impossible today to get a property of that scale in an urban location

Curbed Cheatsheet: Stuyvesant Town/Cooper Village Sale
Tuesday, September 5, 2006, by Lockhart
As was first rumored on Curbed back in July, MetLife officially put the 11,200 apartments that comprise Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village on the block last week. Presumed asking price: $4 billion to $5 billion. How'd the news imact around town? Let's see...

1) Awe. "No doubt in my mind. It’s truly an unprecedented offering and an irreplaceable property. It would be impossible today to get a property of that scale in an urban location. And that neighborhood has become so desirable." [NYTimes]
2) Disbelief. "Stuy Town's two-bedroom apartments have only a single bathroom. The walls of my place were so paper-thin, I got to know everything about my neighbors' family feuds and sex lives... An executive of one company among the prospective bidders said that 'in a normal market,' those weaknesses could seriously lower the price - 'but we're not in a normal market.'" [NYPost]
3) Wistfullness. "It does evoke sadness that more middle income people are going to be forced out of Manhattan. Another step toward Manhattan becoming an exclusive island for the wealthy. How long before Central Park is converted into a golf course?" [True Gotham]
4) Rebellion. "Stuyvesant Town is a middle-class community, and we do not want to lose that identity to the highest bidder." [NYTimes]

That last quote encapsulates today's news on the deal—that a group of residents, backed by the City Council speaker, will try to buy the two complexes to keep them affordable to the middle class. How to fund it? The AFL-CIO's housing investment trust could be used, at least to cover part of the price. Other ideas?
· Official Sees Way to Buy Two Developments [NYTimes]
· Coalition forms, hopes to keep apartment complex affordable [AP via IHT]