Everyone knows that the city of Newark was not selected to be the location of Amazon’s HQ2 at the conclusion of the frenzied site selection sweepstakes in 2018 — a commercial real estate competition that brought unprecedented attention to the cities involved.
Cities such as Newark.
Being a finalist in the process gave Newark some much-wanted and much-needed national attention, leading developers to take a second look at a city for which they may have had outdated opinions — a benefit that still is being felt today.
Camden’s failed attempt to lure the Philadelphia 76ers could have a similar impact.
That’s the take of Tim Sullivan, the CEO of the N.J. Economic Development Authority, which led efforts that not only included an enormous amount of tax incentives but a rendering of a potential project on the Camden Waterfront that certainly raised an eyebrow with site selectors, forcing them to take a new look at the city.
“We certainly have heard more interest in Camden and the Camden waterfront since this all became public this summer,” Sullivan said.
“Win, lose or draw, this was a good exercise for Camden — and a great marketing moment, similar to how Amazon was really, really good for Newark, even though it didn’t end up working out.
“Amazon put Newark front and center on a lot of people’s radar. Similarly, I think this has cast Camden in a really good light — and an accurate light that others may not have been aware of.”
Sullivan said the state intends to keep Camden in the spotlight.
On Sunday, after it was announced that the Sixers had reached a deal to stay in Philadelphia, Sullivan told ROI-NJ that the state will quickly turn its attention to bringing another developer to the state-owned prime parcel of land just north of Ben Franklin Bridge.
“The governor has given us very clear direction that if the Sixers didn’t work out, we need to move on quickly and work closely with the mayor and leadership in Camden and get something exciting going down there,” he said.
“I think we’ll probably have the site that was the centerpiece of this arena project on the market expeditiously in the first part of this year — to see what else we might be able to do there.”
There’s no guarantee the state will reach an agreement before Murphy leaves office next January, but since the state (the EDA specifically) owns the land, it can move quickly.
“We’ll do some sort of formal process, probably an RFP process, to see who’s out there, who’s interested, what kind of price they are willing to pay and what they want to build,” Sullivan said.
What else could go there remains to be imagined, he said.
“I think it might resonate with someone doing mixed use with a pretty high mix of residential,” he said.
It’s all about location, Sullivan said.
“Everywhere around the world, people like living near water with city views — so I can imagine there will be some significant interest from developers,” he said. “And I know the Aspire program will be really helpful to anyone who wants to build there.”
The bid to lure the Sixers not only showed what is possible for Camden — but how much the state is willing to be a partner in the process, Sullivan said.
“I think it showed that the governor was open for business and wanted to be thoughtfully aggressive,” he said.
That the state came up short was disappointing, Sullivan said, but he feels it was a success in the overall process of bringing big projects to the state.
“The exercise of economic development is about taking some long shots,” he said. “Every now and again they pan out.
“I think there were people who probably rolled their eyes at the idea of the World Cup final coming here or Netflix coming here, but those things are happening.
“That’s why you take shots: Sometimes they hit, sometimes they don’t. But I think as long as Phil Murphy is governor, and our team is supporting him, we’re going to continue to be thoughtfully aggressive about opportunities when we see them.”
