Governor Murphy today signed Senate Bill 1323/Assembly Bill 2076, the long-awaited legislation correcting many of the impediments holding-back the use of “NJ Aspire” – a potentially powerful financial incentive that was designed to address project financing gaps through the awarding of transferable, pledgeable state tax credits to eligible proposed redevelopment projects.

Click here to view the summary of Aspire 3.0.

In our previous summary of the Aspire legislation approved by both houses of the State Legislature two weeks ago and now awaiting Governor Murphy’s enactment into law (click here to view the summary of Aspire 3.0), we noted the following with respect to the usability of Aspire tax credits:

State Buyback of Tax Credits: The Aspire tax credits are only usable against the Corporate Business Tax and insurance premium taxes. Should a project redeveloper be unable to use directly or sell its credits, the State Treasury will have the discretion to purchase such credits at a floor of 0.85 cents per dollar. (Note that many of the bills’ sponsors will be introducing legislation early in the new year that would obligate the State Treasury to be the “buyer of last resort” for unutilized credits—a step that would provide the certainty and predictability that many equity investors and debt financiers give considerable weight (if not require) in the course of the underwriting process.)

Redevelopers have always struggled to make the numbers work on their proposed projects due to the unique added expenses of redevelopment not typically encountered on “greenfield” new construction projects—costs of land assemblage, environmental remediation, and structured parking, to name a few. Project financing-gaps only widened during and following COVID, as inflation drove up the cost of labor and materials and the Federal Reserve launched a rapid series of interest rate hikes. Adding to the challenge, local incentives—specifically, long-term tax exemptions (PILOTs), even when coupled with redevelopment area bond (RAB) sale proceeds—have generally not been generous enough to make the numbers work.  As a result, even proposed redevelopment projects in tested, primary New Jersey cities have not always penciled-out.

Just about two months after the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (“NJEDA”) approved the Garden State Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy program, or “C-PACE”, it has released form documents for municipalities wanting to opt into the Program.  The documents include a sample ordinance and form Program Agreement to be executed by the NJEDA and the municipality. The C-PACE program will provide low interest rate loans to certain property owners, including commercial and industrial property owners and tax-exempt/nonprofit entities, seeking to undertake certain improvements expand or implement energy efficiency and water conservation (i.e. electric vehicle charging stations and improved stormwater management systems). Municipalities are required to first opt-in before property owners in their town can apply for the Program. The application process for owners has yet to commence, but the NJEDA states it will start accepting applications shortly on a rolling basis.