Big Money, Bigger Mistakes
The $5.4 Billion Stuyvesant Town Gamble That Went Bust
“The price was dictated by the amount of debt you could put on the property. The assets were worth as much as the banks were willing to lend”
- Other People's Money by Charles Bagli
Happy Sunday!
$3.4 billion. That’s the loss lenders and investors took on a single deal. And no, this wasn’t some fly-by-night syndicator or a group of clueless LPs. This deal was put together by none other than BlackRock, in partnership with Tishman Speyer, with heavyweight LPs like CalPERS, the Church of England, and the government of Singapore, among others.
Today’s case study is a blast from the past (but it might sound oddly familiar to many of you).
Before we dive in:
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Background
In October 2006, Tishman Speyer and BlackRock bought Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, a 110-building, 80-acre apartment complex in Manhattan, for $5.4 billion.