Kearny Point Annex Project Secures $14.5M in New Market Tax Credit Financing
The NMTC loans included a $4-million allocation from Capital One Community Renewal Fund and a $10.5-million allocation from NJCC, which also provided Hugo Neu with a $2.5-million term loan.
KEARNY, NJ—New York City-based Hugo Neu Group has secured a total of $14.5 million in New Market Tax Credit loans from Capital One for its the Annex project at Kearny Point here.
The NMTC loans included a $4-million allocation from the Capital One Community Renewal Fund and a $10.5-million allocation from New Jersey Community Capital, which also provided Hugo Neu with a $2.5-million term loan.
The three loans will fund the construction and rehabilitation of The Annex, which is the third structure to be transformed as part of Hugo Neu’s multi-phase $1-billion redevelopment of the former circa WWI/WWII shipyard known as Kearny Point. Construction on the Annex is expected to be completed this April.
“We’re incredibly excited by the opportunity to bring a flex office environment like The Annex to Kearny Point’s already thriving community of innovative and forward-thinking companies,” says Michael Meyer, director of development for Hugo Neu. “Lenders like Capital One and New Jersey Community Capital not only make projects like this possible, but remain critical to the continued realization of our vision at Kearny Point: to provide opportunities to businesses of all shapes and sizes, and to become a model for environmentally and socially conscious redevelopment.”
The 90,000-square-foot Annex will feature two floors of state-of-the-art creative office space, modern amenities and break-out areas in a naturally lit crane-way. The Annex adjoins Building 78, the first building to be renovated at the campus, which is home to more than 200 businesses at the heart of Kearny Point’s community of creators, clean-tech disruptors and small businesses.
The Annex’s office space caters to small businesses, start-up and entrepreneurial companies, including many minority- or women-owned businesses and non-profit organizations. The space also targets businesses working to develop and commercialize technologies and services advancing energy conservation, alternative energy, resiliency, stormwater management, preservation and restoration of natural resources.
Hugo Neu has also created a Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) Fund, HNG Opportunity Fund LLC, and invested a total of more than $10 million into the fund for capital expenses associated with The Annex.
Since its opening in 2016, Kearny Point has emerged as a business hub for companies spearheading a variety of environmental and cleantech innovations, including Bowery Farms, Ciel Power, Oishii Berry and Sembient.
During World War I and II, Kearny Point was one of the world’s most prolific shipyards when it operated as the Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, where as many as 30,000 worked each day. Hugo Neu is transforming the 130-acre industrial complex into a new mixed-use waterfront destination.