one speaker made it clear that ALL tenants in the complex are rent stabilized. The rent being paid by former free-market tenants is an approximation. A consultant has been hired to determine actual rents, as well as the amounts overcharged and due the tenants. Actual rent-stabilized rents should be determined by early next year. Refunds of rent overcharges may start being disbursed next summer.
• Under current law if the lease a former free-market tenant signed did not indicate when the rent-stabilization period would end due to removal from the J-51 program, the unit will remain rent stabilized until the tenant vacates.
• All of the speakers felt that there is a strong possibility of a conversion, and if such a conversion occurs the Tenants’ Association and its lawyers (Paul Weiss) will have a very active roll and voice. While CW Capital could sell it as a rental compound, it is worth more as a conversion.
• A strong effort will be made to keep the complex affordable, and many will not want to purchase. Meredith King, a partner with Paul Weiss, said the attorneys will provide rent/buy analyses for the tenants within the next few months. Nobody, including CW Capital, expects tenants to buy unless it is economically advantageous to do so. City Council Member Dan Garodnick noted that the tenants are negotiating from a position of power.
• The Tenants’ Association and its attorneys aim to keep a large number of the units in the complex as rent-stabilized forever. This would be a contractual agreement independent of any laws that are changed in Albany. City officials support this.
• Ms. King believes the earliest an offering plan could be ready to submit to the Attorney General’s office would be the end of the first quarter of 2011, and the very earliest purchase date possible would be the end of 2011.