An aerial view of the Statehouse in Trenton
By Joshua Burd
Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP has formed a new dedicated, multidisciplinary team focused on helping clients secure state and federal incentives programs, including the newly adopted New Jersey Economic Recovery Act of 2020.
The Woodbridge-based firm said Steven G. Mlenak, a partner focused on real estate and land use, will chair the new Financial Incentives & Economic Development Practice Group. The team will emphasize the implementation of a host of programs designed to assist businesses, real estate developers, redevelopment entities, entrepreneurs, investors and property owners who seek to offset project costs and related expenses through governmental funding and tax relief.
“The Greenbaum firm has historically played a key role in helping clients identify and pursue a variety of public finance programs, tax abatements and economic stimulus incentives,” said Mlenak, a member of its real estate development and redevelopment and land use departments “We take pride in crafting creative, flexible and complex financing solutions that enable our clients’ projects to move forward to completion. We now continue this tradition by harnessing the full resources of this dedicated practice group.”
A core focus of the group’s work will be programs introduced or expanded by the New Jersey Economic Recovery Act of 2020, a transformative $14 billion incentives package signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy in early January. As Greenbaum noted, the law is meant to foster economic advancement and recovery by encouraging New Jersey job growth, property development and redevelopment, public-private partnerships and other initiatives.
The legislation provides significant potential resources for eligible applicants looking to establish or enlarge their footprint within New Jersey’s business and real estate sectors. It also has the support of commercial real estate industry leaders in the state and from a host of other stakeholder groups.
The members of the Financial Incentives & Economic Development Practice Group represent Greenbaum’s real estate, redevelopment and land use, environmental, energy, tax and corporate practices.