Starrett City Sells For $850M, Donald Trump Stands To Profit
The largest affordable housing project in America has been sold, pending approval from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Starrett City, virtually an ecosystem unto itself between the East New York and Canarsie neighborhoods in Brooklyn, is under agreement for a sale to a joint venture of recently formed Brooksville Co. and Rockpoint Group for over $850M, the New York Times reports. The sale is expected to close in 2018.
The 145-acre Starrett City is home to a racially diverse mix of low, moderate and middle income families with 100% designated affordable units. The 46-building, 5,881-unit complex has its own ZIP code, school system and power plant. All told, it houses at least 15,000 residents.
Brooksville founder Andrew MacArthur told the Times that the new owners are “committed to preserving the original vision of the complex as stable, quality affordable housing.”
The seller, Starrett City Associates, is made up of a host of investors, including President Donald Trump, who declared a 4% stake in his last financial disclosure. After transaction costs, tax and mortgage is taken out, Trump stands to personally pocket $14M if the sale figure and his ownership stake are accurate.
Due to Starrett's affordable designation, the sale is pending approval from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to which Trump appointed Ben Carson as secretary and family associate Lynne Patton as New York head.
That a deal poised to financially benefit the president is dependent on approval by Trump appointees is the subject of an investigation by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
