Tax breaks granted for Port Wash hotel

Bill San Antonio

The Nassau County Industrial Development Agency on Tuesday approved tax breaks for the construction of a 165-room Hilton Garden Inn hotel in Port Washington, a community officials said is in need of more lodging options due to a thriving corporate environment.

The agreement  calls for a $210,000 mortgage tax exemption for Roslyn O-S, LLC’s acquisition of 3 Harbor Park Drive and up to $950,000 in sales and use tax exemptions on equipment costs associated with demolishing an existing building there and constructing the proposed four-story hotel in its place.

The agreement also includes a 20-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes that officials said would increase 2 percent each year starting in the program’s fourth year. IDA officials said the program would begin at $181,000 and reach $1.4 million by its final year.

Officials also approved a negative declaration in accordance with the state Environmental Quality Review Act, saying the project would not have an adverse effect on the environment.

Dan Deegan, counsel to Roslyn O-S, LLC on behalf of the firm Forchelli, Curto, Deegan, Schwartz, Mineo & Terrana, LLP, said the project likely would not have been possible without the IDA’s assistance. 

Roslyn O-S, LLC in May received a special-use permit from the Town of North Hempstead to acquire the land there and replace the dilapidated building, which previously housed a health club and has remained vacant for nearly a decade, with the hotel.

Deegan said the land cost $4.8 million to purchase and that the total project would likely cost approximately $26 million to complete.

Previous reports have slated the project’s cost at $32 million, but Deegan said that figure had been a rough estimate and not a final total.

He said Roslyn O-S, LLC would not know the exact figure until a bid is awarded to a contractor to do the work.

Joseph Kearney, the IDA’s executive director, said the project is expected to contribute $10.5 million in net tax revenue to Nassau County and create 300 full-time-equivalent construction jobs and 62 permanent jobs within the private sector.

He said the hotel would “fit a very real need” in Port Washington because of the lack of lodgings in the area and a recent boost in the number of businesses in the area filing development aid requests.

“It’s going to result in the redevelopment of a parcel of land that has been vacant for many years and has been an eyesore in the community, and it will not cut the current property taxes assessed against the property,” Kearney said.

In a statement, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said, “This hotel project is important to Nassau County as it creates new jobs for our residents, provides a convenient place to stay for businesses and leisure visitors in a part of the county where hotel rooms are scarce, and eliminates community blight in this industrial area while generating millions in economic benefit for the community.”

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