But in round one, preservation forces had a common opponent, an unpopular buyer whose $1.3 billion bid was knocked out in August. Now, the fight is less clear-cut, and the preservation advocates are diverging in tone and tactics.
Without a doubt, they all continue to support Starrett remaining a low- and moderate-income community, and they want rents to remain accessible to lower-income New Yorkers. But they differ in what an affordability plan should look like and how to get Starrett’s owners to sign on to such a plan.
The differences are emerging just after Starrett City Associates, the limited partnership that owns the development, filed papers late last month to withdraw from the affordable housing program under which the complex was built. Mitchell-Lama, the state program that gave developers tax breaks and favorable loan terms in exchange for keeping rents low, is expiring after decades of funding apartments for low- and middle-income New Yorkers. Starrett owners have been in the program long enough that they now can “buy out” of Mitchell-Lama. Or they can sell the property, as they tried to do earlier this year - and the new owner can take Starrett out of Mitchell-Lama. Any exit from the program will cause a spike in rents for at least two-thirds of the units (one-third still would be covered by the J-51 tax abatement that would keep the units in rent regulation).
Government officials are taking a diplomatic approach to the issue. They have been talking with Starrett City Associates, the long-time owner of the 140-acre, 46-building complex with at least 12,000 tenants. Since Clipper Equity’s $1.3 billion bid died in August, Starrett City Associates has had multiple discussions with government agencies, said Deborah VanAmerongen, the top housing official for New York state. Participating in those conversations are the state’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal, where VanAmerongen is commissioner; the state's Housing Finance Agency, which holds Starrett City’s mortgage; the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD); and the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. The agencies are leaving the door open to any of various possible deals, VanAmerongen said.
The Starrett Tenants Association is trying to take a more demanding tack – but is open to compromise. The association, in concert with New York ACORN, drew up a list of eight requirements for the current or future owner of Starrett. But, “there might have to be concessions on our part,” said Marie Purnell, president of the tenants' association. “We’re always willing to sit down and be flexible, because the owners are entitled to do with their money what they like," said Purnell, who has been a Starrett resident for three decades. She'd like the tenants to be included in the talks between DHCR and the owners “if possible.”
New York ACORN, the association’s partner in the fight, is taking a harder line. Ismene Speliotis, the executive director of New York ACORN Housing Corp., said the requirements released two weeks ago aren't just general concepts. “They’re not kind of ‘get close,’” she said. They are “really requirements” for any party – including lenders and public agencies – involved in Starrett.
