A tax appeal settlement with the previous owner of Carriage City Plaza’s hotel and commercial space totaled a refunded of almost $116,000, representing about a 17-percent reduction on property taxes for 2013 through 2016.

City Council adopted a resolution (AR-220-17) during its regular meeting on Oct. 10 that authorized the “refund of overpayments due to successful judgments in the Tax Court of New Jersey.”

The governing body approved a resolution in July that authorized a settlement of the multi-year tax appeal for the commercial space and 100-room hotel at Carriage City Plaza by 80 E. Milton Ave., LLC. The first resolution authorized the settlement based on what the Tax Court settlement is based on and the most recent resolution indicates the actual reduction in taxes based on reduced tax assessments.

The commercial space is listed in tax documents as Block 316, Lot 2, C0101 and will receive refunds in the following amounts per year:

• 2013 – $5,817.21 (11.77% of $49,440.17 tax bill)
• 2014 – $4,013.99 (7.91% of $50,723.90 tax bill)
• 2015 – $448.51 (0.87% of $51,647.79 tax bill)
• 2016 – $453.62 (0.87% of 52,236.86 tax bill)

The 100-room hotel is listed in tax documents as Block 316, Lot 2, C0102 and will receive refunds in the following amounts per year:

• 2013 – $54,961.18 (46.32% of $118,654.23 tax bill)
• 2014 – $21,639.55 (17.78% of $121,734.89 tax bill)
• 2015 – $14,244.84 (11.49% of $123,952.17 tax bill)
• 2016 – $14,407.20 (11.49% of $125,364.96 tax bill)

Total – $115,986.10 (16.72% of combined $693,754.69 tax bill for 2013-16)

Combined property taxes on the two parcels totaled almost $178,000 last year and approached $700,000 for the 2013 through 2016 tax years. A breakdown of totals and assessments can be found in this spreadsheet I created.

80 E. Milton Ave., LLC. sold the hotel and commercial space in January to Watt Hotel, LLC, an entity owned by Bridgeton Holdings, a Manhattan-based investor, owner, developer and manager of commercial and residential real estate. The entire building — except for about 60 condominium units originally — was acquired out of foreclosure in 2010 and 80 E. Milton Ave., LLC. The recent $5-million sale included only the commercial and hotel space, not the approximately 160 residential units that were acquired in foreclosure and have since been rental units.

The 100-room hotel includes 16,686 square feet of space in the first four floors of the 17-story complex, about 6,000 of which Bridgeton Holdings plans to reclaim for the lobby area, housing a casual drinks and dining option.

The hotel space has been vacant since September 2013 when Hotel Indigo, the original tenant, left after its contract expired. The commercial space occupies the first two floors of the building and the hotel occupies the third and fourth floors of the 17-story Carriage City Plaza.