Case Studies

In 2001, the Township of Little Falls embarked on replacing its 80 year old municipal building with a brand new, state-of-the-art municipal facility located on Main Street in the Township. McManimon & Scotland, L.L.C. worked with the Township from 2001 through the groundbreaking in 2004, on financing all aspects of this project, from site work to construction to acquisition of furnishings. Our firm worked with the Township and its professionals to draft multiple bond ordinances and issue several series of bond anticipation notes to “ladder” the construction fund in an effort to minimize the interest expense on the Township’s budgets. We acted as bond counsel when the Township issued its General Improvement Bonds in 2001 and 2003 to permanently finance the project and lock in long-term tax exempt interest rates. The General Improvement Bonds are secured by the ad valorem taxing power of the Township. This municipal facility is currently undergoing expansion, with the addition of a Justice Center Complex, funded with government-subsidized “Build America Bonds” authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

In 2009, our firm worked with The Hudson County Improvement Authority, the County of Hudson, the City of Bayonne Redevelopment Agency and the City of Bayonne (the “City”) in a multi-public body financing through the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust (the “NJEIT”) of a portion of a redevelopment project consisting of the remediation of a former petroleum site and the construction of a 356,000 square foot “big box” retail project located in the City of Bayonne. The financing, secured by Payments In Lieu Of Taxes, a Letter of Credit during construction and guaranties of the County and City, involved ten different public entities, required over 80 public votes, 23 different public/government approvals and permits and endured multiple lawsuits, all during an economic recession. The success of the financing depended on our firm working closely with each of the public entities, the redeveloper and the NJEIT in creating solutions to questions never asked of the NJEIT in prior financings. As a result, in part, of our prior experience with the NJEIT and our working relationship with members of the NJEIT and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the City will now replace a severely contaminated 30-acre parcel of land with an exciting new retail power center that will generate tax revenue, urban enterprise zone revenue and thousands of construction and full-time jobs. For more information on this project, please contact Joseph P. Baumann, Jr., Member.

In 2003, the City of Perth Amboy financed the construction of its Public Safety/Court/Recreational and Community Center and its Fire/Emergency Medical Services Facility through the Middlesex County Improvement Authority’s issuance of $43,100,000 Lease Revenue Bonds, Series 2003. McManimon & Scotland, L.L.C. represented the City in crafting a financing structure that included the acquisition of necessary land by the City, ground lease of the land by the City to the Middlesex County Improvement Authority, sub-lease of the land by the Middlesex County Improvement Authority to the City and a converting lease-to-fee ownership by the City of property originally owned by Conrail. The City pays debt service on the bonds through lease payments it makes to the Middlesex County Improvement Authority pursuant to the sub-lease. For more information on this project, please contact Edward J. McManimon, III, Member.

McManimon & Scotland, L.L.C. has represented the West Orange Board of Education over many years. We have assisted in connection with referenda, lease purchases, certificates of participation, equipment leases, bonds and shared services transactions, as well as contract, bidding, dispute resolution and project implementation matters. The new Liberty Middle School was financed in 2003. The project cost $30,012,000 and was financed with State grant funds available under the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act in the amount of $6,348,000 and local school district bonds in the amount of $23,664,000. The Liberty Middle School opened in December 2005 and is the newest of the eleven schools in the district and the second middle school. For more information about this project, please contact Andrea L. Kahn at (973) 622-1800.

We represented the New Jersey Economic Development Authority in the structuring and issuance of $140,552,550.30 in bonds under the Large Site Landfill Reclamation and Improvement Law to finance infrastructure and remediation costs associated with the Jersey Gardens Outlet Mall in Elizabeth. In 1998, this success story demonstrated the effectiveness of the law, but also the limits. This law eventually became the model for the Redevelopment Area Bond Financing Law that serves as the main financing tool for redevelopment in the State of New Jersey. For more information on this project, please contact John V. Cavaliere, 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.

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.