NEW YORK CITY- A state Supreme Court judge has put a hold on the Peter Cooper Village/Stuyvesant Town foreclosure proceedings scheduled for next Wednesday. The judge ordered Pershing Square Capital and Winthrop Realty Trust, which planned to foreclose on the property’s $300-million senior mezzanine debt, to appear in court on Sept. 2.

The move comes a day after CWCapital Asset Management, the special servicer on the $3-billion Stuy-Town first mortgage, filed a lawsuit to prevent the Pershing Square/Winthrop partnership from foreclosing on the 11,227-unit property after acquiring the senior mezz debt for $45 million earlier this month.

The order by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Richard B. Lowe III, dated Thursday, requires the principals of PSW NYC LLC to show why CWCAM’s request for an injunction against foreclosing on the mezz debt should not be granted. According to court records, the foreclosure on the first mortgage is tentatively set for the second half of September.

In a statement, CWCAM says the complaint “seeks to ensure that certain provisions and rights of the $3 billion first mortgage lender with regard to the mezzanine debt holders are enforced. The origination of the $3 billion loan was predicated on these rights being in place and they were agreed to between the parties in the intercreditor agreement.” The special servicer adds that it has spent the past nine months “engaged in detailed planning to ensure a smooth transition of this complex property that is home to 25,000 New York City residents."

Following Justice Lowe’s order, PSW released a statement of its own, saying, “We remain confident in our right to acquire control of the property owner while preserving the first mortgage lender's collateral. The court took no adverse action today, notwithstanding CW Capital's mischaracterizations to the contrary. In light of the court's schedule, we have agreed to a short adjournment of our foreclosure sale until resolution of CW Capital's pending motion.”