Defines community significant projects as a business creating or retaining current jobs as determined by the commissioner, with particular emphasis on employment and/or training of current public housing residents; currently located or to be located in existing leased space of a building in a public housing development in the state; and which makes significant qualified capital investments to start a business, or improve services and working conditions for an existing business, when located in such public housing space and including such projects in the excelsior jobs program.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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248
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sen. SEPULVEDA -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Commerce, Economic Devel-
opment and Small Business
AN ACT to amend the economic development law, in relation to defining
community significant projects and including such projects in the
excelsior jobs program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivisions 17 and 20-a of section 352 of the economic
2 development law, subdivision 17 as amended by section 1 of part K and
3 subdivision 20-a as added by section 1 of part ZZ of chapter 59 of the
4 laws of 2017, are amended and a new subdivision 18-a is added to read as
5 follows:
6 17. "Qualified investment" means an investment in tangible property
7 (including a building or a structural component of a building) owned by
8 a business enterprise which:
9 (a) is depreciable pursuant to section one hundred sixty-seven of the
10 internal revenue code;
11 (b) has a useful life of four years or more;
12 (c) is acquired by purchase as defined in section one hundred seven-
13 ty-nine (d) of the internal revenue code;
14 (d) has a situs in this state; [and]
15 (e) is placed in service in the state on or after the date the certif-
16 icate of eligibility is issued to the business enterprise; and
17 (f) demolition and remediation of costs incurred and paid in the
18 leased building by the business enterprise in a public housing develop-
19 ment in the state, as determined by the commissioner.
20 18-a. "Community significant project" means (a) a business creating or
21 retaining current jobs as determined by the commissioner, with partic-
22 ular emphasis on employment and/or training of current public housing
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00624-01-5
S. 248 2
1 residents; (b) currently located or to be located in existing leased
2 space of a building in a public housing development in the state that is
3 owned and operated by a public housing authority created under article
4 thirteen of the public housing law; (c) which makes significant quali-
5 fied capital investments to start a business, or improve services and
6 working conditions for an existing business, when located in such public
7 housing space; and (d) creates at least five new net jobs or retaining
8 current jobs or makes qualified capital investments to such space of a
9 building. The commissioner shall promulgate regulations pursuant to
10 section three hundred fifty-six of this article to determine what addi-
11 tional criteria a business must meet to be eligible as a community
12 significant project, including, but not limited to, incentivizing child
13 care providers and other businesses that support the needs of the work-
14 force residing in such public housing and the social and health needs of
15 residents in such public housing, ensuring that residents are not
16 displaced and ensuring that services or programs being offered to public
17 housing residents by either a public housing authority or an entity
18 already onsite, are not displaced in order to locate or expand a busi-
19 ness in a public housing development.
20 20-a. "Significant capital investment" means a project which will be
21 either a newly constructed facility or a newly constructed addition to,
22 expansion of or improvement of a facility, consisting of tangible
23 personal property and other tangible property, including buildings and
24 structural components of buildings, that are depreciable pursuant to
25 section one hundred sixty-seven of the internal revenue code, have a
26 useful life of four years or more, are acquired by purchase as defined
27 in section one hundred seventy-nine (d) of the internal revenue code,
28 and that is equal to or exceeds (a) one million dollars for a manufac-
29 turer; (b) two hundred fifty thousand dollars for an agriculture busi-
30 ness; (c) three million dollars for a financial services firm or back
31 office operation; (d) fifteen million dollars for a distribution center;
32 (e) three million dollars for a scientific research and development
33 firm; [or] (f) three million dollars for other businesses; or (g) one
34 million dollars for a significant project.
35 § 2. Paragraphs (m) and (n) of subdivision 1 and subdivisions 3 and 4
36 of section 353 of the economic development law, paragraphs (m) and (n)
37 of subdivision 1 and subdivision 3 as amended by chapter 494 of the laws
38 of 2022, and subdivision 4 as separately amended by section 3 of part K
39 and section 2 of part ZZ of chapter 59 of the laws of 2017, are amended
40 and a new paragraph (o) is added to subdivision 1 to read as follows:
41 (m) as a participant operating in one of the industries listed in
42 paragraphs (a) through (k) of this subdivision and operating or sponsor-
43 ing child care services to its employees as defined in section three
44 hundred fifty-two of this article; [or]
45 (n) as a Green CHIPS project[.]; or
46 (o) as a community significant project.
47 3. For the purposes of this article, in order to participate in the
48 excelsior jobs program, a business entity operating predominantly in
49 manufacturing must create at least five net new jobs; a business entity
50 operating predominately in agriculture must create at least five net new
51 jobs; a business entity operating predominantly as a financial service
52 data center or financial services customer back office operation must
53 create at least twenty-five net new jobs; a business entity operating
54 predominantly in scientific research and development must create at
55 least five net new jobs; a business entity operating predominantly in
56 software development must create at least five net new jobs; a business
S. 248 3
1 entity creating or expanding back office operations must create at least
2 twenty-five net new jobs; a business entity operating predominately in
3 music production must create at least five net new jobs; a business
4 entity operating predominantly as an entertainment company must create
5 or obtain at least one hundred net new jobs; [or] a business entity
6 operating predominantly as a distribution center in the state must
7 create at least fifty net new jobs, notwithstanding subdivision five of
8 this section; or a business entity operating predominately as a life
9 sciences company must create at least five net new jobs; [or] a business
10 entity must be a regionally significant project or Green CHIPS project
11 as defined in this article; or a community significant project as
12 defined in this article; or
13 4. A business entity operating predominantly in one of the industries
14 referenced in paragraphs (a) through (h) or in paragraph (k) or (o) of
15 subdivision one of this section but which does not meet the job require-
16 ments of subdivision three of this section must have at least twenty-
17 five full-time job equivalents unless such business is a business entity
18 operating predominantly in manufacturing then it must have at least five
19 full-time job equivalents and must demonstrate that its benefit-cost
20 ratio is at least ten to one.
21 § 3. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 4 of section 355 of the economic
22 development law, as amended by section 4 of part G of chapter 61 of the
23 laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
24 (a) A participant in the excelsior jobs program who either qualified
25 as a regionally significant project, a community significant project or
26 is located in an investment zone shall be eligible to claim a credit for
27 a period of ten years. For the purposes of this subdivision, the lease
28 payment paid by the business enterprise pursuant to a public housing
29 development in this state shall be eligible real property tax for
30 purposes of this subdivision.
31 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and shall apply to taxable
32 years beginning on and after January 1, 2026.
