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Real Estate Journal — Spring Preview —April 28 - May 11, 2017 — 11C
M id A tlantic
M ixed -U se /M ixed -I ncome
ew Je r s ey Hous - ing and Mortgage F i n a n c e A g e n c y New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency Mixed-use P3 projects help revitalize New Jersey’s hardest hit Sandy-impacted areas N
and thriving hub. After the superstorm, developers eyed devastated areas as well as formerly blighted swaths of cities and towns across the nine most Sandy-impacted counties with renewed vision. By leveraging Low Income Housing Tax Credits with FRM financing, thousands more units than could have been financed with just FRM were created in these targeted areas. “Mixed-use and mixed-in- come projects, with affordable or both affordable/market rate units set atop ground floor
commercial spaces, have been game changers for struggling communities,” Marchetta ex- plains. “The quality of the affordable housing product today is equal to – or exceeds – market rate products. To- gether with the P3 trend, de- velopers have vastly improved affordable housing with high- quality designs, standard fea- tures, amenities and support programs that increase quality of life for all residents.” Successful mixed-use/mixed- income NJHMFA-financed P3s include: • Hahne and Co. (Essex
County): rehab/new construc- tion of long-vacant 400,000 s/f downtown Newark department store; NJHMFA financed 160 mixed-income units and 80,000 s/f of 175,000 total s/f retail/ commercial space. 4% LIHTC; Conduit. Opened Dec. 2016. • Linc 32 at Orange Sta- tion (Essex County): next to NJ Transit rail station and regional bus station, mixed- income, mixed-use, 113-units; approx. 6,000 s/f of retail and a 222-slot parking facility built around a pedestrian-friendly public plaza that links Main Street to Orange Station. 9%
LIHTC; MF Agency funds. Opened Dec. 2016. • The Aspire (Middlesex County): 238-unit mixed-in- come project; 48 affordable units and 10,000 s/f commer- cial, one block from the train station, close to Rutgers Col- lege, walkable to shops/ dining. Conduit; 4% LIHTC; FRM. Opened June 2015. • Pleasantville City Center (Atlantic County): mixed-use, mixed-income project; 135 units, 10 reserved for special needs; approx. 18,000 s/f of re- tail. Tax Credit Only. Opened Nov. 2015. n
(NJHMFA) E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r Anthony L. Ma r che t t a h a s o v e r - seen mo r e t h a n $ 5 . 2 billion in fi- nancing for
AnthonyMarchetta
affordable multifamily, single family and special needs de- velopments across the state. When Marchetta took over the Agency reins in 2010, however, a hobbled economy was still struggling with The Great Recession of 2008. “The Federal Reserve kept interest rates so low that our competitive advantage was gone,” Marchetta recalls. “A developer could go to a bank and borrow at rates equal to, if not lower, than what we could offer. By early 2012 a newCon- duit Bond program allowed us to enter the marketplace with strong developers that could bring credit enhancements to guarantee those bonds. Their involvement pushed the Agen- cy’s AA bond rating to an AAA equivalent for insured Conduit Bonds, allowing developers to reduce costs and build more units.” When Superstorm Sandy slammed into New Jersey’s coast in late October 2012, Marchetta was only starting to move the financing needle from “practically none to may- be some” development, utiliz- ing Conduit Bond. By late spring 2013, federal Commu- nity Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) dollars through the Fund for Restoration of Multifamily Housing (FRM) program were available in yearly increments for developers to create new and replacement affordable rental housing in the nine most Sandy-impacted coun- ties. Before 2008, mixed-use “walkable communities” cre- ated by public-private part- nerships (P3) hit its stride as a viable way to revitalize decaying neighborhoods and downtown districts. P3s bring together government, business and non-profits to share ideas, costs and resources. They generate economic stimulus by luring shops, restaurants and artistic venues that draw patrons, creating a bustling
Linc32 at Orange Station Essex County RPM Development Group
Public-Private Partnerships Revitalize Urban Centers and Downtowns Discover the Difference NJHMFA’s Innovative Financing Makes in Your Next Mixed-Income and Mixed-Use Development
www.njhousing.gov • 609-278-7518
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