Commercial market: The looming retail tax hike smackdown

From the February issue: International tourists buying up trendy handbags and other bling are not the only ones dialed into the ramped-up retail offerings on prime Fifth Avenue in Midtown. The city’s Department of Finance has also taken note of how rent rates on the most expensive shopping strip in the world are going gangbusters. And the agency’s response has been to slap some high-profile properties with higher tax assessments.

In the top case, the agency — which released its tentative assessment rolls for the 2016-2017 tax year last month — jacked up values at two retail condos in the same building by a staggering 95 percent. [more]