Atlantic City
By Joshua Burd
The state Economic Development Authority is headed to Atlantic City this week to host an in-person information session for its new $20 million Emerging Developers Fund.
The agency said the event will take place Tuesday, April 23, at Stockton University’s campus in the city, seeking to showcase a program that will help developers gain access to capital and build additional capacity to expand their existing portfolio via grants of up to 50 percent of projects’ predevelopment soft costs. Applications are expected to launch in June, the EDA said, noting that it aims to support small-scale developers that have completed at least two but no more than five commercial and/or mixed-use properties of similar scope.
“Access to capital for small-scale developers in the real estate industry continues to be a challenge,” the authority wrote in its announcement of the event. “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 percent of the total project costs, prior to seeking construction or permanent financing. 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.”
The information session at Stockton’s Atlantic City Campus will run from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. To register, visit Emerging Developers Grant Info Session.
