Civic groups host forum to discuss iStar tax break

More than 200 residents turned out for last week’s forum at the Long Beach Public Library hosted by a number of civic groups. (Photos by Anthony Rifilato/Herald)

iStar Executive Vice President Karl Frey said the project would “always pay more in taxes than it does today.”

West End Neighbors Civic Association President John Bendo gave his own presentation at the meeting, and said that the project would generate $136 million in taxes over the next 20 years without a PILOT compared to $27.7 million over that period if developed with the tax abatement.

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More than 200 people packed the Long Beach Public Library last week to hear iStar Financial representatives and local civic leaders discuss a proposed tax break the developer is seeking to build two luxury apartment towers on the Superblock.

iStar is seeking to develop the long-vacant property and will reappear before the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency at a public hearing on Feb. 24 in the hope of receiving approval for a 20-year, $109 million Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT, program. If approved, iStar said construction would begin in April, and be completed by 2019. The hearing will be held at City Hall at 6:30 p.m.

The Feb. 10 meeting was hosted by local civic groups and led by West End Neighbors Civic Association President John Bendo and Eastholme Civic Association President Sam Pinto who urged residents — both for and against the PILOT — to attend the IDA hearing next week and voice their opinions.

Decision is up to the county's IDA

The city’s Zoning Board of Appeals gave the developer approval in 2014 to build 522 one- and two-bedroom rental apartments in two 160-foot-tall buildings as well as 11,500 square feet of retail space for shops along the boardwalk.

The City Council settled its lawsuit with iStar in 2014 for $5.25 million, payable to the city, and also approved a community host agreement last year in which the developer would pay the city $4.1 million to mitigate the project’s impact, an agreement that included the city’s support for a PILOT. City officials have declined to speak for or against the PILOT citing potential litigation.

The IDA will decide whether to grant the PILOT after next week's meeting. In December, iStar announced that it was seeking a new deal, after the IDA rejected the developer’s previous request for a 25-year, $128 million tax break after residents overwhelmingly blasted the proposal at a public hearing last June.

iStar maintains that the $300 million project would revitalize the six-acre Superblock, a parcel that has remained vacant for 30 years and had been mired in litigation, create local jobs and generate millions of dollars in economic activity for the city.