A hearing to amend RXR Realty’s application for construction of a 244-unit condominium complex in North Hills was postponed at last Wednesday night’s Village of North Hills Village Board meeting as talks continued between the two sides.
“We’re still trying to come to some agreement with the applicant to make it acceptable to ourselves and the applicant,” North Hills Mayor Marvin Natiss said.
Natiss said the board has scheduled the hearing for September with the expectation that an agreement will then be in place for the proposed development, which is known as Ritz Carlton Residences at North Hills.
One of the key issues to be resolved is the number of units to be sold by RXR, operating as Midtown North Hills LLC, and the number of units it will initially lease.
After the meeting on Wednesday, Natiss said he would like to see “a very limited number of units for rental.” He originally said he opposed any rental units being included in the plan.
Natiss had also been adamantly opposed to RXR application for $4.6 million in property tax reductions from the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency, saying that a residential development should not receive such tax benefits. But last week he said he also had modified his position on the IDA tax relief.
“In order to make it work, I’m trying to be flexible,” Natiss said.
A hearing on RXR’s application for reduced taxes under a payment in lieu of taxes agreement – known as a PILOT – would tax place after the project is approved by the North Hills board.
The proposal for the Ritz Carlton Residences calls for the construction of 244 condominium units on 17 acres of property between Powerhouse Road and New Hyde Park Road, with Ritz Carlton as the managing entity.
Frank Haftel, 1st vice president for RXR, said the Midtown North Hills application is a “work in progress” and RXR is “aiming to be ready in September” for a hearing before the North Hills board.
“We are working with the mayor very diligently to address his concerns and still have a viable project,” Haftel said. “We’re working on the balance of units to be leased or sold.”
Haftel said whatever that balance is, RXR’s “ultimate goal is for all the units to be sold.”
In addition to the property tax reduction, RXR’s application filed with the county IDA on Dec. 20, 2012, requests an estimated sales tax exemption of $3.3 million and an estimated mortgage tax exemption of $1.5 million.
Existing annual property taxes on the undeveloped property of 16.3 acres adjacent to the Long Island Expressway in North Hills are $415,170, according to the application.
RXR Realty made a payment of $21 million to the village when the North Hills board first approved the condo project in mid-November of 2006.
Natiss has said the payment was made because the project was approved under a so-called “incentive” zoning plan that permits the developer to build units at a higher density than permitted under village zoning regulations.
The mayor’s initial response to the proposed tax breaks for the Ritz Carlton Residences mirrored his opposition to an application by the Bristal of North Hills to the county IDA for an extension of tax breaks given nearly 10 years ago.
Natiss, who said the Bristal PILOT would have cost local municipalities more than $2 million in property taxes, had been joined in opposition to the Bristal’s application by officials of the Herricks and Great school districts. The property at The Bristal at North Hills, which is located on the South Service Road of the Long Island Expressway, straddles the line between the Herricks and Great Neck school districts.
The property on which the proposed Ritz Carlton Residences would be located entirely within the Great Neck School District.
Great Neck Superintendent of Schools Thomas Dolan has said he would oppose a tax break for RXR’s Ritz Carlton project.
“We are opposed to a PILOT and we will be present at any hearing we are aware of to express our opposition,” Dolan has said.
Reach reporter Richard Tedesco by e-mail at rtedesco@theislandnow.com or by phone at 516.307.1045 x204. Also follow us on Twitter @theislandnow and Facebook at facebook.com/theislandnow.
