Local lawmakers in Prince George’s County have approved a tax incentive worth an estimated $33 million for a big mixed-used project in Oxon Hill, which in turn is hoped to spur further economic development in the area.
An affiliate of D.C.-based Petra Development is behind the “The Promise,” planned to comprise 808,000 square feet of mixed-use development, including senior living, more than 100 affordable units, a grocer and day care at 1501 Southern Ave., about a quarter mile from the Green Line’s Southern Avenue Metro station. To incentivize that project’s advancement, the county council, at its Nov. 7 meeting, approved a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes arrangement, or PILOT — a tax subsidy where a developer, instead of paying full property taxes on an improved property over some specified period, pays some negotiated lesser amount to a local government.
Through that mechanism, in the form of foregone tax revenues, the county will subsidize the developer to the tune of about $33 million, but still receive about $10 million in net positive revenue through new property and income taxes as of a result of the development taking place, according to a county staff presentation.
