Superblock developer to propose new deal

Among the changes iStar is expected to discuss at a meeting on Jan. 6 at City Hall are a project labor agreement, a new developing partner, and a revised PILOT schedule.

Courtesy iStar

Now, iStar is looking for a 20-year PILOT, which iStar said 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.

Courtesy iStar

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Three months after the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency rejected iStar Financial’s request for a 25-year tax abatement to build two luxury apartment buildings on the vacant Superblock, the developer said it would present a new proposal to the public at a meeting at City Hall on Jan. 6.

In June, residents and a number of local officials — including County Legislator Denise Ford (R-Long Beach) and former U.S. Sen. Al D’Amato — blasted iStar’s request for a $128 million payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, program.

D’Amato called the proposal a “bait and switch,” saying that iStar had indicated when it first presented the project to the public in 2014 that it had the ability to finance it, and made no mention of a need for tax incentives. Others said that Long Beach would lose out on the full tax benefits of such a development. The public outcry prompted the IDA to deny iStar’s application in September.

Now, iStar is looking for a 20-year PILOT, the IDA confirmed, which iStar said 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.

“I think what iStar is doing this time around is they’re reaching out to as many people and organizations, having as many meetings as possible to explain to everybody what their request is for, and I think that’s good,” said Long Beach Chamber of Commerce President Mark Tannenbaum.

Its $300 million project, iStar said, would revitalize the six-acre Superblock, a parcel that has remained vacant for 30 years and had been mired in litigation. The city’s Zoning Board of Appeals gave the developer approval 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 project will never pay less in taxes than it does today,” iStar stated in an informational brochure. “In fact, the proposed PILOT would nearly double the taxes paid in year [one]. During the term of the PILOT, the project will become the largest taxpayer in the city — paying five times more in taxes than the next most valuable building.”