On June 1, 2021, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) announced that it is now accepting applications for the residential component of the Economic Redevelopment and Growth (ERG) Program.
The ERG program, which was originally created to address project financing gaps in redevelopment projects, previously stopped accepting new applications in June 2019 because its enabling legislation ended. The Authority first announced the re-opening of the program, enabled by $50 million in tax credits designated in the Economic Recovery Act of 2020 (ERA), in March.
The ERA was signed by Governor Phil Murphy on January 7, 2021 to address the ongoing economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and build a stronger, fairer New Jersey economy. Under the ERA, residential ERG projects can receive tax credits of up to 30 percent of total eligible project costs.
Projects in Atlantic City, Camden, Paterson, Passaic, and Trenton can receive tax credits of up to 40 percent of eligible project costs. ERG tax credits are not meant to be a substitute for conventional debt and equity financing, and applicants should generally have their primary debt financing in place before applying.
The new phase of the ERG program will be administered based on pre-existing ERG regulations and statutes, as amended by the ERA, which added new prevailing wage and minimum wage requirements.
Questions can be directed to ergextension@njeda.com.
Apply by December 31, 2021.
Photo of historic bank building in Passaic, New Jersey is courtesy of CBRE Group, Inc.