Annual taxes of $23.8 million
A new analysis of the highest property taxes in America finds that five buildings in Lower Manhattan are among the 100 highest levied in the nation, and contribute a combined total of more than $100 million in tax revenue.
The report, by real estate blog CommercialCafe.com, finds that Downtown property with the greatest tax burden is 390 Greenwich Street, which is the headquarters of Citigroup. The 2.7 million square feet of office space contained within the structure result in an annual tax bill of $23.8 million.
Close behind is One Liberty Plaza, where the 2.2 million square feet of office and retail space cost the owner, Brookfield Properties, $22.1 million each year.
Just one block away, 28 Liberty Street (the former Chase Manhattan Bank headquarters, with 2.3 million square feet) fattens the tax rolls by $21.1 million every 12 months.
Also in the Financial District, 60 Wall Street, with 1.7 million square feet of floor area, contributes $20.8 million in tax revenue each year.
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60 Hudson Street: Annual taxes of $16.6 million
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In Tribeca, the former Western Union Building at 60 Hudson Street is the only Downtown property to make the list that is not an office building. Architect Ralph Walker’s 1928 Art Deco masterpiece is now a data center, which generates $16.6 million in duties per annum.
In total, these five buildings earn tax collectors $104.5 million each year, based on payments recorded in 2017.
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10 Liberty Street:
Annual tax break of $3.7 million
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Elsewhere in Lower Manhattan, a separate analysis by the Municipal Art Society shows that a handful of Downtown residential buildings successfully avoid tens of millions of dollars in property taxes each year, under the guise of offering affordable housing. In Battery Park City, the Verdesian (211 North End Avenue) pays $3.8 million less per year in taxes (and will continue to enjoy this benefit through 2028), in exchange for setting aside 13 apartments, out of the buildings 253 units, for low- and moderate-income residents.
In the Financial District, the building at 10 Liberty Street avoids $3.7 million in annual taxes (and will, through the year 2026), because it has 14 affordable apartments among its 287 units.
In Tribeca, the luxury high-rise at 12 Barclay Street doesn’t have to pay $7.0 million in taxes, as a result of hosting 20 affordable apartments among its 396 units.
Also in Tribeca, the apartment building at 343 Broadway avoids $4.4 million in annual taxes, in exchange for 18 affordable units mixed with its 358 apartments.
In total, these four buildings are excused from paying $18.9 million in annual property taxes, as a result of incorporating 65 units of affordable housing into developments that are otherwise market-rate, luxury towers. This comes to an average yearly subsidy (in the form of property taxes not collected) of $290,769 per affordable apartment, which translates into a monthly cost to the taxpayers of $24,230 for each unit.
The review the CommercialCafe report about the highest taxpayers, click here.