The once-rejected $1.3 billion Starrett City deal is back on the table, which you already knew, but this time around the developer is willing to play "the game" to get it done. He's enlisted two influential reverends to help spread his gospel, and he's got well-connected lobbyists in New York and Washington. Besides that, and the most relevant to us, is he's also hired Beyer Blinder Belle (who have been freakin' everywhere lately) to redesign the 140-acre complex. Is this enough to get the deal done? Gov. Spitzer's housing commissioner said it "failed to adequately ensure that Starrett City would be preserved as viable affordable housing in the future, and would be unworkable under existing statutory law." Uh, break out the champagne!
· Aspiring Buyer of Starrett City Is Back Onstage [NYT]
· Starrett City Deal Rises, Stumbling, From the Dead [Curbed]
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