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Mostly Cloudy IDA hearing set for iStar's new Superblock PILOT request
Feb. 24 public meeting to be held at City Hall
A developer looking to build two luxury oceanfront apartment towers on the long vacant Superblock property will reappear before the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency next month, in the hope of receiving approval for a 20-year, $109 million tax abatement.
iStar Financial is now seeking approval for a 20-year Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT, program, in order to move forward with the $300 million project. It is scheduled to present its new proposal at a public hearing at City Hall on Feb. 24 at 6:30 p.m.
Representatives for the IDA did not return calls for comment as the Herald went to press. Last month, iStar announced that it was seeking a new deal, after the IDA rejected the developer’s request for a 25-year, $128 million tax break after residents overwhelmingly blasted the proposal at a public hearing last June.
iStar has emphasized that the new proposal would generate significantly more in property taxes each year than the previous proposal — $101.8 million over the next 30 years — compared with $18.9 million if the property remained vacant.
iStar had announced in December that a hearing was scheduled for this Jan. 6, but the IDA said that it had yet to schedule a meeting. The IDA announced the February date last week.
“What they’re asking for, it’s all subject to negotiations …” IDA Executive Director Joseph Kearney told the Herald last month.
The apartments, expected to rent for $2,275 to $3,575, would be marketed to young professionals and empty-nesters, and iStar was looking to develop the property with AvalonBay Communities. But it announced last month that it has split with AvalonBay and has partnered with Plainview-based E.W. Howell, described as the oldest and largest general contractor on Long Island, with over 120 years of building experience.
The developer also announced that the project would include a labor agreement with the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk Counties, after County Legislator Denise Ford, City Councilman Anthony Eramo and other officials called for such an agreement.
