The Demise of the 421-a Tax Abatement Claims Its First Victim

Feb. 19, 2016 — The demise of the 421-a tax abatement has claimed its first victim. The $1.5 billion Hallets Point project in Astoria, Queens – an ambitious project that was to create 2,000 apartments (483 of them affordable), a supermarket, school and riverfront esplanade – has been put on hold by the Durst Organization, which cites the recent expiration of the tax abatement.

“Without a new 421-a or a replacement program, we can’t continue with the project,” Durst spokesman Jordan Barowitz tells DNAinfo. “Without the abatement, the economics of the project collapse and we couldn’t get a construction loan.”

The first building in the multi-phase, seven-year project started construction before the tax abatement expired, so that component – the supermarket and 400 apartments, 80 of them affordable – will move forward. The rest of the project is in limbo.

The 421-a tax abatement was instituted in the 1970s to spur affordable residential development, but it was derided by critics who called it a giveaway for developers. The abatement expired on Jan. 15 – the day after ground was broken at Hallets Point – when developers and unions were unable to hash out an agreement on a prevailing wage for construction workers.