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Downtown Phoenix: Who Gets Tax Breaks — And Who Doesn't

By Tom Carlson, Antonia Noori Farzan

Wednesday, May 31, 2017 at 9:43 a.m.

Tom Carlson Skyline Lofts, between Third and Fourth streets at Fillmore Street, paid no taxes last year. 1/36

Tom Carlson Proxy 333 at McKinley and Fourth streets paid $17,379.28 in taxes last year. 2/36

Tom Carlson The large Roosevelt Point development between Roosevelt and McKinley streets and Third and Fourth streets was the recipient of a GPLET tax break. It paid no taxes last year. 3/36

Tom Carlson The large Roosevelt Point development between Roosevelt and McKinley streets and Third and Fourth streets was the recipient of a GPLET tax break. It paid no taxes last year. 4/36

Tom Carlson Artisan Homes occupies the blocks between Roosevelt and Portland streets and Fifth and Seventh streets. It paid $96,000 in taxes in 2016. 5/36

Tom Carlson iLuminate, on the northwest corner of Roosevelt and Third streets, paid $26,178.64 in property taxes last year while under construction. 6/36

Tom Carlson Linear, across from ILuminate on the southwest corner of Third and Roosevelt streets, paid $27,986.28 in taxes last year. 7/36

Tom Carlson The Alliance Apartments, which are currently under construction on Roosevelt Row, did not receive a GPLET from the city. 8/36

Tom Carlson Like other condos downtown, En Hance Condominiums, just north of Portland on Third, don't qualify for a GPLET and pay full property taxes to the city. 9/36

Tom Carlson GPLET helped finance Roosevelt Square at Portland Street and First Avenue, which currently has an abatement and paid no taxes last year. 10/36

Tom Carlson GPLET helped finance Roosevelt Square at Portland Street and First Avenue, which currently has an abatement and paid no taxes last year. 11/36

Tom Carlson Portland on the Park at Portland Street and First Avenue didn't receive a tax break. 12/36

Tom Carlson Union @ Roosevelt was financed with the help of a GPLET. The property is at Roosevelt Street and First Avenue. 13/36

Tom Carlson Native American Connections doesn't have a GPLET from the city, and pays just over $17,500 a year in property taxes for their apartment complex downtown. 14/36

Tom Carlson, Antonia Noori Farzan Apartment buildings often get GPLETs, but townhouse developments, like Townhomes on 3rd, don't. 15/36

Tom Carlson, Antonia Noori Farzan The Embassy Condominiums pay full property taxes to the city. 16/36

Tom Carlson, Antonia Noori Farzan The construction of McKinley Row is still in progress. The condominiums were not eligible for a GPLET, which is only available to apartment buildings and commercial construction. 17/36

Tom Carlson, Antonia Noori Farzan The Met Apartments at 200 Fillmore between Second and Third streets are fully taxed and paid $192,582.68 last year. 18/36

Tom Carlson The St. Croix Villas paid $42,000 in property taxes last year 19/36

Tom Carlson Arizona Center initially received a GPLET, which has since ended. It now pays full property taxes. 20/36

Tom Carlson Arizona Center initially received a GPLET, which has since ended. It now pays full property taxes. 21/36

Tom Carlson The Arizona Republic pays full price when it comes to property taxes. 22/36

Tom Carlson The parking garage between First and Second streets on Van Buren Street pays $435,000 in taxes. 23/36

Tom Carlson 333 North Central Avenue, home to the Westin Phoenix Downtown, is valued at $122,433,600 and paid $63,195 in taxes last year. 24/36

Tom Carlson The Hilton Garden Inn, taxed to the tune of $250,000. 25/36

Tom Carlson Condominiums, like these at 44 West Monroe, are not eligible for the GPLET. 26/36

Tom Carlson Condominiums, like these at 44 West Monroe, are not eligible for the GPLET. 27/36

Tom Carlson U.S. Bank's tower pays $892,000 in taxes. 28/36

Tom Carlson The downtown Renaissance received a GPLET when it underwent a rebrand. Previously, it was known as the Wyndham Phoenix Hotel. 29/36

Tom Carlson The Hyatt ponies up $1.9M in tax revenue. 30/36

Tom Carlson The Phelps Dodge tower is valued at $163,978,000, but pays only $64,036.52 in taxes thanks to a GPLET. 31/36

Tom Carlson If you guessed Wells Fargo coughed up a cool million in taxes on this building, you'd be right. 32/36

Tom Carlson The GPLET agreement for the new $80 million Luhrs City Center Marriott specified that the developer also had to restore historic buildings on the block in exchange for receiving a tax break. 33/36

Tom Carlson Supporters of the GPLET argue that projects like CityScape would have been impossible without it. 34/36

Tom Carlson A newly GPLET-abated project is Block 23, future site of the downtown Fry's, which is receiving a tax break valued at an estimated $18.3 million. 35/36

Tom Carlson Collier Center received a GPLET in 2007 and now pays a reduced tax rate of roughly a fifth of what property taxes would normally cost. 36/36

Downtown Phoenix: Who Gets Tax Breaks — And Who Doesn't

Critics of Phoenix's use of the Government Property Lease Excise Tax, or GPLET (pronounced jeep-let) for short, often argue that it creates an uneven playing field. Often, seemingly identical apartment complexes, office buildings, or hotels sit side-by-side, one receiving a substantial reduction in their property taxes, the other not.

Which buildings downtown pay no taxes, and which pay several hundred thousand a year? Keep reading to find out.

Information for this slideshow was provided by the Arizona Tax Research Association, Maricopa County Assessor, and Maricopa County Treasurer's Office.

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