New York real estate mogul Richard LeFrak says he and billionaire investor Wilbur Ross are still interested in buying Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, despite moves by lenders to foreclose on the apartment complex.
“When it’s right to do something we’ll do something,” LeFrak said in a telephone interview yesterday.
The owner of LeFrak City in Queens said that his group, which also includes New York hedge fund Centerbridge, is holding off on negotiations until certain ownership issues are settled.
Ross told The Post he supports a foreclosure sale, saying it will simplify the sale process.
Yesterday, the holders of the defaulted $3 billion mortgage filed suit in Manhattan’s federal court, asking a judge to sell the property in foreclosure and use the proceeds to pay off its debts, including the loans.
The 80-acre complex is owned by a group led by New York real estate developer Tishman Speyer, which recently said it would hand the property over to lenders to get out from under a mountain of debt.
But a source close to the lenders says Tishman never offered them a deed in lieu of foreclosure, which would have eliminated the need to request a foreclosure sale. One point of contention has been an estimated $100 million transfer tax that comes due when the property is handed over to a new owner.
Tishman officially declined to comment, but a person close to the discussions said the plan to offer a deed in lieu of a foreclosure was axed by mezzanine lenders, who are owed some $1.4 billion on top of the $3 billion mortgage.
Meanwhile, representatives for StuyTown tenants said they are also still interested in buying the property — whether out of foreclosure or through direct negotiations with the owners.
“We will be part of this process regardless of what legal route is taken here. The key is that it’s not a long, drawn-out process,” said New York City council member Daniel Garodnick, who has been working with the tenants’ association.
The Stuy Town Files 