Backers of the tax breaks, which would come through the state's Keystone Opportunity Improvement Zone program, were under pressure to get the deal approved this month. Council is expected to begin its recess Thursday.
The produce terminal, which employs 1,100, is being wooed aggressively by New Jersey, which has offered to build a $98 million facility in Camden. The opportunity zone is a key component of Pennsylvania's counteroffer.
Comcast and Liberty Property Trust, the Malvern-based developer of its planned building, say they must start construction before interest rates rise and steel becomes more expensive.
The tax-break ordinance, as initially proposed, included a provision sought by Street that would have rescinded tax breaks granted to a pair of big Philadelphia law firms, Dechert L.L.P. and Woodcock Washburn L.L.P.
The firms announced on Christmas Eve that they had signed 15-year leases at Cira Centre, which Brandywine Realty Trust is building next to 30th Street Station.
A short time later, Brandywine began construction. It expects to complete the 32-story glass tower, designed by renowned architect Cesar Pelli, by late next year.
The Street administration had sought to rescind the tax break because the firms used a provision it said had been intended only for small businesses.
Cira Centre is among the first office towers to be built in an opportunity zone, so the law-firm loophole had gone unnoticed since the program was created in 1998 by the administration of Gov. Tom Ridge, Deputy City Commerce Director Duane Bumb told Council.
Opportunity zones waive property and business taxes, but not the city wage and state income taxes, for up to 15 years. Because law-firm partners receive a share of profits instead of wages, they would avoid taxes on their personal income, unlike their employees.
