Manhattan, NY - Tax Break Approved to Expand Diamond District

Manhattan, NY - The board of the city's Industrial Development Agency voted to extend up to $37.5 million in tax breaks to a developer, to build a $434 million office tower for diamond and jewelry businesses in Midtown's Diamond District along 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues.

The tax breaks will be administered on a sliding scale, "dependent on the level of occupancy by businesses that are within the diamond and jewelry industry and businesses that are new to, or expanding in, New York City. "Some nearby building owners and some tenants in the Diamond District had complained that the subsidy would give the developer an unfair advantage, allowing the landlord to attract existing district tenants by offering below market rents. The city said the subsidy is necessary to attract new private investment to New York's dwindling diamond industry.