Standardized tax deals eyed

Providence officials have been developing standardized tax-stabilization agreements that could help two projects targeted for parcels on former Interstate 195 land move forward. But state officials may not be willing to wait for the city to finish the process.

In coordination with Gov. Gina M. Raimondo’s proposed development incentives, including Rebuild Rhode Island tax credits, the city had been targeting July 1 for new standards and criteria for TSAs, said Mayor Jorge O. Elorza.

The city initiative took on added urgency last week, however, when R.I. Senate Majority Leader Dominick J. Ruggerio, D-North Providence, said that he would introduce legislation that would remove control of TSA standards from the city.

“We cannot afford to wait any longer,” he said. “The development of I-195 is critical to Rhode Island’s economic recovery.”

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Popularly known as the Link, the 19 acres of developable former I-195 land includes parcels 22 and 25, where CV Properties and Wexford Science & Technology, a subsidiary of BioMed Realty Co., are proposing a life sciences project with research, residential, retail and hospitality uses.

Richard A. Galvin, president of CV Properties, is also the developer of the nearby South Street Landing project. He wouldn’t say what financial incentives his project might seek, but he is a proponent of TSAs. He said CV Proertiers has used them successfully in Boston-based projects.

Meanwhile, Lincoln-Phoenix, a Dallas developer planning to build a $50 million student apartment building on Parcel 28, has already applied for a TSA – and is still waiting. On its third extension through the Interstate 195 Redevelopment District Commission, the city has until July 1 to ink a TSA.

Elorza and City Council President Luis A. Aponte say that the administration and the council will continue working together to negotiate TSAs with developers, providing tax deferments as well as potential tax abatements, durations for those agreements, and criteria for “what kinds of projects get” them. TSAs typically involve granting a multiyear deal that reduces tax liability for the duration, with full taxes due following the end of the term.

Ruggerio believes the process has dragged on too long. “This stagnation … has become an obstacle to job creation and development in Providence,” he said.

The city is considering 12- or 15-year TSAs as part of the new standards, but Ruggerio is expected to propose a 20-year term.

Elorza’s Press Secretary Evan England said in a statement that “the mayor has been committed to seeing a streamlined, predictable and standardized TSA process developed … since the day he took office. … He is committed to seeing it introduced very soon.”

How soon just became a more-interesting question. •

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