New Yorkers have seen “Mamma Mia!,” the ABBA jukebox musical, come and go and come back again. Then a revival of “Chess,” another musical powered by tunes penned by members of the Swedish pop group, opened on Broadway earlier this month.
Now, New York City is wooing a third glitzy outpost of the ABBA-verse with a hefty tax break package to developers connected with ABBA Voyage, a popular London show looking to launch an American production.
Promoters of the venture say it will bring a $500 million construction project to the Far West Side of Manhattan, drawing fans to an unglamorous stretch of 11th Avenue.
The cost to taxpayers: roughly $50 million.
ABBA Voyage, which premiered in London in 2022, stars dancing holograms of young versions of the band members, who are now in their 70s and 80s: Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The show is advertised as showing them “performing for their fans at their very best.”
Backed by a live band, the four “Abbatars” have drawn millions of spectators to the ABBA Arena in London, a custom-built venue specifically designed to support the high-tech production.
The idea of bringing a similar spectacle to the United States has been in the ether for several years. But it moved one step closer to reality last week when the New York City Industrial Development Agency approved an 18-year package of tax incentives worth $49.7 million to the developers.
The city’s Economic Development Corporation said in a statement on Wednesday that the deal was nearly complete and “the next step would be to execute deal documents.” The agency said that the opening of the show and the redevelopment required to do it “would support tourism, create jobs and drive economic returns for New York City.”
Representatives for the partnership behind the project — Clinton PB Associates, a joint venture of Extell Development and Princeton Real Estate Partners — did not respond to messages seeking comment.
The package approved last week would support the acquisition of land on 11th Avenue and the construction of a 174,842-square-foot concert venue there that is expected to be finished in 2028. The venue will have enough space for 3,000 people, the E.D.C. added.
Daniel Clark, the agency’s director of business development, told the board at a meeting last Tuesday that tax breaks were the city’s only hope to lure the production to New York instead of Las Vegas.
But the proposal to offer almost $50 million in tax incentives to a troupe of sequined holograms had its detractors.
James Parrott, a senior fellow at the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School, said the proposal was concerning, especially after the city spent billions of dollars on infrastructure and tax breaks aimed at developing Hudson Yards, also on the Far West Side.
“Why on earth does the city need to keep throwing tax breaks at businesses to locate there, particularly for a project like this that is unlikely to attract additional tourists and most likely will just draw spending away from other attractions?” Mr. Parrott said. “More tax breaks for large, wealthy developers just shift the property tax burden to smaller businesses.”
If the deal were to go through, the planned venue would replace a row of disused buildings in Hell’s Kitchen, including what appeared to have once been a towing company, a hardware and lumber store, and an empty restaurant. The land is next to a major tourist attraction, the Intrepid Museum, and a roughly 15-minute walk to Times Square.
“Despite its Midtown Manhattan location, the land has been languishing for decades,” Sophie King, an assistant vice president at the Economic Development Corporation, told the board at the meeting. She described the buildings as “all currently vacant and in disrepair.”
On Wednesday, construction sheds surrounded the site, which sits on a quiet stretch of 11th Avenue near an empty apartment building and a food court that had gone out of business. Cars and trucks occasionally rumbled past, down the otherwise empty avenue.
Speaking at the board meeting, Mr. Clark said the agency had spent two and a half years working to bring ABBA Voyage to New York.
He described it as “one of our tier one projects” because of “the sizable economic impact and the competitive nature,” and predicted it could attract almost 900,000 concertgoers each year.
The agency said the construction project was expected to create 638 construction jobs, and the finished concert venue was expected to provide 196 full-time jobs.
That projection was based in part on the show’s success in London, where it is performed seven times a week and has sold 3.5 million tickets since it opened in 2022. Tickets range in price, with some currently available for $67, but a spot on the dance floor in front of the stage could cost as much as $168 for a December show.
Liam Stack is a Times reporter who covers the culture and politics of the New York City region.
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