Case Studies

We acted as redevelopment counsel to the Housing Authority of the City of Newark which carried out the Downtown Core Redevelopment Project in the City of Newark, consisting of the acquisition, development and construction of the multi-purpose Prudential Center. We also assisted with the issuance $200,420,000 in bonds to support the financing of the Downtown Core Redevelopment Project. For more information on this project, please contact Glenn F. Scotland, Member.

Since being named Special Counsel in 2002 and Waterfront Redevelopment Counsel in 2008, McManimon and Scotland, L.L.C. has worked with the development and lending community to increase private investment throughout the City of Asbury Park. Completed projects include a renovated department store that now houses 63 rental units and 10,000 square feet of retail and a series of smaller buildings in the City’s bustling Central Business District. In 2010, the City executed a redevelopment agreement with Madison Asbury Retail, L.L.C. formalizing Madison Marquette’s role as a redeveloper of the City’s famed Boardwalk, Convention Hall and Stone Pony nightclub. Under this agreement, three of the Boardwalk Pavilions were renovated into first class retail and restaurant/night club space and the Stone Pony opened an expanded and state-of-the-art outdoor stage. Renovation and reconstruction of the remaining buildings will be covered in subsequent redevelopment agreements. The City also worked with the redeveloper to coordinate on-street and off-street parking and a schedule of a series of entertainment events throughout the year to draw visitors in all seasons. The results have been positive, with an added benefit: the City’s revenues from beach and parking fees increased from $35,000 in 2003 to over $900,000 in the first nine months of 2010.

As the economic cycle resets, the City remains committed to its redevelopment initiatives and will continue to work with existing and new developers to rebuild its historic waterfront.

This firm has previously represented the Newark Housing Authority in the construction and finance of City View Landing, located on the former Walsh Homes public housing site. City View Landing consists of a total of 122 new residential units. Of these new residential units, 81 are public housing replacement units assisted with ACC subsidy, inclusive of both family and elderly rentals, as well as Section 5(h) “Nehemiah”-type ownership homes. The remaining 41 new units include homeownership units and non-public housing rental units. For more information on this project, please contact Glenn F. Scotland, Member.

In January 2009, the firm completed a $20,000,000 NMTC transaction for the design, development and construction of a 44,000 square foot building located in Newark, New Jersey for the operation of a day care facility and other social service programs by The Leaguers, Inc., a non-profit corporation and 501(c)(3) designated entity. This project consisted of a NMTC equity investment made by an investor, augmented by a loan from the investor (through the purchase of a Leaguers tax-exempt bond, issued by a New Jersey issuer), and additional proceeds from a leveraged loan made by a banking institution in exchange for a standard bank loan return. These proceeds were aggregated and deposited with an investment fund limited liability company, a sole purpose corporation 100% owned by the investor, which in turn has made a qualified equity investment in a community development entity (CDE) in exchange for the NMTC tax credits and other tax benefits that pass through the CDE for the benefit of the investor. The CDE in turn made an investment (equity and debt) in this project through the qualified active low income community business (QALICB). The QALICB entered into a hybrid lease/leaseback construction loan agreement with The Leaguers, Inc. For more information on this project, please contact Glenn Scotland, Member.

We worked with a developer to rehabilitate an abandoned department store into over 11,000 square feet of retail space and 63 rental units. We were able to use an innovative formula under the Long Term Tax Exemption Law that guaranties the City 10% of a minimum rent roll for the rental units to help pay for certain costs of the project. For more information on this project, please contact Thomas J. Hastie, Member.

McManimon & Scotland, L.L.C. serves as lead redevelopment counsel in connection with the Westminster redevelopment project in the Wesley Lake Section of the City of Asbury Park. As lead redevelopment counsel, the firm will effectuate the phased development of several hundred for-sale residential units, as well as mixed-use development. For more information on this project, please contact Glenn F. Scotland, Member.

In April, 2010, McManimon & Scotland, L.L.C. represented the City of Millville, New Jersey, in connection with a redevelopment project to refurbish and restore a historic theater in the City. The City leveraged Urban Enterprise Zone and other redevelopment grants and funds into the project, resulting in a $6,810,301 loan to the borrower. The financing included a combination of loans, grants, equity and conventional bank financing from various sources. For more information on this project, please contact Glenn Scotland, Member.

The firm serves as redevelopment counsel in connection with a comprehensive mixed-use, residential and retail redevelopment project to be undertaken within the Township’s Historic Downtown Redevelopment Area, which includes the Edison Battery Factory site. The project will consist of 609 residential units, including 71 affordable units, 50,000 square feet of retail and amenity space and a parking garage. The firm was also recently successful in obtaining Local Finance Board approval to issue $41,000,000 in Redevelopment Area Bonds in order to undertake certain infrastructure improvements and other improvements at the project site. For more information on this project, please contact Glenn F. Scotland, Member.

We represented the Camden Housing Authority in connection with the construction and finance of 89 affordable rental units, all of which will be tax credit eligible units whose residents will be qualified in accordance with Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code. A majority of the units will benefit from either Section 9 operating subsidy in accordance with a mixed finance amendment to the Annual Contribution Contract (“ACC”) or project based Section 8 subsidy in accordance with a Housing Assistance Payment contract between the Owner and the Camden Housing Authority. The remaining units will be non-ACC units solely financed with 9% low income housing tax credit equity and will be leased to income eligible households whose incomes do not exceed 60% of the Camden County Median adjusted for family size. Additionally, Centerville South will contain 22 special needs units dedicated to formerly homeless individuals and families. For more information on this project, please contact Glenn F. Scotland, Member.

We represented the Camden Housing Authority in connection with the construction and finance of Roosevelt Manor/Branch Village Phase II, a 58-unit replacement housing project in the Centerville section of the City of Camden. The site, owned by Camden Housing Authority, is currently vacant and was originally part of the Roosevelt Manor HOPE VI Revitalization project. Of the 58 units, 24 units will be affordable to extremely low income families at less than 30% of Area Median Income (“AMI”) and 34 units will be affordable to low income families at between 30% – 60% AMI. All the units will be covered by ACC subsidy. The Project will be funded from a combination of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA”) Capital Fund Recovery Competitive Grant, Housing Replacement Factor funds, 4% low income housing tax credit equity, New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (“NJHMA”) Tax-Exempt Bond Financing, and Federal Home Loan Bank Funds. For more information on this project, please contact Glenn F. Scotland, Member.

We currently serve as special counsel to the Orange Housing Authority in connection with its Dr. Walter G. Alexander Homes Development, a new transit-oriented community consisting of 66 units of family housing and 48 age-restricted rental units for low and moderate income households. Unique to this transaction, we prepared the incorporation paperwork, bylaws and an application for 501(c)(3) status for its subsidiary not-for-profit entity, the Orange Housing Development Corporation, which will serve as the development corporation responsible for the demolition of the existing buildings and redevelopment of the entire area. The project anticipates utilizing several funding sources including ARRA funds, Housing Replacement Factor funds, low income housing tax credit equity, and NJHMFA permanent and construction financing. For more information on this project, please contact Glenn F. Scotland, Member.

This firm also represented the Newark Housing Authority in connection with its Spruce Gardens project, which consisted of 105 new low-income housing tax credit family rental units constructed on the former Stella Wright Homes public housing site. Of the 105 total low-income housing tax credit rental units, 79 units receive ACC subsidy and are designated to public housing residents. The remaining 26 units are designated solely as tax credit units to persons at or below 60% of the County Median Income. Funding for this project included Housing Replacement Factor funds, an NJHMFA tax-exempt bond construction loan and equity from the sale of 4% low-income housing tax credits. For more information on this project, please contact Glenn F. Scotland, Member.

This firm has previously represented the Newark Housing Authority in connection with the construction and finance of 100 units of rental housing designated as Cottage Place, also located on the former Stella Wright housing project site. In addition to the services we provided described above, we were called upon to analyze and create a complex system of subordinate legal entities to the Newark Housing Authority which partnered with the developers for this project. For more information on this project, please contact Glenn F. Scotland, Member.

In December 2009, McManimon & Scotland, L.L.C. attorneys worked with a qualified low income community business (QALICB) in connection with financing the renovation of an approximately 40,000 square foot building into a fresh food marketplace in the City of Vineland, NJ, utilizing NMTC. The financing included a combination of grants, loans and equity from various parties aggregating $5,600,000, including Urban Enterprise Zone funds. The NMTC investor played two roles: providing the equity investment and becoming a member of the QALICB, through an affiliate. For more information on this project, please contact Glenn Scotland, Member.

In November 2009, McManimon & Scotland, L.L.C., represented the Elizabeth Parking Authority and a newly formed 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation formed on behalf of the Parking Authority to complete a highly complex NMTC transaction involving a host of public stakeholders and their respective professionals, to finance the design, development, construction, operation and maintenance of an approximately 1,500-space, multi-level parking garage and related facility in the City of Elizabeth. This transaction involved multiple revenue sources, including public debt issued by the County of Union and Union County College, and an $11,875,000 NMTC loan. In addition to the NMTC financing, the firm completed in June 2010 the remainder of the $35,000,000 project financing using Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. For more information on this project, please contact Glenn Scotland, Member.

This firm represented City National Bank of New Jersey, as a leverage lender, in an extraordinarily complex and highly negotiated NMTC financing of the construction of a business school building for Rutgers University in the City of Newark. The transaction closed in May 2007. For more information on this project, please contact Glenn Scotland, Member.

In December 2010, McManimon & Scotland, L.L.C. represented the Essex County Improvement Authority in connection with a financing to benefit the Heritage House Apartments project. The financing involved the Authority’s issuance of $11,300,000 variable rate tax-exempt bonds secured by a Freddie Mac Letter of Credit. The bond proceeds, along with equity from the project sponsor and tax credit equity investment from the syndication of approximately $4,500,000 in low-income housing tax credits, were used to finance the acquisition, rehabilitation and repair of a 205-unit senior citizen housing project known as the Heritage House Apartments located in the City of East Orange, New Jersey. The Heritage House Apartments provide affordable housing for elderly and disabled residents of Essex County whose income is at or below 60% of the Essex County median income.

From 2006 through 2009, our firm worked with the Town of Harrison, the County of Hudson and the Hudson County Improvement Authority to assist the Town in implementing its redevelopment plan. This project involved the initial phase of a multi phased neighborhood in which a private developer was facing a series of site specific challenges during a time when conventional financing was contracting. The challenges included unanticipated costs associated with environmental remediation, utility relocation and infrastructure to service the multi-phase project which needed to be financed before the initial phase was commenced. Using two series of bonds secured by payments in lieu of taxes and special assessments, respectively, nearly $13 million in public subsidy was made available to the initial phase of the project. This level of public commitment required a coordinated security package be created to protect the interests of the Town without impacting the ability of the developers to obtain conventional financing. The result was the opening of a 275 unit building in September, 2011, with new revenues flowing to the Town and new residents inhabiting the first privately financed and owned project within the Town’s redevelopment area since 2004. In 2012, it is anticipated that the developers will begin phase II and Phase III of their project.