Stuy Town Owners to Appeal Ruling

NEW YORK CITY-The owners of the Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village multifamily complex say they will appeal last month’s State Supreme Court ruling after the court granted permission to file an appeal. That March 5 ruling by the a four-judge panel in the Appellate Division reinstated a $200-million class action brought by a group of tenants who claimed the owners illegally deregulated their rent-stabilized apartments while continuing to receive J-51 tax abatements from the city.

In a statement, Tishman Speyer Properties and its general partner PCV ST Owner L.P., which bought the complex for $5.4 billion in 2006, say they’re “pleased that the Appellate Division has granted our motion for leave to appeal. We look forward to the Court of Appeals ruling on this important issue.”

The lower-court ruling, if it stands, could require multifamily property owners to refund the difference between market rents and regulated rents, and has spurred concerns that it could lead to citywide defaults on loans. Because the Appellate Division ruling–which overturned a Manhattan Supreme Court judge’s 2007 ruling dismissing the tenant’s action–was unanimous, the decision to allow the Stuyvesant Town owners to appeal had to be unanimous as well, according to published reports.