Longtime rent-stabilized residents of Stuy Town/Peter Cooper Village flipped their shit when Tishman Speyer purchased the small country from Met Life a few months ago. Oh, how they fretted about their world coming crashing down in a blaze of crackdowns and rent increases! We all know the law is pretty sound in protecting them, but as Charles Bagli reports in the Times today, it turns out that the market rate tenants should have been the ones freaking out. Tishman Speyer is jacking up renewal rents as much as 33%, with many tenants having to pack up and leave the drab neighborhood they've grown to love. For their part, TishSpey says they are just bringing rents up to market rate levels now, and 80% of tenants are renewing their leases regardless of the hike.
Above, a reprinting of the Thanksgiving letter sent to Stuy Town residents. As a commentor said back then: "that letter is a clarion call that you're about to get fucked." In hindsight, can't you hear Rob Speyer's sinister cackling as he put pen to paper?
· After Sale, Rent Increases Give Some Sticker Shock [NYT]
· Selling 666 Fifth, Tishman Speyer Breaks Another Record [Curbed]