By Jack Tomczuk<\/p>\n
Mayor Cherelle Parker<\/a> wants to double the length of a real estate tax abatement for certain development projects, as part of her effort to preserve or build 30,000 units of affordable housing over four years.<\/p>\n Her administration is drafting legislation that would offer a full tax exemption for 20 years when a company converts an office building, vacant school, factory or former government building into a residential property.<\/p>\n The benefit would even be available if a developer determines that the existing structure needs to be demolished to make way for the housing, officials said.<\/p>\n Previous state law limited such abatements to 10-year terms; however, language to expand the benefit for commercial, industrial and governmental building conversions was included in the budget and fiscal code legislation recently adopted in Harrisburg.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a blanket benefit for billionaires,\u201d Parker said at a City Hall news conference Friday alongside state lawmakers. \u201cSomebody somewhere somehow is going to say, \u2018Here they go again thinking about how to line the pockets of billionaires.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n She referred to the tax break as a \u201csurgical tool that we will execute with missile-like precision to extract exactly what we desire out of it\u201d \u2013 namely, the reuse of struggling office buildings and other properties.<\/p>\n The impetus for the change came earlier this year, the mayor said, when her deputies informed her that commercial properties in Philadelphia experienced a $1 billion reduction in assessed value. Parker said the drop is resulting in a $9.7 million annual combined tax revenue loss for the city and school district.<\/p>\n Data from the Center City District<\/a> shows that fewer than 70% of those who worked in downtown offices prior to the COVID-19 pandemic have returned to their cubicles. About 20% of Center City office space is vacant, according to the organization.<\/p>\n Parker compared her administration\u2019s proposed benefit to the 10-year tax abate that went into effect in 2000, credited by some with sparking a downtown revival.\u00a0<\/p>\n