One way to get to know a neighborhood is by exploring its buildings. So we did. This story is part of a series in The Brooklyn Ink on some of the structures in the borough, and what they tell us about the life in and around them.
New York City’s real estate industry generates $15.4 billion annually in city taxes, according a 2014 study by the Real Estate Board of New York. While that is certainly an impressive number, does it account for all that the city can possibly make? A look into one building in Carroll Gardens shows just how much the city could be forfeiting.
The old brick and mortar five-story building at 421 Degraw St. is the site of a former Catholic school associated with the St. Agnes Parish. Like much of the neighborhood it has dramatically increased in value over the last decade.
According to Brownstoner.com the building was erected in 1900 for the surrounding Irish community. After a vibrant run as a scholastic institution, it closed in 1987. Ten years later the Carroll Gardens Association and Gowanus Canal Development Corp. joined forces to revive the structure, but that effort fell through. In 1999, the building was selected by the New Housing Opportunity Program, a program from the NYC Housing Development Corp. that provides below-market mortgages to developers for construction of moderate-income rental housing. With funding in place the property was converted from a school into middle-income housing.
The Brownstoner website also states that “Community Developers, in partnership with the Cheever Development Program, were the recipients of a $7.7 million construction loan from the NYC Housing Development Corporation, through tax-exempt bonds. Other loans and financial arrangements were also made. They bought the building for $1.1 million.”
Public records show that in 2005 the property was valued at $3.7 million. By 2016 that number had risen to $12.5 million.
Yet, despite the high value, the quarterly city tax bill amounted to less then $200. That is due to a “J-51” tax exemption.
The Dept. of Finance says that “J-51 is a property tax exemption and abatement for renovating a residential apartment building. The benefit varies depending on the building’s location and the type of improvements.”
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