Diamond Tower Subsidy News:
The
Industrial Development Agency approved public subsidies for Extell
Development Company to build a 725,000 square foot commercial building in
Manhattan’s Diamond District on West 47th Street. The “New York
Diamond Tower” would receive property, sales, and mortgage recording tax
breaks worth up to $37.5 million, and would be intended to serve as a “global
diamond exchange facility” that would house the various industry businesses
in a centralized location.
The tower was challenged by a number of land owners and businesses along 47th Street, who contend that the project will simply pit local property owners against each other without serving the diamond industry itself. These opponents argue that segments of the diamond industry have been eroding due to high labor costs rather than real estate costs, and that a subsidized Diamond Tower would result in the poaching of existing city businesses and the destruction of the unique infrastructure that currently exists in the district.
Extell is currently developing several high profile projects and in March hired former Bloomberg administration Deputy Mayor Marc Shaw as its Executive Vice President for Strategic Planning.
The
IDA's project
materials include a description of the project, a cost-benefit
analysis, and Extell's application for benefits. The incentive package
is structured to provide Extell with hefty tax exemptions based on the
percentage of building occupants that are diamond businesses, and the
percentage of these businesses that are either new to New York or
expanding. If
less than 65% of the building is occupied by industry occupants or less
than 20% is occupied by businesses new to New York or expanding, Extell
loses the entire subsidy package.
Read
Good Jobs New York's
testimony on the project from the IDA hearing on November 9, 2006.