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Garden owners seek millions in tax relief for $1-billion project on 'blighted' Causeway Street
By adamg on Tue, 10/29/2013 - 11:03pm
The Boston Business Journal reports the owners of the Garden have asked the BRA for Liberty Mutual-style tax breaks because damnit, they deserve it the fact they've failed to build anything on what is now a parking lot, a high water table on land near the Charles and Harbor and the presence of the Green and Orangle Lines means the land is blighted and needs big tax breaks.
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Comments
I hate white people
I really, really do.
Yes, I believe I have noticed
a certain self-loathing in the majority of your posts.
Two points on the TD Garden tax giveaway
1. Dear Will: Whatever your beef is, as a white person, I'm offended and hope you will offer more information on your burst of incivility.
2. Delaware North (or whomever is running the development project) apparently thinks no one remembers back when this all began, back when they tore down the Boston Garden. Fortunately, there are plenty of government documents regarding what was agreed to / promised ... and what wasn't ... back in the mid-1990s.
As far as I know, they new Green Line and Orange Line terminals were built with the Causeway Street towers in mind since they were proposed when the Garden came down.
And when the say an affordable supermarket
is there really a chance a Market Basket will go in there or another damnable Whole Foods?
More information on my burst of incivility
I hate white people because they're greedy, they look down on others, and they can't dance.
P.S. I'm white, you tool. Go look up "satire" and then resume conversing with me.
You're WHITE?
I would have never guessed..being from Vermont and all. And I'm sure Fred Astaire, John Travolta, and Mikhail Baryshnikov might want to have a little talk with you, son. Also, my brother donated 1000 shares of Apple stock to charity this year. And satire...I have no concept of the term, in case you hadn't noticed.
Pfft
Sammy Davis, Jr. was better than all those crackers.
Not that I would expect you to know this bit of trivia, but
From Astaire's Wikipedia entry:
So....
You're assuming everyone at Boston Properties is white?
Hey Will
You're the TOOL who wrote, "I Hate White People."
Pfft.
Hey, I am white, am not greedy and do not look down on others (but do look up 'cause I am rather short).
And I can shake my booty pretty darn good, thank you very much.
In regards to the Garden's owners wanting a "whine" tax break, well, they are Plutocrats after all and that is what Plutocrats do
between surviving as the fittest.
I bet they must "j**k off to pictures of Ayn Rand.
And, if I recall correctly,
that space in front of the new Garden has remained a parking lot all these years because of - guess who - Delaware North.
If they were really smart...
...they'd dig a big hole and then ask for the tax break - and permission for a bigger project.
I'd consider supporting that plan
only if, when they dig the hole, they agree to replace the Green Line North Station "turnback" with an actual functioning loop first. After that, we can deny them the tax break.
garden project
It's funny how everyone complains about the project now will be the same people who use the businesses there the most once its built same with assembly square this project is amazing and will bring life back to the west end and provide needed services for those in the north end as well.
Blighted they say?
Well, if this is true, then I've got the deal for them. I will offer them, whoever they are, $10.00 per parking space to purchase the blighted parking lot. I can assure all involved, I will turn it into something which is not an eyesore, and far from a blighted lot. Now, where do I pay?
What a scam or the perfect crime
The MBTA built the garage and foundation of the new garden with money from UMTA grants. They then sell the lobby and the garage at a bargain back to Delaware North who now wants a billion dollar tax break. No where in this country were federal tax dollars earmarked for subways utilized to build an arena for private developers. This is why Bob Kraft believed that he was getting screwed in Foxboro. Billy Bulger pulled this crooked deal off with his BC connections and the Jacob brothers.
No
They don't want a Billion dollar tax break. The project IS GOING TO COST a billion dollars.
New Boston Garden project 121A
How much will the tax break be?
OINK
here piggy piggy... it's time for you to feed at the taxpayer trough.
Doesn't hurt to ask
Greedy? Hardly. Tax breaks are handed out like candy, you might as well ask for one. You've got nothing to lose.
They ask for a tax break merely because they are potentially leaving millions of dollars on the table by not asking. Seriously, this is the mode developers are in, they have even admitted it. It's all upside, no downside.
So, are they greedy? Nope. The city/state just has to have the balls to say no, and in this case, they should say no.
Bingo
That's about it. Not too much else to say.
Exactly
and guess what, it is a blighted area. Take a walk around there when there isn't an event going on at the Garden, it's nasty. Bottom line, they're going to spend $1,000,000,000 building something that will add value to the community, and add to the tax base of the city, so they're asking for some tax breaks. Again, they're asking, as in, they're negotiating. Same thing I would do if I were in their position. I don't walk into my accountants office and tell him not to take any deductions on my taxes because I think I make enough money. If I were a shareholder in Boston Properties (which a lot of you may be if you own any mutual funds), I'd want them to try and pay as little in taxes as possible.
Not so much blighted, but
Not so much blighted, but devoid of any street-level activity unless a game is on. However, last time I checked, that old McDonald's was still boarded up, and the median strip on Causeway street looks terrible. But apart from those blemishes, a parking lot in front of the Garden is hardly what I would call 'blighted' - more like a waste of space.
One thing I do hope that happens after Converse moves into their new digs is some kind of Harborwalk extension running alongside the Zakim that connects Causeway Street with the locks and Paul Revere Park in Charlestown and North Point in Cambridge. That, and a reasonably placed supermarket nearby, will attract more pedestrians and cyclists to the area.
Preposterous
The idea that the area around the Garden is blighted in its present state is a joke. 15-20 years ago, sure, it was pretty nasty. That neighborhood has come a loooong way - I'd actually argue, it is been too gentrified. It is very close to being stripped of any and all character as it is.
Too gentrified?
How so? the holiday inn express? The boarded up old TGI fridays on the corner of Congress and Causeway? Are the people roaming the streets before/after they visit the Methadone clinic too yuppie for your taste?
Wait, when was there a a TGI Friday's there?
I've been here 10 years and don't recall that.
I ate at that TGI Friday's
before. It didn't last too long, and it was always empty unless there was a Garden event. Of course, this was about 10 years ago, and long before the HI Express and the new apartment buildings.
Tax Breaks
Just another rich guy looking for a hand out. I think it's time for a closer look on how these things are done.
They're just doing their job
Quite literally as merlin points out above and you can't blame them. It's the fault of the spineless politicians that can't say no when these things come up. Almost none of these breaks make sense from a financial sense. They are legalized paybacks to friends and supporters.
Here's a perfect example
Back in 2006, Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas were both looking to build stores on rte 1 in the Foxboro/Wrentham/Plainville area. Cabelas was looking for a tax break, BPS wasn't. This snippet is from this article from the Globe.
.
It's up to your elected representatives to say no.
So we have to pay taxes on
So we have to pay taxes on our Amazon purchases but these guys don't have to pay taxes to open a brick and mortar store?
Not yet
They're just asking right now. It's up to the right people to say No.
Here's hoping these corporate
Here's hoping these corporate handouts start to get even 1/4 of the scrutiny and coverage that the city's union contracts have gotten recently.
I'd argue both the union
I'd argue both the union contracts and these corporate tax breaks are being misconstrued by being overly simplified, and then promptly vilified. With respect to the 121A agreements, they provide a property tax reduction pursuant to statute. This does not mean they pay zero in taxes, they just pay a rate negotiated with the City Assessor (who has discretion to be aggressive, as he should be if a 121A is granted here). More importantly, as a large commercial project, the BRA will likely require significant mitigation under a Cooperation Agreement. These Agreements are rarely discussed in the media, but they are very important in any development deal And they set forth specific requirements of the City. If the BRA pushes hard enough, the real estate tax relief may be offset by large cash contributions required for City initiatives (such as their Crossroads Initiatives to improve major downtown streets or specific neighborhood improvement projects, or contributions to specific community groups). This isn't to say the developers aren't getting a deal, it just may not be the free ride that is represented because instead of collecting property tax revenue, the City has exacted financial contributions for other specific purposes. Like all the allegations of sinister union contracts, the claims of sweetheart deals for developers ignore the complex reality behind the myth. (And I won't even discuss what life is like if you are one of the many developers who menino dislikes....)
Not an unusual tactic
This is a pretty common tactic when dealing with the BRA. There's a property on my street that closed down five years ago, and has sat unused since, falling into the state of decay you would expect. The owners decided to reopen it, and applied for a zoning variance to turn it into a halfway house. When the neighborhood raised some objections to the lack of parking spots, they turned around and claimed that since the property was blighted, they could do whatever they wanted with it. Apparently being the ones responsible for blighting a property does not preclude one from using the ensuing blight as a tax break and an easy way to avoid zoning regulations.
Which leads me to my Billion Dollar Idea. I'm going to stop doing maintenance on my house, wait for the roof to cave in, and then turn it into a 25-story office building. It's in a residential neighborhood with a 3-story building height limit, but that won't be a problem after I let the place go completely to shit. I'm also going to extort the city for huge tax breaks, lest I turn it into a payday loan place instead. Who wants in on the first round of funding?
You can't do that
You're just a little guy. You gotta already have money to get these kinds of breaks (OK - so I'm assuming you're worth less than $50 million or so).
The crazy thing about blight is a) it is now defined as "highest and best use" - so you don't even have to let it get run down. You could build a brand new house on a property for $1 million - but if the BRA determines that there is a more valuable use for the land - often defined as the taxes for the city could be higher - and b) they can declare your brand new luxury building blighted (they are the ruling authority on blight and their ruling is binding), take it by eminent domain - even if you lose money on it as long as it's "fair market value" - and sell it off to someone that can afford to develop it into its highest and best use - and grant them a tax break for doing everyone the favor (although in some cases the tax break has to be approved by the City Council and the state Economic Development board - I've never heard of one being turned down).
No exaggeration - it's nuts.