Real Estate News: The Blackstone Group’s Purchase of Stuyvesant Town Includes $625M in Air Rights

The Blackstone Group and Ivanhoe Cambridge's huge purchase of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village has become a world record. It was revealed that as part of the $5.4 billion deal, 4,500 of the complex's 11,200 apartments for middle-age income families would be reserved for the next 20 years, with the addition of 200 units to be set aside for low-income tenants.

But what is intriguing is the $625 million worth of air rights that came along with the deal. Three fourths of the roughly one million square feet will be transferred elsewhere, and the other fourth of about 250,000 square feet will remain within Stuy Town. What remains in Stuy Town include 200,000 square feet for a community facility, 25,000 square feet for residential, and another 25,000 square feet for commercial use, as reported by 6sqft news.

Blackstone has a commitment not to build anything else on the complex. It is not yet identified as to where the bulk of the sites will be transferred, and depending on location, they could go for $500 or more per foot.

The New York Post reported that after a world record purchase of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village for $5.4 billion, Blackstone pulled away air rights worth $625 million. The sales price of the two deeds, $4,111,111,767 for Stuyvesant Town and $1,145,485,020 for Peter Cooper, made a total of $5,456,596,787. Roughly $11 million of the total amount included properties such as office equipment, mowers and the like.

With the main deal of air rights, which is roughly one million square feet, possible sites to receive must be identified. Blackstone executives need to find a way to get top dollar for these transferable development rights, which could be worth $500 per foot or more depending on the location.

Meanwhile, Douglas Harmon and Jean Celestin of Eastdil Secured made a sale of another multifamily project worth $201 million for CW Capital. Riverton has 1,229 units in a dozen buildings in East Harlem on eight gated acres.

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