421-a Tax Break Expires as Deal Between Developers and Labor Falls Apart
(DNAINFO) Amy Zimmer | January 15, 2016 — REBNY and the Building Trades failed to reach an agreement to include a provision for prevailing wages.
The state’s 421-a tax break program will expire Friday night after real estate developers and construction labor unions could not reach an agreement on how to reform the law before Friday’s deadline.
Losing the tax abatement program will result in the loss of 18,000 newly built affordable rental units over the next four years, according to a city analysis. Without the benefit, developers will instead produce market rate condos, according to the Real Estate Board of New York, the developer group that had been negotiating a deal.
“Unfortunately, despite a good faith effort by all parties, REBNY and the Building Trades were unable to come to a final agreement on the renewal of a 421-a program that would provide good wages to construction workers across the city,” Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council said in a statement.