Via The New York Observer
To flip through the pages of the 2006 offering book for potential buyers of the 11,200-apartment Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village-a deal that has devolved into the largest individual property default in modern history-is to immerse oneself in an historical delusion, one that, from today's privileged vantage point, appears as likely as Iraqi WMDs.
The book wove the strands of possible Stuy Town revenue into a real estate dreamscape, one in which the largely rent-regulated complex could become a wealthier community, complete with an elite private school, gourmet grocery shops, private spas, gated communities, Santa Cecilia granite countertops in every apartment.
"With the surge in market rental increases showing no signs of abating, there is immense upside potential, especially for stabilized units rolling to market rates," reads the 73-page offering book, prepared by Darcy Stacom, one of the city's top investment sales brokers.
If the failed $6.3 billion Stuyvesant Town deal-sealed in late 2006 by seller MetLife and buyers led by Tishman Speyer-is emblematic of nearly everything that went wrong with the real estate world during this most recent boom, the marketing of the historically middle-income property is emblematic of the unexamined contribution of top brokers to the era's fantastical mind-set.
As conversations with numerous executives involved with the bidding process illustrate, the role of Ms Stacom and other advisers was essentially to pour lubricant into an ever-accelerating dealmaking machine, one that would eventually implode.
Ms. Stacom, 50, is a real estate titan in her own right, as admired for her business acumen and salesmanship as she is feared for her mercurial temper.
New York born and Greenwich raised, Ms. Stacom, who declined comment for this story, was nurtured in real estate. Both of her parents, Matthew and Claire Stacom, were Cushman & Wakefield brokers. Her father most famously consulted in the development and leasing of the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower). When she was 14, she worked in the Cushman & Wakefield mailroom.
She began her brokerage career at Cushman & Wakefield, defecting in 2002 for archrival CB Richard Ellis. Her sister, Tara, remains at Cushman. Her husband is a broker at Jones Lang LaSalle. It wasn't easy being a woman broker in a real estate world where men, even now, behave like extras in Mad Men. In 1996, when she was pregnant with one of her daughters, Ms. Stacom pitched a deal to a potential client, only to be asked what would happen were she to have complications during childbirth. She didn't get the gig. In interviews, she prides herself on her eccentricities: She prefers colorful skirts to business suits, funky costume jewelry to the real stuff.
Continue reading The Selling of Stuy Town @ The New York Observer
To flip through the pages of the 2006 offering book for potential buyers of the 11,200-apartment Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village-a deal that has devolved into the largest individual property default in modern history-is to immerse oneself in an historical delusion, one that, from today's privileged vantage point, appears as likely as Iraqi WMDs.The book wove the strands of possible Stuy Town revenue into a real estate dreamscape, one in which the largely rent-regulated complex could become a wealthier community, complete with an elite private school, gourmet grocery shops, private spas, gated communities, Santa Cecilia granite countertops in every apartment.
"With the surge in market rental increases showing no signs of abating, there is immense upside potential, especially for stabilized units rolling to market rates," reads the 73-page offering book, prepared by Darcy Stacom, one of the city's top investment sales brokers.
If the failed $6.3 billion Stuyvesant Town deal-sealed in late 2006 by seller MetLife and buyers led by Tishman Speyer-is emblematic of nearly everything that went wrong with the real estate world during this most recent boom, the marketing of the historically middle-income property is emblematic of the unexamined contribution of top brokers to the era's fantastical mind-set.
As conversations with numerous executives involved with the bidding process illustrate, the role of Ms Stacom and other advisers was essentially to pour lubricant into an ever-accelerating dealmaking machine, one that would eventually implode.
Ms. Stacom, 50, is a real estate titan in her own right, as admired for her business acumen and salesmanship as she is feared for her mercurial temper.
New York born and Greenwich raised, Ms. Stacom, who declined comment for this story, was nurtured in real estate. Both of her parents, Matthew and Claire Stacom, were Cushman & Wakefield brokers. Her father most famously consulted in the development and leasing of the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower). When she was 14, she worked in the Cushman & Wakefield mailroom.
She began her brokerage career at Cushman & Wakefield, defecting in 2002 for archrival CB Richard Ellis. Her sister, Tara, remains at Cushman. Her husband is a broker at Jones Lang LaSalle. It wasn't easy being a woman broker in a real estate world where men, even now, behave like extras in Mad Men. In 1996, when she was pregnant with one of her daughters, Ms. Stacom pitched a deal to a potential client, only to be asked what would happen were she to have complications during childbirth. She didn't get the gig. In interviews, she prides herself on her eccentricities: She prefers colorful skirts to business suits, funky costume jewelry to the real stuff.
Continue reading The Selling of Stuy Town @ The New York Observer
STUPID, GREED-ADDLED BITCH!
Greenwich is home to the titans of the hedge fund and financial service companies. The racial makeup of Greenwich is 90% white and the median income for a family is $168,779. In Greenwich, it is not OK for your daughter to become a ballet dancer (show business people!), but it is definitely OK for her to go into real estate. And things have worked out very well for Ms. Stacom. But in her life a little rain must fall. Where once we were merely inconsequential to her, now we must be actually annoying. If only we would go back to being invisible again. Ugh.
WHAT RAIN??
She made her huge commission . she didn't lose her job
Not talking thunderstorms, I said a "little rain." She didn't suffer financially, but a number of anonymous real estate types in that article got in a few nasty digs -- her reputation took a well-deserved hit.
While agents like her are despicable, I personally save almost all of my wrath for their principals.
IMO, MetLife is BY FAR the most evil, most despicable character in the StuyTown story (yes, much worse than Tishman Speyer and BlackRock). Yet, it has largely remained unscathed and immune from criticism.
The then CEO of MetLife is now the CEO of AIG. Who says crime doesn't pay! It sure does for the corporate types!
I also think there's a good chance that we will go through all this angst again if the rent stabilization laws are allowed to sunset in a couple of years.
"if the rent stabilization laws are allowed to sunset in a couple of years."--not in a couple of years, 6/15/2011. That's little more than a year away.
Moveon.org is circulating a petition about AIG, which is giving out $100 million bonuses, despite owing taxpayers $182 billion. If you want to sign the petition, which will be delivered to Congress before a hearing next Wednesday, go to http://pol.moveon.org/aigagain/?r_by=18846-636631-TVSID2x&rc=paste
Those who can be bought and sold are in for a very, very good year.
If anyone cares, the strategy we should all employ is to sign a 2 year lease as close to the expiration date as possible. That constrains the landlord, whatever he/she/it may be, for as long as possible. Not to mention, it gives you the maximum amount of time to secure your personal fate.
It's not a perfect solution but it puts the most leverage in your hands possible and takes as much away from the potential acquirer as possible.
I think that stupid and sleazy as our pols are, they are not quite that stupid as to let the rent stabilization law expire because they know they will have an all out war on their hands if they do. That said, we still have to get ready for a battle that may make other battles pale by comparison.
Luxus, wassup? Waiting for the next T&V to come out?
Well I, for one, am glad that Lux is having a life. Hope you had a good weekend.
Looks like there will be a vote on Monserrate this week in the State Senate, whether it's to censure him or to expel him. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/nyregion/08hiram.html?hpw
I didn't but thanks for the good wishes. ;-)