New Jersey Awards Five Opportunity Zone Challenge Grants

TRENTON, NJ— The New Jersey Economic Development Authority recently announced five communities that will receive grants through the Opportunity Zone Challenge Program. Cumberland County, Hackensack, Flemington Borough, Paterson, and Jersey City each won $100,000 through the program.

The plans will support efforts to attract community-supported Opportunity Zone investments, build investment readiness, and help the respective communities to meet their goals for Opportunity Fund investment.

NJEDA Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan says, “The five plans that will receive funding through this round of the Challenge represent the kind of proactive thinking we need to not only address the challenges we face today but also to lay the groundwork for long-term, sustainable economic growth.”

The Opportunity Zone program is a federal tax incentive designed to spur investment in the most disinvested rural and urban communities. The program includes more than 8,700 Opportunity Zones in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Washington DC, and the US territories. Through the program, private investors with capital gains can make investments in Opportunity Zone business equity or real estate projects through Qualified Opportunity Zone Funds, which are purposely designed to be long-term capital investments. New Jersey designated 169 zones in 75 communities, with at least one in each county.

The first round of applications for the Opportunity Zone Challenge opened on August 1, 2019 and concluded on September 16, 2019. Of the 22 applications submitted, the NJEDA selected five communities to receive grants. The five projects receiving funding are:

: The Cumberland County plan is a combined marketing and regulatory reform initiative built around a microtargeting-driven marketing campaign focused on attracting Opportunity Zone investment, a county-specific Opportunity Zone website, and stakeholder meetings. Regulatory reforms included in the plan will consist of an in-depth analysis of areas in need of redevelopment and rehabilitation in Cumberland County Opportunity Zones as well as the implementation of policies that will support community-backed projects.

The Hackensack plan will facilitate the Hackensack Life Science Zone Assessment Report. This report will build on the Bergen Life Science and Technology report, which found that specific areas within the City of Hackensack’s Opportunity Zones would serve as a feasible location for the construction of a life science park. The Hackensack Life Science Zone Assessment plan will further investigate these areas to assess their conditions and determine whether they are suitable for the creation of life science zone. The city will partner with the Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC) to provide technical expertise and industry data that will guide the planning process. Once this plan is complete, the city will have the information it needs to designate the tract as an area in need of redevelopment for life science purposes.

The Flemington plan includes a series of charrettes (in-depth community stakeholder meetings) to help create community participation in Opportunity Zone strategic planning, a borough-wide examination of zoning to reduce regulatory hurdles and encourage development, and new project marketing plans designed to showcase Flemington’s Opportunity Zone investment projects.

The Paterson plan will examine street-level zoning codes and regulations in each of the city’s eight Opportunity Zones to ensure investors have the information they need to successfully guide a project to completion. The Paterson plan will increase the city’s short-term capacity to attract Opportunity Zone investments by providing a user-friendly catalogue of zoning codes and regulations and will increase long-term capacity by jumpstarting efforts to update antiquated redevelopment plans in a way that capitalizes on the Opportunity Zone program.

The Jersey City plan will consist of an in-depth, partner-oriented financial feasibility study leading to an investment prospectus to enhance the infrastructural and economic capacity of the two Opportunity Zones located in the Journal Square neighborhood, which is poised to be the Jersey City Cultural Arts District. The Jersey City Department of Planning will hire a consulting firm and work with identified strategic partners to conduct a financial feasibility study of Journal Square. The project team will then use this study to create a financial prospectus showcasing the advantages of investing in the Journal Square Opportunity Zones.