The denial of a tax break for 178 Townsend could mean that Martin Building's six-story glass-on-brick project in South Beach is dead in the water. By dead in the water, we mean — or rather the Martin Building president means — this: "I don't think anything gets stopped forever but it certainly stops (the development) for the foreseeable future." The deal hinged on the Mills Act, which allows cities to trade annual tax breaks (in this case $62,296) for the rehabilitation of historical properties. But back in January, the city's budget analyst recommended voting against the plum deal, saying that Martin Building owed the city more than $100k in back taxes. At the Board of Supes committee vote on Wednesday, a supervisor also called into question just how sincere the restoration was, since it would "preserve only a small part of the original building, just the shell." (Maybe they should have aimed harder at saving the interior detritus?) Anyway, so ends the saga of the building that only recently snagged $1.25 million in federal site-cleanup money. For now.
· Development put on hold [SF Examiner]
· Glass and Steel Land on Historic Brick in South Beach [Curbed SF]
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