Anonymous investors sell Starrett City stake at $1.8B valuation

Deal represents largest New York City property sale in three years

The Spring Creek Towers complex (Twin Pines Management)
The Spring Creek Towers complex (Twin Pines Management)

Some institutional investors are moving away from the Starrett City housing complex with a big payday after selling a stake in the development.

The anonymous group of investors are selling a stake of almost 71 percent in the East New York development, a 5,881-unit complex otherwise known as Spring Creek Towers. The deal gives the complex a valuation of greater than $1.8 billion, according to city property records reported by PincusCo. The previous sale was for $904.6 million in 2018.

Cushman and Wakefield negotiated the latest sale.

Because it’s a partial interest sale, the controlling interest in the complex is not changing. Brooksville Companies and Rockpoint Group will remain owners of the development, which is known as the largest government-subsidized housing complex in the country.

Still, the property sale is one of the largest in recent New York City history. It’s the biggest one in public records since Google bought 75 Ninth Avenue for $2.4 billion in March 2018. Coincidentally, Google will soon reclaim the top spot, pending the $2.1 billion purchase of St. John’s Terminal that has yet to be processed through public records.

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The sale was completed alongside a series of transactions recorded on June 30. At the time, the owners of the building promised to add $140 million in rehabilitations to the complex, which should be done by 2030. Debt on the property was also doubled to almost $1.1 billion.

Brooksville and Rockpoint closed on the property in May 2018 for $905 million. They bought the complex from Starrett City Associates, which has owned the complex since it opened in 1974. At the time, Brooksville and Rockpoint agreed to put $140 million towards renovations.

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[PincusCo] — Holden Walter-Warner