By Amanda Fries on November 20, 2016 at 7:44 PM

ALBANY — The city Industrial Development Agency recently approved a tax abatement for developers looking to purchase Thurlow Terrace Apartments and renovate the low-income senior and handicapped apartment complex.

Preservation Development Partners, the prospective buyers of complex at 2 Thurlow Terrace in Albany, sought a 35-year payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, to purchase the high-rise and renovate the 137 units, update heating and cooling systems and improve security. Residents will not be displaced during the renovation.

The $21 million purchase and renovation of Thurlow Terrace wouldn’t be possible without the assistance, the developers had said.

While Thurlow Terrace currently has a PILOT, the potential buyers say under a new agreement they’d pay about 30 percent more. The city would receive 10 percent of the amount of rent collected, which Preservation Development plans to increase through U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development charges.

Current owner LAS Albany Redevelopment Co. paid $127,375 this year under the PILOT agreement, a roughly 75 percent reduction in taxes.