The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (“NJEDA”) held its monthly Board meeting on October 9th, 2024 in Trenton, New Jersey. Among other items, the Board approved the creation of the Garden State Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (“C-PACE”) Program, a new program that facilitates private financing for certain clean energy improvements to qualifying properties.

Additionally, the Board approved new rules concerning the NJEDA’s prevailing wage requirements. These changes do not diminish the current regulations, but provide additional clarity on key definitions.

On October 25th, the NJEDA extended the deadline for applications under their Historic Property Reinvestment Program “(HPRP)” until December 5th, 2024. The HPRP is a $50M competitive annual tax credit program supporting rehabilitation of historic properties in New Jersey.

Revisions to the Brownfield Redevelopment Incentive Program (“BRIP”) were signed into law on September 4th, 2024, and the NJEDA will reopen applications after the new rules are issued. Both the Brownfield and Historic programs can be paired with the NJEDA’s Aspire program.

The application for the NJEDA’s Emerging Developer Grant Program remain open until Friday, November 15th. This program provides grants of up to $250,000 for eligible predevelopment softs costs for qualifying developers.

Garden State Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (“C-PACE”) Program

This newly approved program will provide financing opportunities for certain improvements to eligible commercial, industrial, agricultural and multi-family (5 or more dwelling units) properties in participating municipalities. Owners will be able to access financing for these improvements, which will be serviced through the payment of an additional assessment on their property.

C-PACE can cover up to 100% of eligible improvements, which must fall under one of the identified Eligible Improvement Categories:

• Energy Efficiency Improvements
• Water Conservation Improvements
• Renewable Energy System Improvements
• Energy Storage
• Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
• Stormwater Management Systems
• Flood Resistant Construction Improvements
• Hurricane Resistant Construction Improvements
• Microgrid

The application for the C-PACE program has not yet opened.

Historic Property Reinvestment Program

The HPRP is a competitive $50,000,000 annual gap financing tax credit that supports the development of eligible historic properties in qualifying locations in New Jersey. It can be combined with the Federal Historic Tax Credit and covers between 45-60% of eligible costs (not to exceed between $4M-$12M).

The program has approved over $50,000,000 in tax credits for two projects, including the Loews Theater in Jersey City and the Schwehm Building in Atlantic City. The application deadline for the HPRP has been extended to December 5th, 2024. As of the last approval, $155,660,456.59 in program funding remained available.

Brownfield Redevelopment Incentive Program

The Brownfield Redevelopment Incentive Program is a $50M tax credit program that provides funding for environmental-related costs associated with the redevelopment of commercial, retail, and mixed-use projects. The program provides between 60-80% of eligible costs (not to exceed $8M-$12M) on qualifying projects.

To date, the NJEDA has approved one project under the BRIP. On May 8th, 2024, the Board approved a tax credit not to exceed $350,186.50 for the investigation and remediation of a former manufacturing site in Elmwood Park, NJ. As of this approval, $149,649,813 remained in available program funding.

Emerging Developers Grant Program

The Emerging Developer Grant Program is a $20M PILOT program from the NJEDA that provides grant awards of up to $250,000 to support small-scale developers with their predevelopment soft costs.

Approved developers would receive up to 50% of qualifying expenditures in the form of reimbursements of eligible costs including, legal fees, market/feasibility studies, environmental investigations, among others. Developers must have completed no less than two projects, but no more than 5, and only one award can be provided per development entity.

Applications will remain open until Friday, November 15th at 5PM.

For more information, please contact:

Brendan Pytka
Director of Tax Credits & Incentives
Phone: (862) 418-3702
Email: bpytka@murphyllp.com

Chris J. Murphy, Partner
Land Use, Zoning and Redevelopment
Phone: (973) 705-7421
Email: cmurphy@murphyllp.com