NJ Spotlight published the following article on March 13, 2014. To read the full article, click here.
EARLY RETURNS: ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ACT OF 2013 OFF TO SOLID START
TARA NURIN | MARCH 13, 2014
Three months after the biggest reforms to the state’s business attraction and retention policies went into effect, supporters of the new programs are hailing their early successes with phrases like “dramatic sea change.”
These advocates — which include real estate attorneys, brokers, and development professionals — may have good reason to believe that the Economic Opportunity Act of 2013 (EO13) is working as planned. In fact, they may have 63 of them.
That’s the number of projects already approved for incentives. And they include some global companies, like Forbes Media, which is considering moving its headquarters to Jersey City, and Thomson Reuters, which may expand its Hoboken holdings for approximately 450 employees from its tax and accounting unit.
And despite some concerns that the message isn’t getting out quickly enough for municipal decision-makers to court developers and corporate boards before the act expires in six years, backers feel strongly that the state’s blighted city neighborhoods, booming urban hubs, and aging suburban office parks can thrive at little to no risk to taxpayers.