Analysis of iStar project released

Residents: Long Beach loses out on deal

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The Nassau County Industrial Development Agency canceled a hearing in Mineola on Wednesday where it was expected to vote on a 20-year, $109 million tax break a developer is seeking to build two luxury apartment buildings on the long-vacant Superblock property.

The move comes after the agency said that it was “inundated with calls and emails” that raised questions about an economic impact study of the project released this month, according to Newsday, and a hearing has yet to be rescheduled.

The IDA commissioned the consulting firm Camoin Associates to conduct an economic analysis of the $336 million Long Beach Wayfarer project, which found that the project would generate $17.9 million more in taxes than if the property remained undeveloped. iStar currently pays about $500,000 annually, and in the 20th year begins to pay the full value on the property, $6.7 million, according to the report. But a number of residents said that the analysis failed to look at the project’s impact if it were built without such a large tax incentive.

At a public hearing in Long Beach in February, the developer, iStar Inc., and its supporters attempted to convince the IDA that a payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, program was necessary in order to develop the 6-acre lot that has remained vacant for 30 years and had been mired in litigation.

The proposal includes a project labor agreement and has strong union support, and the Camoin report determined that the project would generate $269.7 million in total construction sales, mainly in Nassau, as well as 1,251 construction jobs and nearly $119 million in wages in the county.

But the proposed tax incentive has sparked the ire of many residents and some elected officials who claim that Long Beach and its school district would lose out on much-needed tax revenue. Former U.S. Sen. Al D’Amato appeared before the County Legislature on Monday and called for an open hearing before the IDA made a decision, maintained that taxpayers “in one of the hottest, most attractive communities on Long Island” would shoulder the burden of the abatement and criticized the Camoin report.

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