The following article outlines a tragedy as New York becomes more and more an enclave for the rich and a difficult place for working people to live. The 110 buildings discussed in the article were built with taxpayer help and have been one of the most stable and pleasant areas in New York to which working people had access for quality housing. Now this is being withdrawn and it will effect the entire city, and particularly Manhattan, I'm sure.
According to the article: "The city acquired some of the land for the project through eminent domain and gave MetLife all the streets in the 18-block area. The city also froze property taxes for 25 years at the value of the land before redevelopment...." Once again it is shown how public/private "partnerships" turn to private profit at public expense.
This is an awful event for the city.
110-Building Site in N.Y. Is Put Up for Sale
By CHARLES V. BAGLI and JANNY SCOTT
Published: August 30, 2006Metropolitan Life is putting Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village — a stretch of 110 apartment buildings along the East River — on the auction block.
With a target price of nearly $5 billion, the sale would be the biggest deal for a single American property in modern times. It would undoubtedly transform what has been an affordable, leafy redoubt for generations of Manhattan’s middle class: teachers and nurses, firefighters and police officers, office clerks and construction workers.
MetLife, one of the largest life insurers in North America, said in July that it might sell the two complexes, which it built nearly 60 years ago with government help. It has hired a broker, who started registering bidders last week for the 80-acre property along First Avenue between 14th and 23rd Streets.
Behind the scenes, the sale has already drawn interest from dozens of prospective buyers, including New York’s top real estate families, pension funds, international investment banks and investors from Dubai, according to real estate executives, even though the marketing book will not be released to bidders until next week.
The deal is likely to lead to profound changes for many of the 25,000 residents of the two complexes, where two-thirds of the apartments have regulated rents at roughly half the market rate. Any new owner paying the equivalent of $450,000 per apartment is going to be eager to create a money-making luxury enclave, real estate executives say.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/30/nyregion/30stuyvesant.html?ei=5094&en=108aa532f7571212&hp=&ex=1156996800&partner=homepage&pagewanted=all
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