Stuy town rent may rise as tenants fight for reduction

The good will between the tenants and special servicers at Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, the sprawling Manhattan apartment complex, who came to an final arrangment in November, may actually be at an all time low.

It's hard to believe that the drama is continuing. It's a lose-lose situation already — and it's just become even more loserish.

For one, the tenants are just now waking up to the fact that the agreement they signed allows for the rents to be raised mid-lease by special servicer CWCapital.

"The news has a lot of tenants crying foul even though all occupants signed the agreement," said analytics firm Trepp in an email this morning.

But it gets worse.

According to the Stuyvesant Town Peter Cooper Village Tenants Association, a noticed was filed against CWCapital on behalf of residents, who charge that they still aren't getting even the basic amenities.

This is a pretty believable grip, I must admit. Tishman Speyer and BlackRock took a bath on this deal when they bought it from MetLife for $5.6 billion in 2006. Their plan was to make it a go-to destination; they envy of other renters south of 14th.

None of that, those promised services, ever came to fruition, the tenants association claims. 

And so in the midst of potential rent hikes, the tenants are moving for a rent reduction, for "the loss of trunk storage service, security systems, bicycle and carriage room storage, laundry room services, elevator service and building intercom services," the tenants association claims.

And you know things are bad when spokespeople begin to evoke disaster relief. In this instance, the residents claims they were left languishing after the impact of Hurricane Sandy.

“Three months later, many tenants are still without essential services and are told they will be without them for many months to come," said association president John Marsh. "Every building in the complex has been affected in one way or another. Even if the owner were working earnestly to correct these problems, which is difficult to discern considering their lack of communication, there is no reason for tenants to be paying for services they do not have."

Marsh said they are in the process of getting residents to sign the filing against the Stuy Town landlords.

Back in November, this whole nasty business appeared to be coming to an end.

Turns out, it is just getting started.

jgaffney@housingwire.com