Developer of West Palm Transit Village wants $80M in tax incentives

Mike Masanoff and a rendering of Transit Village
Mike Masanoff and a rendering of Transit Village

The developer of a $400 million transit-oriented project near the Tri-Rail station in West Palm Beach is seeking $80 million in tax incentives.

Mike Masanoff is developing Transit Village, a mixed-use project 20 years in the making. Approved last year, it will include a 300-key, 13-story hotel, a 21-story office tower, a 25-story apartment complex with workforce housing, townhouses, and 33,000-square-feet of retail space.

Masanoff told commissioners, acting as the West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, that the incentive package is needed to get construction financing, the Palm Beach Post reported. He expects to break ground early next year and complete the project in 2020.

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City staffers will work on the incentive plan, which would come from tax increment financing. The city is exploring funding options, but could cut the project a tax break for a certain number of years or issue the incentives in the form of bonds.

Masanoff shut down his law practice in 2014 after it was alleged that he worked both sides of the real estate deal related to the Transit Village land purchase. [Palm Beach Post] – Katherine Kallergis