WPCNR Common Council Chronicle-Examiner. By John F. Bailey. May 10, 2007: City officials
provided the most detail yet three days before an absolute must approval date to get the 55 Bank
Street affordable housing and apartment project launched, and guaranteeing a fast influx of $6 Million
in cash to balance the city budget.
Total tax abatement on the project was put at $29 Million over 18 years, lower than the $39 Million
reported by the Westchester County Industrial Development Agency to WPCNR last week. The
difference is due to providing the tax abatement only on the 75 additional units the project will provide,
in addition to the 32 required by White Plains law. The PILOT takes the towers off the tax roles and
assigns their assessment to the Westchester County IDA, which is not required to pay property taxes
on the assessment.
The Revenue analysis calculated that it would cost LCOR $201,000 to build each affordable unit and
to construct 75 units would cost $15.1 Million and that the property tax abatement to pay for the
additional 75 affordable units of housing (over the 32 Bank Street is required to provide by city law),
would total $31,173,000, however LCOR, in an act of largess, according to the Commissioner agreed
that all the city need abate was $29 Million.
The difference comes from the arrangement of the 107 affordable housing units. Because Bank
Street would be required to build 6% affordable units by city law, the abatement is being calculated
only using the additional 75 units.
A total 32 of the 107 units are to be offered at market rate or 100% of median income, while the
balance of 75 units will be offered to persons making 80% and 60% of median income, which was
counted as a good thing by city officials because many who would like units priced at the Bank Street
affordable housing rents would not qualify unless they made less than $73,000 (the median income in
the city of White Plains)
When the additional 32 units at 100% market rate are included the total cost to
build the 107 units comes to $21,507,000. By subtracting this figure from the $51 Million Bank Street
would pay in taxes due over 18 years you come up with a figure of $29 Million which is the amount of
tax abatement LCOR and the city of agreed upon.
Additional revenue, the city reports, will be generated by the project consisting of $4,550,000 in the
Parking Garage Annual Fee, $15 Million in property taxes from the hotel “enabled” by the project for
15 years beginning after hotel construction, plus $1.2 Million in retail property taxes plus sales tax for
total additional projected revenues of $20.8 Million.
The council was impressed with these numbers. Ms. Malmud, the strongest critic of the deal seemed
mollified at the new figures, about $10 Million less than the Westchester County IDA reported last
week on the official deal sheet the IDA approved. The Mayor said that the assessed value of the new
55 Bank Street is assigned to the Westchester County IDA.
Later, Paul Wood, City Executive Office, told WPCNR that though the assessed values of buildings
enjoying PILOTS in White Plains is assigned to the Westchester County Industrial Development
Agency, the IDA does not pay property taxes on those assessments. At no time did any member of the
council ask the Assessor, Lloyd Tasch, who was in attendance what the assessed value of 55 Bank
Street would be, if White Plains did not PILOT the project.
The approximate $10 Million difference from the Terms Sheet received from the Westchester County
IDA, where tax abatement was given a value of $39 Million) comes in reducing the 107 affordable
housing unit total figure to 75 (accounting for 32 units they would have to build and taking it out of
equasion, making the abatement appear smaller.
The math computes: 32 units x $201,000 per net cost to build an affordable unit is $6.4 Million, which
when added to the 29 Million abatement figure brings the total to $35,432,000, add the $2.1 Million
LCOR agreed to take off the abatement and you are at $37.5 Million, $1.5 Million short of the $39
Million filed with the Westchester County IDA.
Gilpatric Says Hotel to Be Built Same Time.
Mr. Gilpatric of LCOR told WPCNR that the hotel would begin construction at the same time the 55
Bank Street project began. The hotel is being described as being “enabled” by the 55 Bank Street
project because the parking for the hotel would be contained in the 55 Bank Street garage. However,
again the hotel was approved as a distinctly separate project. Gilpatric told WPCNR the company had
several hotel chains interested in operating the hotel.
Paul Wood, City Executive Officer, told WPCNR that Lehman Brothers was expected to handle the
financing and that the city Urban Renewal Agency would not be issuing revenue bonds to finance the
$235 Million cost of the project. He said the White Plains Urban Renewal Agency might offer some
small sales tax breaks but there would be no major financing.
Gilpatric admonished the council in a firm way that this was the deal and that if the council wanted to
do it they could but only under these PILOT terms, but that he needed their O.K. of the PILOT that they
(the council) wanted to do it so he could begin spending $500,000 of preparation work to execute the
project.
Mr. Gilpatric declined to reveal to WPCNR what the rents would be to qualifying families on the 107
affordable units. Rod Johnson, City Deputy Commissioner of Planning said those rents are set by
county guidelines.
The $29 Million Tax Abatement was figured assuming taxes would go up an average 6.6% a year over 18 years. The 6.6% a year property tax increase was based on an average of the past 15 years tax history of the city, school district and the county.
