Billionaires Get 'Low-Income' Tax Breaks in Condo Tower
Source: CNBC
The billionaires paying more than $90 million for top apartments at the new One57 tower in New York have some very special amenities. They get more than 10,000 square feet, 75 floors above Manhattan. They get VIP concierge and doorman services, along with some of the best views in the city.
But they may also get a less publicized benefit: tax breaks of more than $150,000 a year from a program aimed at low-income housing.
According to financial documents obtained by CNBC, One57 may receive a tax abatement under a long-existing city program designed to provide more low-income housing. The program, known as 421-a, gives developers tax breaks for 10 to 20 years, which are then passed on to buyers. At One57, those savings may be substantial.
... "This is an outrageous giveaway," said Brad Lander, a New York City councilman who has worked to end tax breaks for luxury condos. "We can't afford to be giving away millions of dollars in tax breaks for nothing."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014262615Rising Tower Emerges as a Billionaires’ Haven
One57, a 1,004-foot tower under construction in Midtown Manhattan, will soon hold the title of New York’s tallest building with residences. But without fanfare from its ultraprivate future residents, it is cementing a new title: the global billionaires’ club.
The buyers of the nine full-floor apartments near the top that have sold so far — among them two duplexes under contract for more than $90 million each — are all billionaires, Gary Barnett, the president of the Extell Development Company, the building’s developer, said this week. The other seven apartments ranged in price from $45 million to $50 million.
The billionaires’ club includes several Americans, at least two buyers from China, a Canadian, a Nigerian and a Briton, according to Mr. Barnett and brokers who have sold apartments in the building, at 157 West 57th Street. Mr. Barnett said that at least a few buyers were “significant Forbes billionaires.”
Since late last year, the “trophy” end of New York’s real estate market has been recording eye-popping sales that seem to have little basis in reality. The signed contract for the nearly-11,000-square-foot duplex on the 89th and 90th floors of One57 that sold for about $95 million topped the record sale in March of a penthouse at 15 Central Park West to a Russian billionaire’s daughter for $88 million. In June, Steve Wynn, the Las Vegas casino magnate, paid $70 million for a duplex penthouse apartment above the Ritz-Carlton.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014236800
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