Yesterday the city agreed to support a new version of the 421-a property tax abatement legislation that strips the bill of many of the controversial changes tacked on to it by Assemblyman Vito Lopez. Most notably, the deal ensures that the city will receive financing to build thousands of units of middle-income housing in Queens, and that Forest City Ratner will not receive 421-a abatements for Atlantic Yards unless the developer integrates market-rate and affordable units throughout the project. Lopez’s version of the bill earmarked a carve-out for Forest City worth an estimated $300 million while facilitating what critics called economic segregation in the residential components of Atlantic Yards. Forest City now says it will build the affordable and market-rate units of Atlantic Yards simultaneously, and HPD will certify that the developer has constructed the requisite number of affordable units in order to receive 421-a abatements for the project. The special carve-out for Atlantic Yards hasn’t been eliminated from the bill, however, it’s only been reduced: According to the New York Post, it’s been pared down to $200 million, while the New York Sun reports that the carve-out is now worth $150 million.

The bill that Lopez ushered through the Assembly in late June tweaked an earlier version of the legislation that the City Council and Mayor Bloomberg spent nearly a year negotiating. Over the past month the Bloomberg administration and many politicians have called on Governor Spitzer to veto the measure. The Legislature is expected to approve the new, city-endorsed bill in September; it would go into effect next summer.
Bill Aims to Spur Housing for the Poor [NY Times]
City Reaches 421-a Agreement [Crain's]
City OK’s New Ratner Deal [NY Post]
Housing Options Added to Development Tax Bill [NY Sun]
AY Carve-Out Shrinks, Value Halved (?) [AY Report]
Ratner Compromise Still Special Treatment [Brownstoner]
Bloomberg Steps Up Pressure on 421-a Carve-Out [Brownstoner]
Pols Call for Ratner to Abandon 421-a Carve-Out [Brownstoner]