Revere council approves 15‑year tax increment exemption for Portico at Suffolk Downs

The Revere City Council on May 12 approved a 15‑year tax increment exemption (TIE) agreement with SDR 3 Owner LLC (the HYM Investing group) for the Portico phase of the Suffolk Downs redevelopment, a measure councilors said is intended to get construction moving and create local jobs.

The agreement, which passed by roll call vote, keeps the previously negotiated 50% abatement level and extends the abatement term from 10 to 15 years. Tom Skowalski, the city’s chief of planning and community development, told the council “we now have a $5,200,000 set of payments that will be coming back to the city.” Skowalski said the package also includes a $100,000 payment at commencement or by Nov. 30, 2025; a 10% local-hire commitment for Revere workers on the project; a 1.5% net‑proceeds return to the city if the project is sold within 10 years; and several front‑loaded community items including concert-ticket allocations and study work on a potential commercial food incubator and a regional pumping station.

Why it matters: City officials and union representatives said approving the TIE is intended to spur shovels in the ground on a long‑stalled site and to generate tax and other revenues for Revere. Opponents and some councilors pressed for tighter, objective milestones and clearer definitions of “commencement” and “substantial completion,” noting the city’s limited leverage once the agreement is executed.

Key details and council debate

Skowalski and the mayor described the approved TIE as largely consistent with the version discussed at the council’s April meeting but with additional financial commitments negotiated in the days before the May 12 meeting. Skowalski said the agreement retains a 15‑year abatement at 50% and added that the most significant new near‑term revenue is the roughly $5.2 million in payments to the city, including the signing/commencement amount. The council heard that the agreement also ties the last two years of abatement to “substantial completion” — if Portico is not substantially complete by November 2028, the developer would forfeit those years of abatement.

Councilors repeatedly pressed staff and the developer for an objective definition of when construction is considered to have begun. Skowalski and representatives said the objective measure under discussion is the pulling of building permits; developer representatives agreed pulling the building permit is a meaningful threshold and said the team plans to start construction “this summer, if we can.” Ryan O’Brien, a HYM representative, told the council, “We wanna start this project as soon as possible this summer, if we can.”

Supporters — including several councilors and union representatives who attended the meeting — emphasized the project’s union hiring commitment and the possibility of restoring local jobs and municipal revenues. Critics pressed for tighter dates and written, enforceable milestones. Councilor Jaramillo and others expressed concern that the council and community received final versions of the negotiated side‑agreement shortly before the meeting and asked for assurances that the mayor would not sign an agreement that materially differs from the terms described to the council.

Formal action

The council’s roll call approved the tax increment exemption agreement between the city and SDR 3 Owner LLC; the motion passed by recorded vote. The approved agreement includes a November 30, 2025 deadline for commencement (as interpreted in the side agreement), a 15‑year abatement term, and the additional payment and program items described above.

What the agreement does not do

The TIE is a financial incentive; it does not itself deliver construction financing, and several councilors and the developer noted that further construction financing and related documents must be finalized before substantial on‑site work begins. The council discussion made clear the TIE contains clawbacks tied to objective milestones (building-permit filing and substantial completion) but leaves some implementation details to the separate development agreement the mayor will sign.

Next steps

The mayor is authorized to execute the TIE document consistent with the terms presented to the council and with the parallel development agreement the administration expects to sign with HYM. City staff said they will monitor the developer’s progress on permits and construction milestones and report back to the council as required.