Photo of Stuyvesant Town, by nrvlowdown at flickr
Tishman Speyer, the real estate company that bought Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village for $5.4 billion in 2006, is going on a landscaping binge at the sprawling housing complex. The company plans on planting approximately 200,000 plants across the property's 80 acres, including 10,000 trees and more than 3,000 shrubs. The net effect on one resident was that it feel as if she were in a suburban oasis in the city.
The NY Times reported that the work is 20% done and that as many as 120 gardeners are at work on the property every day. Tishman Speyer's landscaping project is definitely a different direction for the property from what the previous owner was trying to accomplish--to open up the interior of the property by cutting down trees. In 2003, residents complained that the removal of many trees was making the property appear denuded and overly uniform.
Now, managing director at Tishman Speyer George Hatzmann said that 100 hanging baskets of plants and 40,000 annuals should be in place in time for Mothers Day. Of course, rent increases have driven many longtime STPCV residents out; Hartsmann said, "Rent increases are a part of life in the city, but we do our best to stay consistent with market prices.”
