Some of the region's top real estate executives say Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Start-Up NY program should be given a chance — despite concerns that it would be unfair to existing businesses.
Originally called Tax-Free NY, the Start-Up NY program allows start-up companies to operate tax-free at SUNY schools and designated areas surrounding their campuses for up to 10 years. Employees of the companies would be exempt from state income taxes.
Cuomo designed the program to try and retain — and attract — fledgling high-tech firms that often find it less expensive to operate in other states such as Texas that have no state income tax.
Some have worried the program will hurt the local commercial real estate market and lead to lower property tax collections for local municipalities while also providing tax breaks to a select few.
"Like any program, it is going to be a little unfair," said Seth Rosenblum, a principal with the Rosenblum Cos. who was part of a panel discussion Thursday.
The event was sponsored by the New York State Commercial Association of Realtors. "We have to give this a chance and see how it plays out."
Not all the speakers at the event, held at the Ramada Plaza Hotel off Everett Road in Albany, viewed the program as favorably. Assemblyman Phil Steck, who voted against the Start-Up NY legislation, said he had trouble figuring out how it would help constituents in his district, which includes Colonie, Schenectady and Niskayuna.
Steck said the government's top role should be providing public infrastructure to attract businesses — such as the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, which has been credited with attracting many of the world's largest computer chip companies to the region as well as the $9 billion chip factory GlobalFoundries established in Saratoga County.
"This is economic development by desperation," Steck said of Start-Up NY. "I don't see how the program helps the Schenectady school district or the Niskayuna school district."
Kevin Bette, chairman of First Columbia, the development company based in Latham, said that Start-Up NY won't hurt the local business communities or the tax base because it can take years for a start-up company to make any money — and most don't even last 10 years before they close down or leave the state because of high business taxes. Bette said the program could shake up that cycle.
"We need the investment to be here," Bette said. "We need the change. It takes a long time for these businesses to become profitable. They need all the help they can get."
Rosenblum compared skepticism of the program to that of the NanoCollege, which has attracted companies that might otherwise locate in commercial buildings owned by the private sector that are also on the tax rolls. Focusing on that dynamic is a narrow way of looking at the long-term impact that Start-Up NY could have on the state and the business community, Rosenblum said. Cuomo actually modeled Start-Up NY on how the NanoCollege operates, with tenants located on campus to do semiconductor manufacturing research in concert with the school.
"Imagine for a moment there was no NanoCollege," Ronsenblum said. "What would we be pinning our hopes on?"
Originally called Tax-Free NY, the Start-Up NY program allows start-up companies to operate tax-free at SUNY schools and designated areas surrounding their campuses for up to 10 years. Employees of the companies would be exempt from state income taxes.
Cuomo designed the program to try and retain — and attract — fledgling high-tech firms that often find it less expensive to operate in other states such as Texas that have no state income tax.
Some have worried the program will hurt the local commercial real estate market and lead to lower property tax collections for local municipalities while also providing tax breaks to a select few.
"Like any program, it is going to be a little unfair," said Seth Rosenblum, a principal with the Rosenblum Cos. who was part of a panel discussion Thursday.
The event was sponsored by the New York State Commercial Association of Realtors. "We have to give this a chance and see how it plays out."
Not all the speakers at the event, held at the Ramada Plaza Hotel off Everett Road in Albany, viewed the program as favorably. Assemblyman Phil Steck, who voted against the Start-Up NY legislation, said he had trouble figuring out how it would help constituents in his district, which includes Colonie, Schenectady and Niskayuna.
Steck said the government's top role should be providing public infrastructure to attract businesses — such as the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, which has been credited with attracting many of the world's largest computer chip companies to the region as well as the $9 billion chip factory GlobalFoundries established in Saratoga County.
"This is economic development by desperation," Steck said of Start-Up NY. "I don't see how the program helps the Schenectady school district or the Niskayuna school district."
Kevin Bette, chairman of First Columbia, the development company based in Latham, said that Start-Up NY won't hurt the local business communities or the tax base because it can take years for a start-up company to make any money — and most don't even last 10 years before they close down or leave the state because of high business taxes. Bette said the program could shake up that cycle.
"We need the investment to be here," Bette said. "We need the change. It takes a long time for these businesses to become profitable. They need all the help they can get."
Rosenblum compared skepticism of the program to that of the NanoCollege, which has attracted companies that might otherwise locate in commercial buildings owned by the private sector that are also on the tax rolls. Focusing on that dynamic is a narrow way of looking at the long-term impact that Start-Up NY could have on the state and the business community, Rosenblum said. Cuomo actually modeled Start-Up NY on how the NanoCollege operates, with tenants located on campus to do semiconductor manufacturing research in concert with the school.
"Imagine for a moment there was no NanoCollege," Ronsenblum said. "What would we be pinning our hopes on?"
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