Kushners buying 4th New Jersey property in tax-break zone
Jared Kushner’s family company is buying another property in a New Jersey beach town where developers can get big tax breaks thanks to a new federal program pushed by Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump. The Kushner Cos. is negotiating to buy land already approved for retail space and apartments in one of thousands of new Opportunity Zones offering tax breaks around the country, Long Branch Business Administrator George Jackson said Thursday. It would be the fourth Kushner purchase in an Opportunity Zone in the town since the program was included in the Republican-led tax overhaul law passed in December last year. The program has been praised as a smart way to attract money into high-poverty areas long neglected by private investors. But critics say it includes too many gentrifying neighborhoods already attracting investment and is a giveaway to wealthy developers. The Kushner Cos. did not respond to repeated requests for comment. An earlier report in the Asbury Park Press on the deal quotes a Kushner spokeswoman saying the purchase is “under contract.” News of the possible purchase follows an Associated Press investigation that showed Jared Kushner owns stakes in 13 Opportunity Zones properties, all in locations deemed by the Urban Institute in Washington to be showing indications of rapid change or full-out gentrification, including ones in Long Branch. Six of properties are in New York City’s Brooklyn Heightsneighborhood overlooking the Manhattan skyline and where apartments sell for millions each. The Kushner Cos. has given no indication that it plans take advantage of the tax breaks for its properties. Under the law, it is difficult for developers to get the breaks if their properties were bought before the law was passed, though there are ways around the requirement.
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