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NEW JERSEY BILL WOULD HELP FIX UP OLD CENTERS

BY DEBRA HAZEL

The so-called smart-growth movement in New Jersey is getting a boost through the proposed Shopping Center Revitalization Act of 2004, which offers developers and retailers incentives to occupy and revitalize older buildings.

Bill Baroni, a state assemblyman representing New Jersey’s 14th Legislative District, introduced the bill (A3239) in the Assembly in late September. Baroni served on the planning board of his hometown, the Trenton suburb of Hamilton, N.J., so he has seen centers that were built in the 1960s fall into disrepair.

“One near my neighborhood is half empty,” Baroni said, “And it’s an eyesore.” Meanwhile, he says, a new development has been proposed nearby. “That’s just dumb.”

To encourage developers and retailers to rehabilitate troubled centers, the bill’s incentives include employee tax credits and a corporate business tax credit that would begin at 50 percent for the first two years and decline over the 10 years following. To qualify, the centers must span 35,000 square feet or more, be at least 10 years old and have a vacancy rate of more than 35 percent.

In addition, the New Jersey Department of Labor will conduct job training and retraining, and businesses will be exempt from sales and use taxes for materials used for revitalization or expansion.

Though the sales- and use-tax exemption kicks in immediately, the corporate business tax credit and a property tax freeze would become available only after a center’s tenant vacancy rate falls below 10 percent.

Community response has been positive, Baroni says. “I’ve been inundated with calls,” he said. In addition to the job-creation benefits, he says, the measure will help prevent sprawl.

The state Senate is revising its own version, S1910, which state Sen. Joseph Palaia introduced in early October. “We see where the problems arise, and then adjust accordingly.”

Both versions have been referred to committee for review. While waiting for a public hearing on his bill, Baroni is busy gathering support from each side of the aisle. He needs it.

“We’re certainly hoping to pass during this session,” said Baroni, a Republican. That could be tricky to do in the thickets of New Jersey politics, though. Both chambers are Democrat-controlled, so a Republican-sponsored bill may not be likely to move fast.

“In our judgment, this would require bipartisan support,” said Jeffrey H. Newman, co-chairman of ICSC’s Eastern Division Government Relations Committee.

ICSC supports the bill. “It creates jobs and creates a stable tax basis in the neighborhoods,” said Rudy Garcia, an ICSC lobbyist at MBI-GluckShaw, a Trenton, N.J.-based public affairs firm.

“It’s a very good start,” said Paul Camella, Northern New Jersey co-chairman of the ICSC State Government Relations Committee. “We have all this talk about smart growth, but you have to have things supporting it to make it work,” he added.