NEW YORK CITY-Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio is looking to follow through on a proposal he made as the city's Public Advocate to hike taxes on vacant land.
The tax hike is geared to forcing vacant landholders to either build housing on their property or sell the parcel to someone who will, according to Crain's New York Business.
The plan, after a five-year phase-in period, would hike yearly rates by an average of $15,300, according to estimates by the Independent Budget Office. Mr. de Blasio has estimated his plan would in the future generate $162 million a year for the city, which could fund the construction of 4,000 new housing units.
"It would drive the price of land down and increase development, to the extent the tax increases are significant," predicts Robert Knakal, chairman of Massey Knakal Realty Services. "The more expensive (vacant land becomes to hold), the less of it you will get—that's Economics 101." See story in Crain's New York Business.
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