Happy New Year from Tishman Speyer!

1.

Who would pay this kind of money to live in a depressing, concrete universe? Ok so, the apt's are pretty nice, but still. Aside from the convenience to downtown and the village, I don't see much going for it.

2.

Demand in Manhattan keeps rising. They can suck it up and commute like the rest of us.

3.

it's nice to see that someone with down's syndrome can rise to the top of the real estate world. (in other words, what the fuck is up with his signature???)

4.

If I recall, several months ago many of the free market tenants were complaining about Rose associates, the management company for Stuy town, raising rents between 20% and 30% for renewals. Isn't this just a continuation of what was happening before the development was sold? This isn't really surprising. There was even a blog for Stuy Town residents criticizing the increases.

5.

That's right -- my rent was jacked in August of last year, before the sale (but I suppose right around the time of the announcement)...either way, OUCH!

6.

I think adults with children are the particular demographic that are lured by this development. And as long as people are willing to pay the increases, what can you do?

7.

I think $3600 is a lot to ask for a standard 1BR apartment without a doorman in a depressing Communist-era project in this part of town. Plus you have to live with the aggravation of knowing that your (old white) next door neighbor is paying $788.71 for the same apartment.

If there is any good news... at least they are ramping up investigations into stabilized tenants who own property or are illegally subletting. So to all of you snowbirds with your condo's in Miami... buh-bye!!!

8.

Can everyone please shut about rent increases? These guys just paid a huge amount of money for the development; they are entitled to raise rates. Those who can’t afford it should be living in LIC or Queens or somewhere other than in one of the most expensive real-estate enclaves in the world. Living in Manhattan is not an entitlement, it is an expensive privilege

9.

The tenant in the opening paragraphs is vacating because her rent got jacked up $700/mo after being jacked up $500/mo last year. Her annual payout was jumping almost 37% from $39k in 2005-06 to $45k in 2006-07 to $53.4k in 2007-08. She's making a smart exit because the rent could go up another $700/mo to $61.8k a year from now. But that's how a free market operates and it will all even out in the end. Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?

Clearly, the current generation, except for the bonus crowd, is going to be chewed up in a meat grinder during the transition to deregulation, which will take decades. They are well educated, hard working, earning good salaries, but are merely well off and just not wealthy enough to buy. They fell for the phony marketing brochures hyping Stuy Town's past reputation for being a perfect location to settle down and raise a family. Now they are getting totally screwed.

With those rent hikes it's difficult to believe Speyer's statement that 80% of market rate tenants renew their leases. The flip side is a 20% annual turnover - one out of five market raters move out because they can't afford to stay. Then again, like anon at 9:36 AM commented, look at his scrawled signature. Dad paid $5.4 billion for Stuy Town so Rob could have a toy to play with for the next 20 years.

10.

The only difference between that place and the projects down the street is that its easier to by durgs at the projects. Why don't they knock that ugly p.o.c. down.

11.

i'm going to start the rent controlled rent again (i know you all are waiting for it!) if it is NOT for the rent-controlled crowd (some legitimately, some don't need it but hoard, like those with 'investment' properties - shit, don't we all wish we have the ability to do that while holding donw a manhattan rent!) Tishman would not have to raise rent by that much. I'm not saying they wouldn't raise the rents at all, they definitely would - but b/c of the large amount of rent controlled apts they they can't squeeze incremental revenue out of, they'd HAVE TO do it on the market raters in order to get some return on their investment.

So, in short, down with rent control! move to florida granpa!

12.

Your logic is a little faulty because of course the rent controlled apartments were factored into the purchase price and in the calculation of their expected return.

13.

Wow, nice to see somebody shares my "you are not entitled to live anywhere in particular" sentiment. I live in PCV. It's nice. But we are moving, because a. we are sick of grouchy old people and b. sick of constantly having our rent raised by 15% or more every year. So we're going to buy! Won't that be fun! Thanks for nothing, Stuy Town.

14.

watching

Daddy Speyer has been buying Rob expensive toys his whole life.

15.

Serious question:

Why can't rent regulation laws be changed? Isn't it unconstitutional for the government to set prices in a free capitalist systems.

When are the people of this city going to band together and abolish crazy laws that benefit a few by hurting the majority?

NYC is the only city in the country that still has rent control laws. Why?

16.

Why should I move to Florida? It's too hot there during the summer.

I do spend most of the winter at the condo in Boca, unless we're staying at the other condo on a ski trip in Stowe. The rest of the year we travel abroad or hang around New York shuttling back and forth between the beach house in the Hamptons and the stabilized apartment in Peter Cooper Village. The stabilized apartment is my legal residence. I inherited it from my uncle’s stepfather (sort of like a grandpa) in 1989 after he died at a nursing home in New Jersey where he was an Alzcheimers patient for 11 years. It was really weird the one time I went to visit him in 1987 with the power-of-attorney because I’d never seen him before and he had absolutely no idea who I was at all. Anyway, it took only a few minutes for me to hold a pen in his hand and trace his signature onto the document. I was attending NYU Law School at the time and his apartment was empty. It was much better than commuting from my parents’ house in Greenwich or living in a dorm. I didn’t know how cheap the rent was because it was paid through an automatic deduction from his veteran's pension. I just stayed in the apartment after graduation since he wasn't using it. Of course, after he died I did have to start paying the rent.

Nowadays we find ouselves spending more and more time in the Hamptons because we really prefer being on the ocean. I lease the stabilized apartment since we're hardly ever there. The rental income is decent since the tenant pays me $4,600 per month for a 2 bed, 2 bath apartment that only costs me $918.24. The tenant’s a pilot studying nuclear physics. I don’t have to worry about him reporting me to the landlord because he’s an illegal alien from Pakistan. I just can't figure out why anyone would pay so much to live in a building with no doorman. I still have to travel into NYC once a month to collect rent from the tenant leasing my stabilized Peter Cooper Village apartment and the other tenants living in three rental properties I own in Park Slope. I bought these brownstones for about $200,000 each when the real estate market tanked in the early 90's. Now each one is worth more than $2,000,000 and nets about $100,000 annual rent income.

I have just one question. Do you want me to give you my two condos, the beach house and all three brownstones too?

Get over it.

17.

to "granpa died a long time ago"

wow, my posted cost you to waste 10 minutes of your life. I love it.

And regarding why NYC can't get rid of rent control? - F'ing Liberal Bastards, that's why.

18.

What do you expect from an organization that maintains the type of nepotism that they do. Just one glance at an org chart over at Tishman Speyer tells you everything you need to know- what does Rob Speyer care, after all, with his billions in inheritence and trusts from daddy's business, he doesn't need to be concerned with a 33% rate increase.