Developers prep for end of tax abatements

Developers are preparing for life after 421a, the New York state law that rewards developers with property tax abatement certificates. It will end in its current form on June 30. Developers like the Atlantic Development Group, which accounts for almost two-thirds of the certificate units, usually sold its certificates to developers of market-rate condos in more affluent neighborhoods. Atlantic is planning to branch out into market-rate projects. “The new system won’t have as much fluidity,” Peter Fine, the company’s principal, told the Times. “It will take longer to get deals done, because of extra layers of bureaucracy.”