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December 14, 2006
Agency Cuts Atlantic Yards Revenue Estimate
The NY Times
By Nick Confessore
The Times ran a detailed article on the projected drop in Atlantic Yards tax revenue in the early and online editions of the paper:
According to revised estimates prepared by the Empire State Development Corporation, which is sponsoring the $4 billion residential, commercial and arena project, it would generate $944 million in new revenue aside from what that the city and state have pledged in subsidies.
That represents a drop of one-third, or nearly half a billion dollars, from the estimate the development agency released in July, which put new tax revenues at $1.4 billion. Under current plans, taxpayers would provide $453.5 million for the project, including a direct contribution of $200 million from the city and state, sales and mortgage recording tax exemptions, and bond financing.
...
The new estimate was included in a statement and other documents issued by the development agency on Friday, but the difference went unremarked in both the brief board meeting that preceded the approval vote and the news conference that Charles A. Gargano, the agency’s chairman, held shortly afterward. ...
But it was unclear how a loss of less than 300,000 square feet of office space could account for about a half a billion dollars less in tax revenue, especially considering the project's overall size."The cutback on the commercial side is going to have an effect, because that is where the revenue is," said Doug Turetsky, a spokesman for the city's Independent Budget Office. Mr. Turetsky said that the office had not examined the studies behind the estimates, but that "on its face, it seems like a large revenue falloff given the amount of commercial space being cut back." The development corporation said it planned to release a memo within a few days to explain its estimates.
Posted by lumi at December 14, 2006 9:02 AM