Welcome: Aspire Application

You have reached the full application page for the NJ Aspire Program, a place-based economic development program created under the Economic Recovery Act (ERA) of 2020 at N.J.S.A. 34:1B-322 through 34:1B-335.

The NJ Aspire Program supports mixed-use, transit-oriented development by providing tax credits to transformative, commercial and residential real estate development projects that have financing gaps.

The amount of tax credits a project is eligible to receive is a percentage of the project’s eligible costs, subject to a cap that is determined by the project’s location, other financing available, and other aspects of the project.

To be eligible for Aspire Program tax credits, a project must be located in an eligible incentive area, which means an aviation district; a port district; area designated pursuant to the State Planning Act, N.J.S.A. 52:18A-196 et seq., as Planning Area 1(Metropolitan), Planning Area 2 (Suburban) or a Designated Center under the State Development and Redevelopment Plan.

The Aspire application will reference various terms throughout the course of the application. Below is further detail as to what these terms mean:

Film production projects can be located anywhere in the state. Projects on Brownfield Sites of at least 100 acres, with environmental remediation costs of $10 million or more certified by a licensed professional under the Site Remediation Reform Act, and partially within a qualifying incentive area, are also considered located in an incentive area.

Projects must meet minimum size and cost thresholds: commercial projects require at least 25,000 sq ft of retail/commercial space in government-restricted municipalities or 50,000 sq ft elsewhere, with exceptions for certain health care centers of at least 10,000 sq ft. Residential projects must have eligible costs between $5 million and $17.5 million, depending on location.

Transformative Projects qualify for tax credits beyond standard caps and must have eligible costs of at least $150 million. Size requirements vary by location and type: 200,000 sq ft in government-restricted municipalities, 250,000 sq ft for film studios, 300,000 sq ft in enhanced areas, and 500,000 sq ft elsewhere. Transformative commercial projects must show special economic importance to New Jersey and leverage the state’s mass transit, higher education, and economic assets to attract or retain employers and skilled workers. Transformative residential projects must also meet minimum unit requirements based on location and whether they are mixed-use.

“Developer” or “applicant” means a person who enters or proposes to enter into an incentive award agreement pursuant to the provisions of section 60 of P.L. 2020, c. 156 (N.J.S.A. 34:1B-328), including, but not limited to, a lender that completes a redevelopment project, operates a redevelopment project, or completes and operates a redevelopment project. This is commonly a single purpose entity that will own the discrete real estate associated with the project.

“Lead Development Entity” means the entity that is responsible for overseeing the redevelopment project and is relied upon by the Authority to demonstrate operational capability, expertise, and experience to complete the project. The Authority shall determine which entity is the lead development entity by considering the role an entity has in the coordination of activities related to the redevelopment project, including, but not limited to, project design, project financing, permitting and local approvals, construction oversight and contracting, and property management. The application will allow you to propose a lead development entity and provided all the needed application materials for the proposed entity.

“Government Restricted Municipality (GRM)” There are two GRM categories: GRM I - Atlantic City, NJ, Trenton, NJ and Paterson NJ eligible for up to an 85 percent or 120 Million award cap, and GRM II – Camden, NJ, East Orange, NJ and New Brunswick, NJ eligible for up to 80 percent or 120 Million award cap and are defined as one that meets one or more of the following criteria:

“Special Mission Non-Profit (SMNP)” A “special mission non-profit” is a non-profit developer or affiliate focused on operating projects serving individuals with special needs.

“Warehouse/Distribution or Fulfillment Centers” are considered commercial projects if they predominantly serve these functions and have at least $10 million in environmental remediation costs certified by a licensed professional under the Site Remediation Reform Act, N.J.S.A. 58:10C-1 et seq.

“Eligibility Period”  means the period of 10 years for an incentive award agreement or incentive phase agreement during which a developer or a co-applicant, if applicable, may claim a tax credit pursuant to the Program, provided that a developer may elect a period not to exceed five years for a project located in a government-restricted municipality or for a special mission non-profit project.

The full application requires detailed information and supporting documentation about your company, affiliates, and the proposed project for which you are applying for tax credits. Please be advised that the application fee is non-refundable.

The application is broken into many sections. You will not be able to proceed further into the application without completing all required fields and uploads within the current section. Progress on the application can be saved by clicking next as you complete each section. At all times, you will be able to go back to sections that you have already completed.

This full application will take several hours to complete. Please read the prompts to questions carefully and provide professionally written responses that address all details requested in the questions in the suggested length of text. Please provide accurate information for all entities within the application. Applications submitted with placeholder text and placeholder documents and/or acknowledgements that the requested materials will be provided separately will not be deemed complete and you are advised against submitting applications without all required documentation.

It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you download a copy of the example application and collect written responses and required documents prior to filling them in on this online form.

It is also HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to use file naming conventions that facilitate rapid application completeness review.

Uploaded file names should:
       - Be identifiably connected to the project.
       - Accurately describe file or document contents and application elements.
       - Denote date modified or file version number.

In the event of any questions, please contact an Aspire team member at Aspire@njeda.gov