New Jersey lawmakers are working to expand the abilities of the Capital City Redevelopment Corp., including the power to issue bonds and notes.
The agency was created in 1988 and oversees redevelopment in the capital district in Trenton. To date, it has served as a small-business loan provider and helped facilitate development for the Trenton Marriott Hotel and Conference Center and the Wells Fargo regional headquarters, among other projects.
The measure, S. 3116, would allow the CCRC to issue up to $100 million of bonds annually. That debt would not be an obligation of the state or be payable from yearly appropriations from state revenue. Rather, the debt would be paid from the corporation's revenue.
The initiative would also transfer CCRC's loan and grant fund from the state treasurer to the agency and enable it to enter into agreements with private developers and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority for the purposes of redevelopment. The corporation also would act on behalf of the state as the redevelopment entity for any state surplus property located within the district.
"To facilitate the redevelopment of the city of Trenton and provide for increased cooperation between the city and the state, it is necessary to provide the [CCRC] with additional powers, including the authority to act as a municipal redevelopment entity, create subsidiaries, enter into partnerships with private developers, hold its own funds, and to issue bonds, notes, and other obligations paid for from non-state sources to fund redevelopment projects, and to expand the composition of its board," the bill says.
The board would include the commissioners of transportation and community affairs to replace two gubernatorial appointments. Public members would increase to seven from five, with four of those appointed by Trenton's mayor and three selected by the governor.
