List of Starrett City bidders grows to Four
March 20, 2008
Two more potential bidders have emerged for Starrett City, bringing the total number of groups interested in buying the sprawling Brooklyn complex to at least four.
The National Housing Partnership Foundation and the New York Housing Partnership have both expressed interest in the 5,800 unit complex on Jamaica Bay in Brooklyn.
Crain’s previously reported that a coalition of local labor, religious and community groups and the National Development Council, a Manhattan-based nonprofit housing agency, hope to buy the 46-building development and keep it affordable for working New Yorkers.
Since Starrett City is not yet officially for sale, Ghebre Selassie Mehreteab, co-chairman and Chief Executive of The NHP Foundation would neither confirm nor deny his organization’s interest in bidding, but a spokesman for Acorn says the housing advocacy group has met with Mehreteab’s group to discuss a potential bid. Acorn has also met with representatives of the labor, religious and community coalition, which includes the Central Labor Council, Christian Cultural Center and Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. Gaining the backing of the influential housing advocacy group would be a boon to any bidder.
“As a national nonprofit organization committed to the preservation of quality and affordable housing, the future of a large affordable housing complex such as Starrett City is of course of interest to us,” says Mr. Mehreteab.
The other potential bidder, the New York Housing Partnership, says it is in limbo because a request for information from owner Starrett City Associates has gone unanswered.
“We’re certainly still interested in pursuing Starrett,” says Beth Berns, the group’s chief financial officer. “Our goal is to acquire the property and preserve the affordability.”
The group had plans to partner with The Doe Fund and Starwood Capital, but those efforts are on hold since it hasn’t received financial information.
The increasing difficulty of obtaining financing means any bid is likely to fall well below the $1.3 billion offered by David Bistricer’s Clipper Equities last year.
A spokesman for Starrett City Associates says no bids are being solicited or accepted and that the owner has been meeting with public officials for the past seven months to come up with a plan for the complex.
State and federal officials last August turned down Mr. Bistricer’s bid because they felt it was so high that he wouldn’t be able to keep the housing units affordable. Weeks after the rejection, Starrett City Associates filed a notice of intent to withdraw from the state’s Mitchell-Lama program, a move that could pave the way for converting the apartments to market-rate rents.
Source: Crains New York
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