Troy council delays senior complex sale
Members express concern with extending property tax deal
TROY, N.Y. » A debate over the use of a controversial economic development tool is holding up the proposed sale of a Lansingburgh senior living community.
At a Finance Committee meeting preceding its monthly meeting Thursday night, the City Council tabled action on resolutions that would approve the sale of the Diamond Rock Terrace Apartments on Gurley Avenue by subsidiaries of The United Group of Companies to Triumph Management Group, an Atlantabased company that specializes in affordable housing, as well as assign and extend a pair of existing payment-in-lieu- of-taxes agreements for the properties.
Those agreements, however, are cause for concern among several council members who argued such deals are meant to cre- ate jobs, not to help developers finance housing projects.
“Our job as City Council members is not to help developers make money,” said Councilman Mark McGrath, R-District 2. “You’ve been at the trough for 20 years on the taxpayer’s dollar.”
Diamond Rock Terrace is a 117unit apartment complex built in two phases, with the first 81 units opening in 1998 and the remaining apartments completed in 2003. Financing for the projects came from a host of public and private sources, including state and federal dollars, with the city signing a pair of PILOT agreements, one of which is set to expire this year but includes provisions for a 10year extension. The other expires in 2024, after its 10-year extension was exercised four years ago.
Michael Uccellini, president and CEO of The United Group of Companies, said Diamond Rock Terrace is one of six affordable housing projects around the state the company is selling to Triumph as it settles the estate of Uccellini’s father, company founder Walter Uccellini, who died in a small plane crash in Clifton Park in August 2012. To do that, however, he said it is also necessary to transfer the existing agreements, which set annual payments equal to 7.35 percent of gross rental receipts.
Without those agreements, Uccellini said, the complex could not be successful as affordable hous- ing, leaving residents to either pay higher rents or find another place to live. In addition, Greg Jones, a founding partner for Triumph, admitted Thursday his company may have difficulty finding its own financing for the purchase.
“For our company to buy, [the PILOTs are] a necessity,” he told the committee. “This is not a big moneymaker.”
Councilman Anasha Cummings, D-District 4, said the complex currently saves about $185,000 on its annual tax bill under the existing agreements.
“Yes, it’s a PILOT, but we’re not paying” Uccellini argued. “It’s not like we’re far off from full-value projects.”
The council’s Law Committee signed off on the proposal at its Jan. 23 meeting, but the Finance Committee must also sign off because of the financial implications. Council President Carmella Mantello, who also chairs the Finance Committee, joined in calling to table the resolutions so members can gather more information and consider the implications.
“For us to just extend it is too much of a nugget,” Mantello said.