NYS legislators: some planned developments, delivering more than the minimum required affordable units, might merit a 421-a extension.

Lawmakers could spare affordable projects from 421a deadline, the Real Deal reported 3/1/23, citing discussion at a legislative hearing that would extend the construction completion deadline four years--from June 15, 2026 to June 15, 2030--but not for all projects, as Gov. Kathy Hochul has proposed.

Legislators would offer that carrot only to buildings that contain more than the required minimum under the tax break provisions, which is 30% at 130% of Area Median Income (AMI), middle-income units aimed at those earning six figures.

Among the cited projects that have gone beyond the minimum was Hallets North in Astoria, though presumably it could be extended to projects along Atlantic Avenue, just east of the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park site, that were approved in spot rezonings in recent years. 

Those include 870-888 Atlantic and 1034-1042 Atlantic, at least if they qualify by having gotten foundations in the ground by June 15. 2022.

Would it apply to B5, 700 Atlantic Avenue, the first Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park tower over the railyard, which has yet to launch (but may have gotten foundations)? Unclear, since, at least as previously indicated to stakeholders, it would not have gone beyond the minimum.

While left-leaning lawmakers like Sen. Liz Krueger support the selective extension, representatives of the real-estate industry, understandably, though it was too little.

The Real Estate Board of New York has estimated, according to the Real Deal, "that some 33,000 planned apartments would not be built if developers were not given more time to finish 421-a projects."

Developer Greenland USA has been counting on the renewal of 421-a to make the future Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park buildout viable.