Mr. Deane died at 89 in 2010, leaving his estate to Carol and their two children. Marjorie and Walter Deane, whose mother, Marjorie Schlesinger, had been Mr. Deane’s second wife until, after more than 30 years of marriage, he divorced her to marry Carol, contested the will. They argued that their father had always vowed to treat all of his children equally, but that after their father’s health declined, Carol asserted control over his finances and cut them off.

To make matters even more emotionally fraught, Carol had been a friend and college classmate of Mr. Deane’s daughter Marjorie, who felt betrayed by their affair.

Mr. Deane did, however, establish sizable trusts for each of his children, which contained shares in Starrett City.

Patrick Gerschel, another limited partner in Starrett City, is also part of the dissident group. He declined to comment, but he had a longstanding feud with Mr. Deane dating to the 1970s when they were both partners at Lazard. They publicly fought over the fate of another affordable housing complex, Phipps Plaza West, in 2002.

In the current battle, the dissidents contend that Ms. Deane is enriching herself while failing to maximize profits for the shareholders. They say she signed a deal with a single bidder — the Brooksville Company and Rockpoint Group — for less than what the Starrett complex, whose name was officially changed several years ago to Spring Creek Towers, is worth, rather than conducting a proper auction.

They also make claims of “secret” payments to Ms. Deane and conflicts of interest.

LIHC and Belveron, who jointly accumulated a 12 percent stake in Starrett City in recent years, offered $930 million for Starrett City, after Brooksville and Rockpoint had already signed a purchase agreement for the property.