Long Island Developer Seeks Tax Breaks for Port Jeff Complex
Staller Associates is on the hunt for tax breaks for a Port Jefferson Station project that’s been stuck in the mud for several years.
The Long Island-based developer applied for up to $7 million in sales and mortgage tax exemptions for its redevelopment of Port Jefferson Plaza, Newsday reported. Staller is also seeking 25 years in tax breaks from the Brookhaven Industrial Development Agency.
The breaks would be in service of a $190 million project in the Suffolk County hamlet. Staller’s development would include 280 housing units across two buildings, 20 percent of which would be set aside for those with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
Beyond that, the development would also include a handful of retail buildings earmarked for small restaurants and independent businesses, but not big-box stores. There would also be a 5,000-square-foot hub for collaboration between university and professional engineers.
“My dad and I are both long-term residents of the town, and we want to help it thrive,” vice president Valentin Staller told the publication.
The personal pitch may not prove to be enough to secure the subsidies. Town councilperson Jonathan Kornreich, who supports the project, came out against the use of tax benefits.
“To me, it doesn’t rise to the level of something that the public should have to support economically,” Kornreich said of the project, which Staller says can’t be built without the subsidies.
The developer secured an important zoning change nearly two years ago, but the project has largely been running in place for years.
In 2023, opponents called for the project to be scaled down, voicing the usual concerns about the development’s size and traffic impact. The residential units would be on one side of the property, while the commercial space would be on the other, with a boulevard dividing them.
Years later, concerns about traffic are still leading critics to call on the potential issue to be studied in more depth.
Read more
Port Jefferson shopping center redevelopment gets pushback
Beechwood pitches $400M plan to revive Mastic Beach
Brookhaven threatens $6K fine, 6 months in jail for short-term rentals
