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Coalition Prepares Bid To Keep Starrett City Affordable In the latest development regarding the future of the Starrett City apartment complex east of Canarsie, it was reported last week that a group made up of labor, religious and community leaders presented its plan to purchase the federally subsidized housing development to residents and ACORN, the affordable housing act-ivist organization. According to an article in Crain's New York Business, the coalition in-cludes the Central Labor Council, the Christian Cultural Center and the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Pov-erty, one of the city's largest providers of social services, which met with and presented their plan to federal, state and city housing officials. The coalition, whose primary goal is to maintain affordable rents for Starrett City residents, was created last summer after housing officials rejected a second bid from David Bistricer, the head of Brooklyn-based realtor Clip-per Equities, to purchase the development for a reported $1.3 billion. After that failed offer, Starrett City Associates, the owners of the 140-acre, 5,800-unit housing complex announced last September in a letter to tenants that it was considering other "alternatives," one of which was leaving the state's low-rent Mitchell-Lama program. Coalition leader Reverend A.R. Bar-nard, founder of the Christian Cultural Center, which boasts a membership of 29,000, including more than 2,000 Star-rett City residents, told Crain's, "The most important thing is affordability and raising the quality of life…We've put together a plan that keeps the community's best interest at heart and yet at the same time makes it attractive enough for investors to get involved." The coalition is preparing its bid for Starrett City Associates, but it would not disclose its details. A spokesperson for the owner told Crain's that no bids are currently being accepted, but talks are ongoing with public officials. Formally renamed Spring Creek Towers five years ago, Starrett City was originally a real estate investment for some 249 limited partners, including Donald Trump in one of his first major property ventures, who pooled $33 million in 1974 for a five percent down payment and received a one percent fixed mortgage. Investors, who risked their money on a low-income housing project in what was then a blighted Brooklyn community, have supposedly reaped more than a 100 percent profit, not to mention generous tax breaks and low-interest government loans they were granted over the years, according to media re-ports. Now, those investors are looking to cash out, which could possibly earn them at least $500 million.
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