You might think Jersey City would think twice about granting a revised abatement for a project on the downtown waterfront. Especially after one was approved by the City Council for the Crystal Pointe condo project on Second Street that prompted public outrage.
But the city is looking at another one for the $250 million 77 Hudson project, a 901-unit two-building project (420 condos, 481 rentals) located on Hudson Street that is nearing completion.
According to City Councilman Steven Fulop, the city’s Tax Abatement Committee, with a recommendation from Mayor Jerramiah Healy, is considering the revised abatement deal for 77 Hudson that would change the terms of the 20-year abatement approved for the project in March 2006 with a 16 percent service charge (a percentage of annual gross revenue paid to the city in lieu of taxes) to 30 years with 11 percent for the 5 years, 13 percent for the next 5 years and then 16 percent for the final 20 years.
Fulop took issue with this revised abatement, and with Mayor Healy for accepting the applicant, mega-developer K. Hovnanian, request for a deal to match the Crystal Pointe arrangement.
“This is a situation remarkably similar to Crystal Pointe (council vote 6-3) where I warned that if the Healy Administration with Councilman Vega at the helm of this committee, bails out one developer, every single developer will ask for the same,” Fulop said. The abatement could be up for a vote as early as the next City Council meeting on Aug. 12.
Fulop wants this abatement deal to be “scrapped,” citing not only the controversial nature but also because it was considered by the tax abatement committee that he says is “closed-door” and wants open to the public.
Healy when reached for a comment on the 77 Hudson revised abatement said he “needed to study it further” before he could offer any comment. – Ricardo Kaulessar