The Appellate Division recently held equitable relief is available under the New Jersey Spill Compensation and Control Act (“Spill Act”), N.J.S.A. 58:10-23.11, et seq., for the investigation of contamination before relative responsibility for remediation is established.

The New Jersey Appellate Court, in Matejek v. Watson (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div., Mar. 3, 2017), upheld a judgment obligating five condominium owners to participate in and equally share the cost of investigating the cause of contamination without first requiring proof that property owners contributed to the contamination.

Continue Reading Appellate Decision Upholds Requiring Contribution for Spill Act Investigations Prior to Adjudicating Ultimate Responsibility

As seen on:  NJ1015.com

The Assembly Regulatory Oversight and Reform and Federal Relations Committee could vote in the coming weeks on a proposed measure to create new liquor licenses for restaurants.

To better understand the issue, the panel has reached out to several experts for testimony, including Rutgers University finance professor Morris Davis, who is also the director of the Center for Real Estate at Rutgers.

Link to full article

Link to Summary of Proposed Liquor License Law

As seen in:  NJ Municipalities Magazine

Sills Cummis & Gross was pleased to have represented the redeveloper in all aspects of this project, including the novel public incentives mentioned in the article.

Link to full article

Reprinted from NJ Municipalities Magazine March 2017 issue, courtesy of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities www.njslom.org.

Previously issued Response Action Outcomes (“RAOs”)  and No Further Action (“NFA”) letters (collectively known as “Final Remediation Documents” or “FRDs”) do not waive the requirement for a new RAO when there is a new triggering event under the Industrial Site Recovery Act (“ISRA”), N.J.S.A. 13:1K-6 to -14.

Continue Reading Don’t Live in the Past: Property Owners Can’t Use Prior Final Remediation Documents To Avoid New Response Action Outcomes

Applications Will Be Accepted Beginning January 3, 2017

TRENTON, N.J. (December 13, 2016) – To stimulate the redevelopment of underutilized properties and catalyze future development opportunities in strategic urban areas, the Board of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) today approved an expansion of its Real Estate Impact Fund. Originally created as a pilot program to provide early capital to private developers, the Fund will now offer a public component, allowing Urban Aid municipalities and eligible local redevelopment agencies or county improvement authorities to also qualify for low-interest financing.
Continue Reading NJEDA Spotlights Sills Cummis-Led Redevelopment Project Involving First-Ever Loan under Real Estate Impact Fund, Announces Expansion of Fund to Foster Revitalization of Underutilized Sites

As seen in:  RealEstateNJ’s The Briefing

Meryl Gonchar, a veteran and well-known land use attorney in New Jersey, has a new home at one of the state’s powerhouse law firms.

The attorney has joined Newark-based Sills Cummis & Gross, where she will co-chair the land use group within the firm’s 33-attorney real estate department.

“Sills is involved in incredibly exciting projects and I am excited to be working on those projects,” Gonchar said. “There are people I’ve known for years and other people I’ve known more recently … and I like them tremendously and I’m excited to be working with them.”

Link to full article

A municipality’s ability to impose labor requirements as a condition of a tax break was recently called into question by a federal appeals court decision.  In an apparent “first impression” opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that the City of Jersey City is acting as a regulator, not a market participant, when it enforces its property tax abatement ordinance. (Associated Builders and Contractors Inc. New Jersey Chapter et als. v. City of Jersey City, Docket No. 2-14-cv-05445).  This ruling could have a significant effect on whether municipalities can adopt ordinances tying property tax exemptions or other incentives to requirements such as PLAs. The decision arguably could even have a ripple effect on state or locally-imposed prevailing wage and affirmative action requirements tied to the granting of incentives.

Continue Reading Municipal Ordinances Requiring Developers to Enter Into Project Labor Agreements as Condition of Tax Exemption May Be in Jeopardy

HUD recently released Area Median Income Limits for FY 2016.  AMIs are used to set eligibility thresholds for a number of federal subsidy programs, including the Low Income Housing Tax Credit and the Section 8 program.  Click here to view the income limits for New Jersey.