Results tagged “default”

When we last checked in on the state of the sprawling Manhattan apartment complex known as Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town, it was at high risk of default on some $4.4 billion in loans. That was the beginning of September, and the prognosis is still negative. At the end of the month, it had $33.7 million left of the $400 million in interest reserves set up to service its debt, sources tell the Wall Street Journal. This means that at its current burn rate of about $16 million per month, the reserve could be depleted before the end of the year.

Today's Times exposé on the financial woes gripping the owners of StuyTown and Peter Cooper Village is filled with insider analysis that makes our eyes glaze over, such as, "At Stuyvesant Town, there is a $3 billion first mortgage, or commercial mortgage-backed security, and a $1.4 billion second loan, known as “mezzanine debt” held by SL Green, the government of Singapore and others." But the bottom line is easy enough to grasp; as one analyst puts it, "I’d say their equity has been wiped out, given the decline in apartment values."

Every $5.4 billion purchase of a sprawling apartment complex during the height of the boom has its problems! Bond analysis firm Fitch Ratings released information about Tishman Speyer's Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village complex and found the developer "has approximately six months of reserves remaining to cover the trust portion of the total debt on the property." The Observer puts it more bluntly: "When the reserve is completely eroded, Tishman Speyer... would need to put in more cash or potentially face default on its loans." The threat of default is something that observers had been suggesting since last summer, after an earlier analysis of Tishman revenue. While Tishman Speyer hasn't commented, a tipster told Curbed yesterday that much of the complex's staff seemed to be laid off.

There's been talk of big apartment complexes, bought by private equity firms, being at risk for mortgage defaults, after the buildings' new owners had unrealistic expectations for rent increases. Now, the NY Times reports that Senator Charles Schumer wants to make sure certain buildings stay affordable given that 60,000 lower income residents may be affected. He also wants the SEC to investigate the loans, "The entire predatory equity enterprise is a house of cards built on a foundation of fantasy and greed. The whole thing collapses when there is any depreciation, or even a leveling, in the property’s value, which is the reality we now face. You would think these deals would’ve stopped a year ago, but they are still going forward."

Remember how the NY Times looks at apartment complexes in danger of defaulting on their mortgages last month? Well, Crain's continues that line of thought, noting that almost 600 buildings "have one or more factors that could lead to mortgage default." The Riverton Houses and Savoy Park in Harlem are both mentioned again, as is Stuyvesant Town. Per the Daily News, "Housing advocates told Crain's that buyers had unrealistic goals about rent increases. The same lenders caught up in the mortgage free-for-all in single-family homes lent them money anyway." Speaking of apartments in NYC, Britney Spears told Z100, "When I come back, it's like, 'Man, I wish I still had my apartment here.' But I love it. The energy is crazy."

After a Monday article about how the middle-class Harlem housing complex Riverton Houses' owners might default on their loan, the NY Times now looks other big real estate deal that might go sour. Like the Riverton Houses, Stuyvesant Town was bought by a big real estate company who hoped to convert more rent-stabilized units to market rates and make a profit (but it's been slow-going so far). And there are other possible victims, like Harlem's Savoy Park, a development bought by Credit Suisse. A Citizens Housing and Planning Council fellow tells the Times, "[Financiers] all got caught up in the bubble mentality.”