The city of Boston is giving State Street [profile] a tax break to construct a new office building. Pending approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the fund giant will get an $11.5 million tax cut, spread over 15 years, to build an 11-story office building on the South Boston waterfront, a formerly industrial area the city hopes to spruce up, reports Casey Ross for Boston.com.

State Street is a one of Boston's largest financial-sector employers, and construction of the building is expected to create some 1,200 jobs. The new offices will be located in the Channel Center complex off A Street.

These tax-incentive deals for profitable companies can be controversial. State Street made $1.92 billion in 2011 and paid CEO Joseph Hooley $16 million, Ross reported. Boston gave an even bigger tax break to get Vertex Pharmaceuticals to help develop South Boston, and in 2008 JPMorgan Chase received $4 million to move its offices to the waterfront.

But Boston's mayor Thomas Menino said that the city will win on this deal. He noted that State Street is the city's seventh largest employer, and said that "keeping this economic giant in the city not only ensures that we are retaining jobs, but is a key to attracting new jobs and creating an economically successful and vibrant city." 

Edited by: Chris Cumming


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