Real Estate Ambitions Push Starrett City Drama to Court

The sale of Starrett City is the subject of a lawsuit./ photo credit: Spring Creek Towers

NEW YORK CITY—Looking beyond the soap opera-like headlines of the proposed sale of Starrett City, real estate attorney William P. Walzer says, “It is so competitive to get property these days that people buy limited partnership interests as a way of leveraging decision makers to sell to them.”

Walzer, a partner at Davidoff, Hutcher & Citron is not involved in the Starrett City lawsuit, so in a GlobeSt.com interview provided an impartial assessment of the case.

Within the group of plaintiffs, trying to stop the sale of Starrett City, the largest federally subsidized housing complex in the country, Walzer points to two substantial corporations: Belveron, LLC, based in San Francisco, CA and LIHC (Lower Income Housing Corporation), based in Portland, ME. Together they own a 12% interest in Starrett City.

Belveron and LIHC tried to top the offer of Brooksville Co. and Rockpoint Group of $850 million for residences and not less than $30 million for the retail assets. Belveron and LIHC offered $905 million, later upping their offer to $25 million more than whatever aggregate purchase price was offered.