Comptroller Looks Into $5.4B Met Life Property Sale

The city comptroller is examining Met Life's recent $5.4 billion sale of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, following a request from the City Council member who represents the area.

In a letter sent Tuesday, Council Member Daniel Garodnick asked Comptroller William Thompson to investigate the legality of the recent sale of the complexes, which contain 110 buildings, more than 11,200 apartments, and about 25,000 residents spread out over 80 acres between First Avenue and the East River and 14th and 23rd streets.

In the letter, first disclosed yesterday on the Crains New York Business Web site, Mr. Garodnick contends that a legal loophole stemming from an agreement between the city and Met Life in 1952 would limit the profit available to Met Life to 6% annually, threatening the recent blockbuster sale.

A spokesman for Mr. Thompson told Crains the comptroller is taking a "hard look" at it.

Mr. Garodnick helped lead the tenants of Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Village in an unsuccessful attempt to purchase the complexes from Met Life. Last month, the property was sold to Tishman Speyer after a bidding war between several of the city's biggest real estate firms.

A spokesman for Met Life, John Calagna, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday: "The allegations are without merit and this is a desperate last-minute attempt to derail a legitimate sale."