Wayne Mall, Inc. v. Township of Wayne

2 N.J. Tax 1
CourtNew Jersey Tax Court
DecidedJuly 22, 1980
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 2 N.J. Tax 1 (Wayne Mall, Inc. v. Township of Wayne) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Jersey Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wayne Mall, Inc. v. Township of Wayne, 2 N.J. Tax 1 (N.J. Super. Ct. 1980).

Opinion

HOPKINS, J. T. C.

This is an appeal from the judgments of the Passaic County Board of Tax Appeals as to the assessed value of property described as Block 596, Lot 16, in the taxing district of Wayne.

The following schedule shows original assessment, County Board judgment and claimed assessment values of the parties:

Year Assessment County Board Taxpayer Taxing District

1976 $1,199,300 $1,199,300 $971,000 $1,350,000

1977 $1,199,300 $1,199,300 $916,000 $1,350,000

1978 $1,199,300 $1,199,300 $920,000 $1,350,000

The issues presented to the court are (1) what is the true value of "subject property as of the appropriate assessment dates; and (2) whether the provisions of Chapter 123 of the Laws of 1973 apply to taxable year 1978. As no evidence was presented in support of the allegation of a discriminatory assessment for 1976 and 1977, it is concluded that plaintiff has abandoned that issue.

Subject property is an irregularly shaped parcel having 491 foot frontage on Valley Road, 210 foot frontage along Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike, and approximately 400 foot frontage along Hinchman Avenue, in an area of 10.13 acres, in the Township of Wayne. The parcel is at street grade with both Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike and Hinchman Avenue, while the bulk of the property is approximately 10 to 15 feet below the grade of Valley Road. There is an access ramp from Valley Road.

[5]*5The property is improved with three separate structures. The main structure is a retail store building containing 14 separate tenants. The general finish of this building consists of an all masonry exterior with face brick front and a flat, built up roof over metal decking. The interiors have all concrete floors with T-bar grid ceilings, a mixture of masonry and dry wall partitioning and asphalt tile floors. The individual stores are fully heated and airconditioned by combination units and have adequate toilet facilities throughout the building. The building is fully sprinkler protected. This building was built so that there would be a major supermarket tenant with satellite stores. The last major tenant was Pantry Pride, which closed down operations prior to the years involved. However, rentals were paid until 1977. That tenant had subleased the store for two years to a freight salvage company. The subtenant moved out at the end of the term.

The second building was a former Robert Hall retail store which, in 1977, was converted into a computer center for a Savings and Loan Association. This building has brick veneer exterior walls with a flat, built up roof. Interior finish consists of generally asphalt tile over concrete floors, T-bar grid ceilings and dry wall partitioning. The heat is provided by a combination forced hot air and airconditioning unit. The building has strip fluorescent lighting and adequate toilet fixtures. It is fully sprinkler protected.

The third building on the lot is a car wash having masonry exterior walls with a gable type asphalt shingle roof. The interior has essentially no finish except for a 250 square foot office and waiting area having panelled walls and T-bar grid ceilings. This area is the only space that is heated and airconditioned. In addition, there are men’s and ladies’ toilet facilities. This building is owned by the operator of the car wash who leases the land from plaintiff under a 99 year lease at $10,000 a year.

Other improvements include a metal deck canopy running the entire length of both the retail buildings and computer center, [6]*6covering the sidewalk access areas. In addition, the main retail area has two concrete loading docks in the rear of the building. There is exterior lighting used in illuminating the parking area of approximately 200,000 square feet. This parking area is paved with macadam paving and contains curbing.

Under date of July 22, 1976, John M. Galesi and M. Michael Galesi, individuals, entered into an agreement with Wayne Mall, Inc., relative to the sale by the Galesis of property located in Endicott, New York, known as “Goodyear Property” at a price of $60,000 in excess of the mortgage on said property. As part of that same agreement, Wayne Mall, Inc., agreed to sell a one-half interest in the subject property to the Galesis for $175,000 in excess of the balance due on two mortgages on the property whose principal balances would not exceed $567,997.46 as of the closing date. The contract further provided that the Galesis had a six year option to purchase the remaining one-half interest for an equal $175,000 plus 50 percent of the reduction in the principal balances of the mortgages and 50 percent of any capital expenditures made by Wayne Mall, Inc., reduced by depreciation.

The aforesaid contract permitted Wayne Mall, prior to August 10, 1976, to elect not to purchase the Goodyear property. The closing statement as of June 30, 1976, relative to the sale of the one-half interest in the subject property was consistent with those provisions of the contract indicating that the Goodyear property was not acquired by Wayne Mall, Inc.

Plaintiff introduced testimony through an expert witness in support of its position that the true value as of October 1, 1975, October 1, 1976, and October 1, 1977, was in the respective amounts of $971,000, $916,000 and $1,000,000. In reaching that conclusion, plaintiff’s expert utilized both the cost analysis approach and an economic analysis approach for all years.

In both approaches, a land value of $50,000 an acre for all years was utilized.

In the cost analysis approach as of October 1, 1975, plaintiff’s appraiser utilized the real property appraisal manual for New [7]*7Jersey Assessors and concluded that the construction costs of the improvements, as of that date, after taking into consideration physical depreciation of 20 percent and a functional-economic depreciation of 55 percent, amounted to $932,300. He added a figure of $26,400 to his cost to reflect the depreciated value of the car wash. He testified that under the cost analysis approach, the value of the improvements amounted to $442,200 which, when added to the value he attributed to the land, namely $506,500, amounted to $958,700.

Under the economic analysis approach as of October 1, 1975, plaintiffs appraiser utilized actual rents, together with receipts from tenants for maintenance participation, tax participation, and overages and telephone commissions, to reach a gross income of $197,161. From this he deducted a vacancy and credit loss of 5 percent, giving him an effective gross income of $187,303. Utilizing actual expenses for utilities, payroll, payroll taxes, insurance, repairs and maintenance, and legal and accounting fees, together with a 5 percent management fee and a 2 percent reserve for replacements, he arrived at a net income, before taxes and recapture, of $131,855. Valuing the land at $506,500 and using a capitalization rate of 12.79 percent, he arrived at a figure of $64,781 as being attributable to the land. The capitalization rate was arrived at by assuming a 75 percent mortgage at 9 percent, an equity of 25 percent at 12 percent, and a tax rate of 3.04 percent. The balance of $67,074, which he attributed to the building, he capitalized at a rate of 15.29 percent which consisted of the aforesaid 12.79 percent plus a recapture rate of 2.5 percent predicated on a 40 year life. His computations resulted in a value to the buildings of $438,700 which, when added to the land value of $506,500, gave him a total of $945,200.

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Bluebook (online)
2 N.J. Tax 1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wayne-mall-inc-v-township-of-wayne-njtaxct-1980.