8A — June 12 - 25, 2020 — Creative Financing — Financial Digest — M id A tlantic Real Estate Journal
www.marej.com
C reative F inancing
ew Jersey is one of a select number of states where commer- By Shaun Keegan, Solar Landscape Rooftop leases offer New Jersey commercial property owners long-term revenue N
points for various aspects, including the portion of low- to-moderate income subscrib- ers and level of community support. Solar Landscape was awarded 50 percent of the projects from the last round for prioritizing these aspects, in addition to launching a solar energy jobs training program in partnership with local orga- nizations. Once the project is awarded, construction is required to be complete within 12 months. The majority of solar devel- opers will sell the project to another company that owns, operates and maintains it. There are some companies though, such as Solar Land- scape, that develop, build and own solar energy systems, so lease negotiation, construction planning and lease payments are all handled by the same company long-term. Program Details The community solar pro- gram is approaching the sec- ond application round – ex- pected to open sometime this summer. The second round is expected to be larger than the first, which was limited to 75 megawatts, to make progress on Governor Murphy’s renew- able energy target goals. The first round was limited to 75MW, which is the equivalent of about 7,500,000 s/f in roof space. Shaun Keegan is CEO of Solar Landscape. MAREJ CLINTON, NJ — Unity Bancorp, Inc. was the top ranked New Jersey community bank on the recently published American Banker magazine list of the Top 200 Publicly Traded Community Banks with less than $2 billion in assets. Unity was ranked 15th nationally on the respected industry list, which reviewed 511 institu- tions throughout the U.S. “We are honored to be the top ranked community bank in New Jersey on the American Banker list as it illustrates Unity’s continued financial strength and performance,” said Unity Bank president & CEO James Hughes. The magazine ranked banks and thrifts that had total as- sets of less than $2 billion as of Dec. 31, 2019 and are publicly traded. MAREJ Unity Bank ranked 15th Nationally by industry survey
project as part of New Jersey’s program run by the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) that launched last year. There is no obligation for the building owner to buy any of the power produced, instead, it is fed onto the local utility grid and pur- chased by nearby homeowners and businesses. This is an opportunity for property owners to monetize un-used roof space while pro- viding a pollution-free, afford- able and reliant source of en- ergy for the local community. Lease Structures A solar rooftop lease is sim-
ple, its essentially a long-term silent tenant. Solar companies typically pay a reduced quar- terly lease payment during construction and a full pay- ment when the system begins operating and is intercon- nected to the electric grid. Construction typically lasts 12 weeks. Another lease op- tion some companies offer is to pay a lump sum up front by discounting future lease pay- ments. This is a good option for companies needing to make up income shortfalls in the near- term or if a re-roof is needed. In addition to benefitting
from lease payments, there is an ownership structure that allows for property owners to take advantage of the federal Investment Tax Credit, which is currently 26 percent. The Process A solar developer will han- dle assessing the roof from a structural standpoint and verify that the local utility infrastructure can receive the energy produced. Then a lease agreement is negotiated and the application for the BPU’s program is prepared. The BPU awards projects based on a scoring rubric that grants
cial property owners can lease roof - top space to host a com- munity solar array. Prop- erty owners are paid a lease rate per
Shaun Keegan
square feet of space, typically totaling 80,000 s/f or larger, on a quarterly basis for a term of 20 or more years. The roof is used to host a community solar
Lease Your Roof for Community Solar LOOK I NG FOR 80 , 000+ SF OF ROOFTOP SPACE I N NEW J ERSEY FOR THE STATE ' S COMMUN I TY SOLAR P I LOT PROGRAM
Building a Clean Energy Legacy
www.solarlandscape.com 844-765-2769
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