NEW YORK CITY—The sprawling 11,231-unit Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town apartment complex, a poster child in the downturn for large-scale commercial property bets that backfired, appears to be headed for the auction block once again. Published reports say that CWCapital Asset Management, which took control of Stuy-Town in 2010 after the property's ownership defaulted on a $3-billion mortgage, is preparing to foreclose on $1.4 billion in mezzanine debt, thus taking full ownership of the complex and putting CWCAM in a position to sell it. GlobeSt.com's calls to a CWCAM spokesman were not returned by deadline.

Even before a foreclosure action--normally a 30-day process--is a done deal, though, the complex appears to be drawing interested parties. Citing the opinions of analysts at Barclays, Real Capital Analytics and Trepp, the New York Times said Wednesday morning that the complex was likely to fetch more than $4 billion in a sale; it had traded for $5.4 billion in 2006 to a partnership led by Tishman Speyer Properties and BlackRock Real Estate.

Bloomberg reported late Tuesday afternoon that Fortress Investment Group, which owns CWCAM, is seeking financing for a $4.7-billion bid on the 80-acre, 110-building rental complex. A Fortress spokesman tells GlobeSt.com the firm declines to comment on the report.