Is David Bistricer, the new owner of Starrett City, suffering from a $1.3 billion case of buyer’s remorse? “There are a lot of accusations going back and forth about lies and misinformation and how the process was run,” according to one insider who’s met with Bistricer and says he was “talking about a lawsuit” against super-broker Darcy Stacom and her firm, CB Richard Ellis. “Absolutely not true,” says Bistricer’s rep, who insists that Bistricer is happy with the controversial Starrett deal and with Stacom, who sold Stuy Town for $5.4 billion last year. The Starrett sale has become a political nightmare, with Eliot Spitzer and Chuck Schumer bemoaning the potential loss of its affordable apartments. In meetings with housing officials about their purchase, Bistricer claimed he wasn’t properly informed about the many restrictions on the subsidized housing complex. And city officials feel duped by Stacom because they were told they’d meet with buyers in a “second round” of bidding—which never happened. “While we originally envisioned two rounds of bidding, we received several appropriate proposals in the first round,” says a spokesman for the Starrett sellers. Bistricer’s group made the “the most compelling offer and was therefore accepted.”
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