Despite public opposition from Mayor Stephanie Miner, developers of the Destiny USA mall are pursuing tax breaks in order to fund construction of a hotel nearby.

Developers of the 255-room hotel, which is estimated to cost $75 million, are seeking a 20-year property tax exemption, according to a March 10 Post-Standard article. The exemption Destiny USA is pursuing would cost taxpayers $20 million in tax revenue, according to the article.

Miner specified that she wouldn’t oppose the construction if it were privately financed, but is taking a stand against the hotel receiving public benefits “at a time when the city is searching for funds to fill police vacancies and address costly infrastructure issues,” according to a Feb. 12 press release.

“Destiny already has received an unprecedented tax break worth hundreds of millions of tax dollars for promising, among other things, a bigger hotel,” Miner said in the press release. “They should not receive additional benefits for a project they failed to deliver. Most importantly, the community will not receive any material benefits for incentivizing a hotel next to a successful mall.”

Previously, the Destiny project proposed the Emerald 5 ShowTel and Conference Center, a 1,342-room, 39-story hotel adjacent to Destiny USA. Construction on the hotel never started, according to the press release.

In 2012, the developer announced that although it was given a 30-year local tax exemption on the condition that the hotel would be built and the mall expanded, there would be no further development.

Destiny has already received “an unprecedented tax break totaling hundreds of millions in lost revenue to the city and county,” according to the release. The Emerald 5 was the second unfulfilled promise by developers for a nearby hotel. The first was a hotel called the Grand Destiny, which was never built, according to the release.

Despite the mayor’s lack of support for the project, Destiny USA is permitted to go through the planning and permitting process the same as any other business. Tax breaks are determined by the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency, which has stated it reserves its legal right to create a new tax deal for the proposed hotel, according to the press release.

“We have a chance to learn from and not repeat the mistakes of the past,” Miner said in the release. “We should not accept the principle that what is good for Destiny is good for Syracuse. The people of our community deserve a thoughtful and reasoned economic development strategy, not one that gives tax breaks without tangible public benefits and without serving any logical public policy.”

Published on March 26, 2014 at 1:27 am