New Jersey MetroMall Urban Renewal is actually Ohio-based Glimcher Realty Trust. Under a complicated agreement with the city, county and state, Glimcher pays real estate taxes only on the land.
Under a 30-year tax abatement agreement on the mall itself, the company makes annual payments in lieu of taxes, about $8.9 million a year, with the money going to pay off some $140 million in NJ EDA bonds used to build the mall's infrastructure. Glimcher also pays a franchise fee of 3% based on mall sales, with a guaranteed minimum escalating to $5.6 million after the mall's third year of operation.
According to a Glimcher spokesman, the rationale behind the property tax reduction is that the cleanup and capping of the former municipal landfill constitutes a property improvement, just like actual construction of Jersey Gardens. Because of that, according to the spokesman, the land itself should be eligible for a tax abatement.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
