421A Tax Abatements

On the right side of your screen you will see a search discussions feature. Type in 421 to see other conversations regarding the 421a abatement. I believe most new construction condos in Harlem have the 421a tax abatement- it's very common. You can also find previous discussions on the Livmor as well on this board.

Since the Livmore is a brand new building you should keep in mind that common charges are typically set very low by the sponsor in order to sell the building. As Treasurer for my building, I increased common charges by 30% in my building a year after the first closings occurred to reflect true costs and to add a reserve fund. I haven't looked at the Livmore, so I do not know how realistic the financial projections are.

The other cost you should keep in mind is costs associated with poor construction quality. It's pretty well known that many new buildings were built poorly and you might have to come up with large sums of cash in your first couple of years to deal with this. You are supposed to be protected by the Attorney General's office...but they aren't really doing much for the public on this issue. Personally, I would discount any offer on all new construction to account for these problems.

I can't think of any building in NYC that wasn't granted the abatement except Trump World Tower -- and then Trump got it by suing for it -- can anyone think of other buildings that didn't get it?

ali r
DG Neary Realty

besodes 421a, are there other types of tax abatements in nyc?

MS1, most abatements are granted. I dont think they can be granted until construction is done. you can call City's Tax Abatement program in HPD to verify. Echo comment above, you need to verify that building's developer and its contractor have good track records. I know nothing about this building but do know that a lot of recent new construction was shoddily done as there were not enough qualified contractors to go around. This has resuled in many nightmares.