Hello everyone,

IDA Subsidy Alert

The New York Industrial Development Agency’s December 2005 public hearing will take place on Thursday, December 8, 2005, at 10:00 am at 110 William Street, Manhattan.  Highlights include:

• The remaining $3.345 billion of Liberty Bonds is being proposed for World Trade Center Properties (an affiliate of Silverstein Properties, Inc.) to develop office towers on the World Trade Center site.  Despite Mayor Bloomberg’s recent comments suggesting that a mixed-use plan is worth consideration, the hearing notice states that the financing would be used for i) four office building containing 8.8 million square feet of space to be located on a six acre site within the boundaries of the WTC site; and ii) one office building of approximately 1.2 million square feet to be located at 130 Liberty Street, the site of the former Deutsche Bank Building.

To request copies of materials and to register to testify at the hearing, contact David Shelley at 212.312.3581.  Good Jobs New York has obtained the project materials and will provide them upon request.  We will be reaching out to many of you to encourage testimony for next week’s hearing—please do not hesitate to contact us with questions.

• The National Broadcasting Company, Inc. seeks permission to use previously authorized City and State sales and use tax exemptions in connection with the renovation of approximately 24,120 square feet of office space on the 11^th floor and approximately 25,350 square feet on the 12^th floor at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, and for the acquisition and/or leasing and installation of machinery, equipment, furniture, fixtures and other tangible personal property all for use at this location.        

The benefits were initially secured in 1987, when NBC received one of the most generous corporate subsidies in the city’s history.  Without being held to job creation requirements or other standards, the network secured $72 million in PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) savings, sales tax exemptions, and commercial rent tax breaks.  The IDA also agreed to issue $800 million in double tax-exempt bonds to finance the project, which was the largest bond assistance offered by the city until Liberty Bonds were authorized for Goldman Sachs in September, 2005.

• Federal Express is seeking benefits for two separate projects.  In the Bronx, Federal Express is seeking payments in lieu of property tax savings, exemption from City and State mortgage recording taxes and exemption from City and State sales and use taxes, in connection with the construction, furnishing and equipping of an approximately 98,000 square foot distribution facility located on an approximately 435,600 square foot parcel of land located along the riverfront below East 132nd Street at the Harlem River Yards in the Bronx.  In Manhattan, Federal Express is seeking payments in lieu of property tax savings and exemption from City and State sales and use taxes for the renovation, furnishing and equipping of an existing distribution facility located at 148 Leroy Street, and the construction of a 10,000 square foot addition to this building.

• Proposed benefits for Modell’s Sporting Goods include payments in lieu of City real property tax savings, exemption from City and State mortgage recording taxes and City and State sales and use taxes in connection with i) the acquisition of and/or renovation and equipping of an approximately 268,000 square foot building located on an approximately 653,000 square foot parcel located at 1500 Bassett Avenue (a.k.a. 1780 Eastchester Road), Bronx, New York and ii) the construction and equipping of an approximately 83,000 square foot building on the approximately 653,000 square foot parcel located at 1500 Bassett Avenue (a.k.a. 1780 Eastchester Road), Bronx, New York.

Applications and cost-benefit analyses for the projects listed below will be available for pick-up at the IDA office upon request. Good Jobs New York will have these documents available for review also.  If you would like documents, or you plan to make a comment at the hearing, please call David Shelley at 212.312.3581. Companies are often pulled from the docket at the last moment, so you may also want to call to confirm that the company you are interested in will be presented. Written testimony can be sent to David Shelley, Public Information Officer, via fax: 212.312.3912 or mailed to his attention at 110 William Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY 10038.  Finally, if you plan to speak on any of these projects, please let GJNY know: 212.721.4865. Copies of the IDA public hearing notices are up on our website: http://www.goodjobsny.org/ida_docket.htm. Please take a moment to look over the project summaries. We encourage anyone with concerns or comments about these proposals to participate in the December IDA hearing.

Regards,

Other NYC Industrial Development Agency subsidy applicants for the Thursday, December 8^th Public Hearing—10:00 am at 110 William Street, Manhattan:

Brooklyn

Montebello Food Corp.

Proposed benefits for the wholesale food and paper products distributor consist of payments in lieu of City real property taxes, exemption from City and State mortgage recording taxes and exemption from City and State sales and use taxes. These benefits are sought in connection with the purchase and construction of an approximately 40,000 square foot building on an approximately 40,000 square foot parcel of land located at 100 Varick Avenue, Brooklyn, New York.

Bronx

Federal Express

Straight Lease transaction for the benefit of Federal Express Corporation and McMahon Development Group (“McMahon”), which will develop the build-to-suit facility, in connection with the construction, furnishing and equipping of an approximately 98,000 square foot facility to be used by FedEx Express as a distribution facility, all to be located on an approximately 435,600 square foot parcel of land located along the Bronx riverfront below East 132^nd Street at the Harlem River Yards in the Bronx, New York, and further identified as Block 2543, part of Lot 1.  The financial assistance proposed to be conferred by the Agency to FedExExpress will consist of an exemption from City and State sales and use taxes.  The financial assistance proposed to be conferred by the Agency to McMahon, which will be passed through to FedEx Express, will consist of exemption from City and State mortgage recording taxes, payments in lieu of City real property taxes and exemption from City and State sales and use taxes. 

Modell’s Sporting Goods

Straight lease (Industrial Incentive Program) transaction for M & M Service Center, LLC, a real estate holding company for the benefit of Henry Modell & Company, Inc. d/b/a Modell’s Sporting Goods, a specialty distributor and retailer of sporting goods and apparel, in connection with i) the acquisition of and/or renovation and equipping of an approximately 268,000 square foot building located on an approximately 653,000 square foot parcel located at 1500 Bassett Avenue (a.k.a. 1780 Eastchester Road), Bronx, New York and ii) the construction and equipping of an approximately 83,000 square foot building on the approximately 653,000 square foot parcel located at 1500 Bassett Avenue (a.k.a. 1780 Eastchester Road), Bronx, New York.  The financial assistance proposed to be conferred by the Agency will consist of payments in lieu of City real property taxes, exemption from City and State mortgage recording taxes, and exemption from City and State sales and use taxes.

Manhattan

Federal Express

Straight Lease transaction for the benefit of Federal Express Corporation (“FedEx Express”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of FedEx Corporation, in connection with the construction, renovation, furnishing and equipping of an existing approximately 49,373 square foot facility to be used as a distribution facility located on an approximately 24,677 square foot parcel of land located at 148 Leroy Street in New York, New York, and the construction of an approximately 10,000 square foot addition to the aforementioned building.  The financial assistance proposed to be conferred by the Agency will consist of payments in lieu of City real property taxes and exemption from City and State sales and use taxes.

Friends Seminary School and the NY Quarterly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends

Proposed benefits include a $25 million civic facility revenue bond transaction in connection with one or more of the following purposes: (i) to acquire certain real property in the Borough of Manhattan located at 212 East 16th Street (Block 897, Lot 29), New York, New York, of approximately 5,769 square feet near the School, (ii) to renovate, enlarge and improve the facilities located on such real estate, (iii) to renovate, enlarge and improve other facilities currently used by the School located at 222 East 16th Street, 226 East 16th Street, New York, New York, 216 East 16th Street (collectively Block 897, Lot 16) and respectively approximately 28,744, 19,989, and 6,898 square feet, and 214 East 16th Street (Block 897, Lot 28) of approximately 6,753 square feet (iv) to refund the Quarterly Meeting’s outstanding New York City Industrial Development Agency Civic Facility Revenue Bonds (Friends Seminary School Project), Series 2000 Bonds and (v) to pay a portion of the expenses incidental to the issuance of the Bonds. The financial assistance proposed to be conferred by the Agency will consist of such triple tax-exempt bond financing and exemption from City and State mortgage recording taxes.

National Broadcasting Company

Straight-lease (commercial retention) transaction for the benefit of National Broadcasting Company, Inc. and its eligible affiliates, in connection with the renovation of approximately 24,120 square feet of office space on the 11^th floor and approximately 25,350 square feet on the 12^th floor at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, New York and for the acquisition and/or leasing and installation of machinery, equipment, furniture, fixtures and other tangible personal property all for use at the above additional locations.  The financial assistance proposed to be conferred by the Agency will consist of exemption from City and State sales and use taxes, and real estate taxes.  The financial assistance for this project was induced December 8, 1987. No additional financial assistance is being provided.

World Trade Center Properties, LLC

Up to $3,345,000,000 New York Liberty Bond revenue bond transaction for the benefit of World Trade Center Properties LLC, and/or its affiliates and/or its related developers, in connection with the preliminary inducement or inducement of a project that will consist of the construction, equipping and furnishing of the following:  (i) one office building of approximately 1,200,000 square feet to be located at a site formerly known as 130 Liberty Street, bounded by Greenwich Street, Liberty Street, Washington Street, and Albany Street, New York, New York; and (ii) up to four office buildings, of up to approximately 8,800,000 square feet, to be located on an approximately six acre site within an approximately sixteen acre site known as the World Trade Center, bounded by Vesey Street, Church Street, West Street, and Liberty Street, New York, New York.  The financial assistance proposed to be conferred by the Agency will consist of such bond financing.

Queens

Acme Metal Cap Co. and American Star Cork Co., through real estate holding company Petroform Products Corp.