Blackstone Pulls Plug On Renovations At Its Biggest New York Property After Rent Reform

Blackstone said it is now re-evaluating what to do with the apartments at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village in Manhattan's Lower East Side new rent regulation laws, Crain's New York Business reports.

While Blackstone plans to proceed with improvements required under law -- such as fixing leaks and hot water improvements -- improvements to the vacant apartments won't continue and large-scale construction improvements may also be stopped, a source told Crain's.

The new rent regulations, signed into law last month, have been met with a barrage of criticism from the real estate industry. The new legislation significantly reduces landlords' ability to increase rents and remove apartments from regulation. 

The vacancy bonus -- a provision that had allowed landlords to increase rents by as much as 20% when a unit became vacant -- has been cut. Landlords who rented a unit for less than they could legally charge are no longer able to raise rents to the full price when leases are renewed.