Politics & Government

City Grants Tax Exemption to Matrix Project

A residential building to be constructed on the parking lot behind Matrix Properties will proceed with a tax exemption in lieu of an $825,000 payment.

The City Council has granted a long-term tax exemption to a residential project behind the Matrix buildings on George Street. 

Matrix Upper Lot Urban Renewal, LLC was granted the exemption on April 3 for an $825,000 payment in lieu of taxes.

The $825,000 is nine times more than what would be paid on the vacant lot right now, said city planning director Glenn Patterson.

Find out what's happening in New Brunswickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Taxes collected on the lot last year were just over $91,000, Patterson said.

The project consists of a building containing 393 apartments and a 550-spot parking garage in the lot bordered by Neilson Street, New Street and Liberty Street.

Find out what's happening in New Brunswickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to the ordinance, the benefits of the housing ordinance will outweigh the cost of exempting the property from taxes.

"The city council of the City of New Brunswick has determined that the development of the project will result in the provision of residential housing space that will benefit the city and its residents when compared to the cost of the tax abatement and that the abatement approved herein is essential to the project which would not be feasible without the tax abatement approved by this ordinance," the ordinance said.

The term of the agreement is 30 years, Patterson said.

Patterson did not know the start date of the construction, but said that Matrix has already done site work for the garage, and has obtained a building permit for the garage.

"You should see some activity out there very soon," he said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here