Move is on to ax tax break City loses millions, luxe bldgs. gain, say housing advocates BY ELIZABETH HAYS DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER The city is losing millions of dollars a year in tax breaks for luxury condos in some of Brooklyn's choicest neighborhoods - and housing advocates want it to stop. A high-end building going up in DUMBO called Beacon Tower - where a one-bedroom apartment is listed at more than $1 million - will cost the city nearly $10 million in lost taxes over the next 15 years, advocates estimate.
In nearby Brooklyn Heights, a 34-story luxury rental tower built in 2000 on sought-after Montague St. will benefit by more than $17 million during its 15-year deal, they said. "It's not fair," said Lloyd Douglas, 60, outside 180 Montague St., where rents run from studios at $1,900 to three bedrooms at $5,500. "The big guys get away with it; but what about the little guys?" The tax breaks, known as 421a, were started in the 1970s to encourage development when many people were fleeing the city. ACORN and other housing groups charge the tax breaks now subsidize luxury development in hot areas that would be built in anyway. "The city is forcing taxpayers to pay for the privilege of being priced out of their own community by using their tax dollars to subsidize the development of luxury housing," said ACORN executive director Bertha Lewis. ACORN and a citywide coalition of housing groups will launch a campaign this week to push for reform. They want developers who get the breaks to set aside a portion of the apartments for low-income people - similar to reforms already enacted in Manhattan. Mayor Bloomberg has agreed the 30-year-old tax program needs to be updated and convened a task force in February to study the issue. "The program needs to be brought into the 21st century, to reflect contemporary market conditions," said Housing Preservation and Development Department spokesman Neill Coleman. ACORN is also pressuring Magic Johnson to voluntarily include low- income units at his luxury conversion of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank - especially since his development group, Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds, claims to foster development in "underserved" areas. Another Johnson project at 145 Park Place off Flatbush Ave. will get more than $400,000 a year in tax breaks, advocates estimated. Canyon- Johnson officials did not return calls for comment. Many of the buildings in hot areas would likely have been built anyway, said Corcoran real estate senior managing director Steve Rutter. But reforming the tax breaks now could undermine the market. "While the market is still very strong, it is definitely a little bit flatter than it was a few months ago," he said. "This could disrupt the market at a time when it is a little more anxious." Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/