Church of England facing $70 million loss:
By George Conger, CEN
The Church of England appears set to take a $70 million loss in the US real estate market, losing its entire investment in New York City’s Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village apartment complex.
On Oct 14 the Wall Street Journal reported the partnership venture led by Tishman Speyer Properties that purchased the 56-building, 11,000-unit residential complex in lower Manhattan was in danger of default. As of the end of September, the Journal reported, the partnership had $33.7 million left of $400 million in interest reserves to service its debt. With a ‘burn rate’ of $16 million per month, real estate analysts predict the project will be in default by year’s end.
At the height of the Manhattan property market, the Church Commissioners of the Church of England invested $70 million as equity partners in the project, alongside the California Public Employees Retirement System which invested $500 million, and the Florida State Board of Administration which committed $250 million to the deal.
Tishman Speyer Properties purchased the complex for $5.4 billion in 2006. The property is now thought to be worth $2.1 billion. Income from the property was projected to reach $336 million per year by 2011, but is currently bringing in only $139 million.
Tishman Speyer Properties did not respond to Religious Intelligence’s requests for comments, however a spokesman for the Church Commissioners said: “I can confirm that we are invested in this fund as part of a well diversified domestic and global indirect property portfolio. The Commissioners manage a long-term fund, so we will continue to work with our portfolio managers.”
Florida’s pension fund currently values its $250 million investment in the project at zero, however, the spokesman for the Church Commissioners told Religious Intelligence that for reasons of commercial confidentiality, it could not give a current valuation of its investment.
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