Why Westchester homeowners can’t pre-pay their 2018 taxes
Westchester homeowners looking to file before the new GOP tax plan takes effect on Jan. 1 won’t get their New Year’s wish. Outgoing County Executive Rob Astorino’s office announced this week that it will not be able to prepare updated tax documents in time to file before 2017’s end. “It is just not possible for the county to issue its 2018 tax warrants to localities within the next four days for a whole host of legal, operational and practical reasons,” Astorino’s adviser Ned McCormack told the New York Post. The new legislation caps deductions for local and state taxes at $10,000 per year and Westchester residents famously pay very high local taxes — about $16,500, ATTOM Data Solutions reports. [TRD]
Connecticut condo and townhouse sales are trending upwards while single-family home sales decrease
Numbers indicate that Connecticut residents are thinking smaller when it comes to housing stock. There was a 5.3 percent increase in townhouse and condo homes sold this November, compared to the same month last year, according to a report by Connecticut Realtors. The median sales price for those units also increased from $150,000 to $159,000 from November of last year. At the same time, single-family home sales slipped by 0.9 percent, with the median sales price falling from $248,750 in November 2016, to $247,500 last month, the Fairfield Business Journal reported. [FBJ]
Mount Vernon mayor and city agency blocked sale of commercial property, $15.1M suit claims
White Plains resident Alan Landauer and his company LTTR Home Care filed a $15.1 million dollar suit against Mount Vernon mayor Richard Thomas, the city’s Industrial Development Agency [IDA] and the agency’s director Roberta James, alleging that they blocked him from selling his 3-acre property at 1 Bradford Road. The suit claims that the IDA declined to vote on tax abatements needed to develop a 120-unit luxury residence on the property, since Thomas and the IDA preferred that a hotel or catering hall be built there. Landauer additionally accuses James, who is also a real estate broker, of trying to get him to sell the property to one of her clients. Thomas denies the accusations. “The Mount Vernon IDA has not been served with any lawsuit. LTTR’s proposal for 1 Bradford Road was a bad deal for Mount Vernon,” Thomas’ spokeswoman Maria Donovan told LoHud.com. [LoHud]
Two new office tenants sign leases at SoNo Corporate Center in South Norwalk
A 13-story office building in South Norwalk just got a bit busier, adding two tech companies to its tenant roster, the Fairfield Business Journal reported. Shibumi, a work management software company, will take up 2,900 square feet and an another tech firm — the name of which has not yet been announced — inked a deal for 7,200 square feet. The building had recently undergone renovations that included expansion of the foyer and the addition of a fitness center, conference center, game room and tenant lounge. [FBJ]
Trumbull and Norwalk score state funding for affordable housing projects
The state of Connecticut’s Department of Housing will furnish up to $4.09 million for the renovation of Norwalk’s 86-unit St. Paul’s Flax Hill Cooperative, a 4.35-acre site made up of 10 two- and three-story buildings, the Fairfield Business Journal reported. Trumbull’s 186-unit Stern Village Apartments development will get $5,286,139 from the state for energy-efficient renovations. Norwalk and Trumbull were among ten Connecticut towns that received funding from the state to support the development of affordable housing. [FBJ]