The New Jersey Economic Development Authority will host an in-person information session at Stockton University’s Atlantic City campus from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday to provide more details on the newly established $20 million Emerging Developers Grant pilot program.
Developers can receive grants up to $250,000 to help them transform their predevelopment vision into reality — a grant in which up to 50% of the award can be used for predevelopment soft costs (architectural fees, engineering reports, legal fees, etc.), EDA officials said.
The grants are intended for small-scale developers who have completed at least two but no more than five projects.
The in-person-only workshop will detail eligibility requirements, provide resources to navigate the application process and have EDA officials available to answer questions.
Applications are expected to launch in June.
EDA officials acknowledge that access to capital for small-scale developers in the real estate industry continues to be a challenge. These barriers are due to predatory lending, excessive carrying costs and predevelopment expenses that result in projects being stalled, and, in some cases, underutilized. Soft costs may account for 30% of the total project costs, prior to seeking construction or permanent financing, they estimate.
These deterrents in the development industry have created financial setbacks and limited portfolios for emerging development entities that lack the required capital to cover soft costs.
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