Developer seeks tax breaks on apartment project in Long Beach

Residents can give their input Tuesday on a developer seeking tax breaks for renovating a vacant Long Beach building along the city’s main corridor into apartments.

The Nassau County Industrial Development Agency will hold a public hearing on an application from developers planning to convert a vacant medical office building at 249 E. Park Ave. into a 23-unit apartment building.

The hearing will be held at 4 p.m. at the Long Beach Public Library.

The applicant, LBH249 LLC, backed by Manhattan developers Allen Pilevsky and Seth Pilevsky, is seeking a 15-year payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, to freeze property taxes for the first three years, and then increase taxes 1.26 percent annually, according to the application.

Representatives for the company could not be reached last week. But in their application, developers said the $3.2 million project to renovate the 16,000-square-foot building would create 45 construction jobs. The property, which LBH249 purchased in 2007 for $1.7 million, currently generates $89,547 a year in property taxes.

The application asks for tax breaks on $112,550 in sales tax and $18,750 in mortgage recording taxes and property taxes.

Developers said in their application that they cannot cover the construction costs without financial assistance from the county, and if tax breaks are not granted, the dilapidated building will continue to sit vacant.

The building, a former medical office, is located next to the New York Sports Club at Park Avenue and Monroe Boulevard. It was vacated after superstorm Sandy in 2012 and has remained vacant since then.

Renovations would take about 18 months, developers said. The building would be renamed Two49 Park Avenue and also include three apartments designated as affordable housing. The development also would include 24 parking spots at the property.

The IDA is scheduled to vote on whether to approve the tax breaks at its meeting Thursday morning in Mineola.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.