Manhattan city commissioners are split on allowing a developer to use more than $2 million in tax breaks and assistance to turn the downtown Commerce Bank building into retail and residential space.
Officials from Hutton Development on Tuesday requested a 10-year property tax abatement, a sales tax exemption on construction materials and for the city to pay for half the cost of improvements to Poyntz Avenue as they seek to buy the building at 727 Poyntz Ave., tear it down and construct a new one with retail space on the ground floor and residential space above. Commissioners John Matta and Jayme Minton favored fulfilling the request, while commissioners Peter Oppelt and Karen McCulloh had concerns about it.
