IDA Approves $84M for Projects Totaling 500,000 SF

NEW YORK CITY-More than 500,000 sf of office and industrial space has been approved for financial assistance through the city’s Industrial Development Agency. Leading the pack is $39.5 million in aid for Bank of New York’s planned decentralization move to Brooklyn.

BNY, the city’s oldest commercial bank, is headquartered in Lower Manhattan and was displaced from two of its four Downtown locations after Sept. 11. The bank will relocate 1,400 employees to 316,000 sf in a proposed office building slated for development at Brooklyn’s Atlantic Terminal. The building will rise over the Atlantic Terminal retail project, currently under construction. The 10-story development will have its own lobby entrance and an internal connection to transportation outlets and the retail mall.

BNY will anchor the 360,000-sf property while retaining a Downtown presence of 6,160 employees. IDA awarded BNY a $37.5 million WTC Job Creation and Retention Program grant as well as sales tax exemptions of $2 million. In addition, FC Hanson Office Associates LLC, the Forest City Ratner Cos. affiliate that is developing the Atlantic Terminal complex, will receive roughly $2.5 million in a mortgage recording tax waiver to assist with construction costs.

A trio of not-for-profits have also been approved for IDA assistance, garnering more than $40 million in subsidies between them.

West 127 Street LLC, a partnership between Harlem Dowling-West Side Center for Children and Family Services, and a developer, Uptown Initiative Corp, will receive $12 million in tax-exempt bonds to construct a nine-story office building. Developers of the Harlem Dowling Gateway Office Building, to be located at 2135 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd, will also receive sales tax exemptions of roughly $887,000. Harlem Dowling will occupy half the building with the remaining space to be tenanted by other not-for-profits and retail stores.

The Convent of the Sacred Heart of New York, a girls primary and secondary school located in two adjacent buildings at 1-7 E. 91st St., has been approved for approximately $14.7 million in tax-exempt bond funding to refinance a 10,240-sf glass tower. The structure, currently under construction, will link the two buildings and provide additional classrooms. The school will also receive a $37,000 mortgage recording tax waiver.

Sacred Heart is New York’s oldest independent school for girls. Founded in 1800, the school came to New York City in 1841 and currently has 22 US and 44 international locations.

The American Society for Technion, a private educational foundation dedicated to promoting technological and industrial research in Israel is scheduled to receive $14.6 million in tax-free bonds. The funds will be used to refinance the acquisition and renovation of its two-floor, 22,860-sf space at 55 E. 59th St. In addition, the organization will receive a mortgage recording tax waiver of about $400,000. Currently located at 810 Seventh Ave., the society will move to the new locations when renovations are completed in January 2003.

On the industrial side, Great Wall Corp, a women’s and children’s sportswear manufacturer has been approved to receive $1.6 million in real estate tax benefits and sales tax exemptions over 25 years. The company plans to expand its current facility at 47-21 36th St. in Long Island City, Queens by 22,000 sf.

Noodle and dumpling manufacturer Twin Marquis Inc. will receive $646,000 in IDA-approved real estate tax benefits and sales tax exemptions over 25 years. The funds will be used to purchase and renovate a 75,000-sf building at 1-7 Bushwick Place in Brooklyn.

Cabinet manufacturer 16 Tons Inc. will receive $343,000 in real estate and sales tax breaks over 25 years to aid in the acquisition and renovation of a 12,050-sf facility at 27 Knickerbocker Ave. in Brooklyn.

The IDA provides financing assistance to small industrial and manufacturing companies as well as not-for-profit organizations. It also administers the WTC Job Creation and Retention Program, which was created in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.