A group of investors bought New York City's Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village in 2006 at the height of the market for $5.4 billion. The speculative deal is now underwater and the investors have decided to walk away from their loans.
From The Wall St. Journal: "Tishman Speyer Properties and its primary partner BlackRock Inc. decided over the weekend to turn over the 56-building complex to creditors rather than pursue other options including potentially putting it into bankruptcy. The move came after the venture was unable to restructure the $4.4 billion in debt used to help finance its top-of-the-market purchase. The decision means that the owners won't use bankruptcy as a defensive strategy to keep control."
Who takes control over the properties is up in the air at this moment. At the time the deal was made, it was the largest real estate deal of its kind in U.S. history.
Read the full story: Control of Stuyvesant Takes Center Stage
Affordable Living in The Bronx
A look at Parkchester, one of four planned communities built by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in New York City, circa 1940s. The complex includes over 12,000 rental and ownership apartments, located near the #6 subway.
World Record Sale for Manhattan Real Estate, Again
The $5.46 billion sale last October for the private 83 acres of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village barely topped the prior world record set for the same property in 2006 and preserved 5,000 apartments for middle income renters.
The Ancient Cities Lost to Time and Tides
While the 2000-year-old quest to locate the submerged island of Atlantis continues to this day, plenty of cities have suffered the same fate. The futurist website io9 looks at several "once-majestic" cities now buried beneath the sea.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Los Angeles just elected an urban planner as its mayor
Transportation analysts are optimistic that Raman will be more aggressive in addressing transit issues than Bass.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority