By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
STUYVESANT TOWN — A foreclosure auction planned next week for the massive Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village complex has been postponed due to a lawsuit filed Wednesday to block an outside partnership’s takeover bid.
The state Supreme Court set a Sept. 2 hearing date for the suit filed by CW Capital, an asset company representing creditors who took over the property when its previous owner defaulted on the mortgage, according to reports.
Last week, Hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, L.P. teamed up with the Boston-based Winthrop Realty Trust to scoop up $300 million in mezzanine loans in an attempt to foreclose on the complex.
CW Capital sued in response, arguing that the partnership first needs to pay off the property’s initial mortgage, or some $3.7 billion.
“We are disappointed that ownership of the property has degenerated into litigation, but we are not at all surprised,” read a statement from East Side Councilman Dan Garodnick, a lifelong resident of Peter Cooper Village.
“As the creditor parties fight this one out, the tenants are prepared to join with the right partner to help us achieve the goals we have articulated.”
Those goals, also shared by the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association, include giving the complex’s 25,000 tenants the opportunity to buy their units or stay on as rent-regulated renters.
The Pershing-Winthrop partnership initially stated it would seek to complete a non-eviction co-op conversion of the 11,227-apartment complex.
“No matter where this litigation leads, the tenants have a central seat at the table, and are prepared to offer their own restructuring plan,” Garodnick added.
“The tenants continue to be united and committed to seeing the process through to the right outcome.”
