WOODCLIFF LAKE—The Borough Council approved two tax settlements covering multi-year tax appeals for office buildings at 300 Tice Boulevard and 595 Chestnut Ridge Road during its July 15 meeting.
Officials did not immediately clarify the potential impacts on property taxes resulting from the settlements. Both Tax Court settlements approved by the council reduced the value of land improvements at the two office building sites. Pascack Press reached out to the tax collector and chief finance officer for details on the local tax impact but did not receive a response by press time.
“I’m not happy with them [the settlements],” Mayor Carlos Rendo told Pascack Press. He acknowledged that while the settlements were “good for the situation that we’re in,” he emphasized that the borough should “look at repurposing that (office) sector.”
Rendo highlighted the borough’s challenges with corporate and office space downsizing, stressing the importance of protecting local interests and preventing overdevelopment.
The council meeting agenda listed the terms of both settlements as “set forth in the Stipulation of Settlement, annexed hereto and made part hereof,” but no annex or detailed settlement was included in the resolutions or agenda. The public was unaware of the settlements’ terms before the council vote.
The resolutions indicated that residents could review a copy “on file” in the Borough Clerk’s office but did not specify whether this could be done before or after the council vote.
We requested copies of the settlements after Monday’s meeting and received them on Tuesday, July 16, from the clerk’s office.
300 Tice Boulevard
300 Tice Boulevard is a three-story, 240,000 square-foot office building with 600 surface parking spaces and 220 covered spaces, built in 1991. A LoopNet profile cites three current tenants and available office space on all three floors: LPL Financial on the 1st floor, BHI on the 2nd floor, and PKF O’Connor Davies, LLP on the 3rd floor.
“The parties agree that the applicable tax refund shall not exceed $375,000,” wrote Tax Court Judge Jonathan Orsen in a Stipulation of Settlement agreement issued in mid-February. The property’s total 2024 assessment is set at $35,000,000.
Prior to the Tax Court settlement, the borough had assessed the property at $42,159,500 in 2021, which was reduced to $39,305,600 by the court. Over six years of tax appeals filed by Hudson-Tice LLC, the court consistently lowered the assessed value of land improvements, including appeals from 2018 to 2023.
595 Chestnut Ridge Road
595 Chestnut Ridge Road housed a dental practice and was listed in late June by the Adamo Group for $3,625,000, according to the New Jersey Multiple Listing Service. It is owned by Chestnut Ridge Associates.
Chestnut Ridge Associates appealed assessments in 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. In 2020 and 2021, the court maintained the assessment at $4,462,800, matching the borough’s original assessment.
In 2023, the court agreed to a slight increase in the assessed value of land improvements, raising the total assessment to $4,568,400.
However, in 2023, when the borough assessed the property at $5,029,300, the court lowered that assessment to $4,400,000. The Tax Court concluded that the parties “mutually agree” that the 2024 tax assessment shall be $3,970,000.