By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — A Stuyvesant Town creditor's bid to delay foreclosure of the housing complex until it is paid back was turned down by an appeals court Tuesday, paving the way for an auction of the vast property next week.
A lawyer for the creditor, Pershing Square Winthrop, said that its $45 million investment in secondary loans at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village would be lost if the foreclosure was allowed to proceed. The company plans to pursue damage claims to recoup its losses, the attorney added.
"We're going to pursue our appeal, and we'll ultimately be vindicated," said Edward Weisfelner, counsel for Pershing Square Winthrop.
But CW Capital, the asset company representing creditors that took over the property when its previous owner defaulted on the mortgage, plans to go ahead with its planned Oct. 4 foreclosure auction, a lawyer for the company said.
Pershing Square Winthrop is a joint venture by hedge-funder William Ackman that purchased a key piece of secondary debt property last month, and then scheduled its own auction date.
"CW Capital has committed itself to completing a non-eviction co-op conversion of the 11,227-unit complex that the tenants' supported.
If the company emerges as the property's new owner following next week's auction — a likely outcome, the tenants association noted, given that it holds the $3 billion-plus mortgage — residents will then have to work with CW Capital on their own buyout plan.
"CW Capital has expressed its support of the tenants' goals, and has already begun an open dialogue with the tenants and their advisers to those ends," Councilman Dan Garodnick, a lifelong tenant of Peter Cooper Village who represents the area, said in a statement.
"We're going to pursue our appeal, and we'll ultimately be vindicated," said Edward Weisfelner, counsel for Pershing Square Winthrop.
"The only route to financial stability is through partnership with the tenants of this community, and we look forward to collaborating with CW Capital toward a more stable future."
