STRONGER NJ NEIGHBORHOOD AND COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION PROGRAM- STREETSCAPE REVITALIZATION PROJECTS
Grants of up to $1.5 million to support various Main Street revitalization projects including streetscapes, lighting, sidewalks, facade enhancements, and code-related and other physical upgrades to commercial areas. Assistance is subject to the availability of funds.
ELIGIBILITY
Eligible applicants include any storm-impacted New Jersey municipality with one or more established traditional business districts. Projects located in one of the nine most impacted counties (Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Union) will receive priority consideration. Funds may be provided during the design and construction of a project or upon project completion. Federal environmental and historical reviews will be required. All funds requested for a project must be applied for at the same time; partial funding requests are prohibited.
To be eligible, projects must be targeted within a commercial, neighborhood retail or mixed-use district. Projects also should result in a public benefit to the municipality.
Awarded funds must be used by December 31, 2015. The eligible uses of funds include:
- Building facade and building enhancement/revitalization efforts;
- Streetscape enhancement/revitalization efforts; and,
- District wayfinding and image enhancements/revitalization efforts.
Projects applying for assistance under this program must meet the following criteria:
- Projects located in one of the nine most impacted counties must demonstrate that either: 1) they are contributing to the revitalization of an area damaged by Superstorm Sandy, or 2) they have themselves been damaged by Superstorm Sandy.
- Projects located outside of the nine most impacted counties must demonstrate that it has been physically damaged by Superstorm Sandy.
- Project must meet one of the following Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) National Objectives: Low and Moderate Income (LMI)* Employment Creation; LMI* Area Benefit where the area is primarily resedential; Slum and Blight Reduction*; and Urgent Need.
* “LMI” refers to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) definition of low and moderate incomes based upon median incomes by census tract; “Slum” and “Blight” refers to Areas in Need of Redevelopment or Rehabilitation, as defined by the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-1, et seq. and other conditions such as vacant property.
- The project must provide revitalization to buildings or infrastructure in the project area.
- The project must show the ability to disburse the awarded funding to the subrecipient’s contractors/subcontractors for the project by December 31, 2015.
AWARD SIZE
Grants of up to $1.5 million to support various Main Street revitalization projects including streetscapes, lighting, sidewalks, facade enhancements, and code-related and other physical upgrades to commercial areas. Assistance is subject to the availability of funds
SCORING CRITERIA
Projects will be evaluated on the following criteria:
- Sandy Impacted Communities – Projects located in the nine most impacted counties will receive priority scoring and consideration.
- Readiness to Proceed and Succeed – Projects with earlier completion dates will be given priority scoring in order to ensure that all awarded funds are disbursed by December 31, 2015.
- LMI Communities: Projects will be prioritized based on their location in a low or moderate income community as HUD defines low and moderate incomes by census tract. Should the NJEDA be in the position of considering more than one project that meets the program requirements and insufficient funding to assist all, NJEDA will consider primarily the community in which the project is located with the greater impact from Superstorm Sandy as the basis for determining which project to fund.
- Experience – Applicant’s experience on successfully completing projects of similar size and scope.
- Adherence with Plan – Documentation that the project improvements are integral to implementing a comprehensive revitalization strategy or plan.
- Extent to which the project will enhance the neighborhood and community at large as documented in the submission package.
Additional terms and conditions can be found in the Guide to Program Funds (bottom of page). NJEDA recommends that you review this document and the FAQs prior to applying for assistance.
Please be advised that once the NJEDA has $20 million in requests in-house, the Streetscape Revitalization component of the Stronger NJ NCR Program will no longer accept applications. At that time, municipalities will be invited to provide contact information and will be informed if the application re-opens.
PROGRAM GUIDE
If you have questions regarding the Stronger NJ NCR-Streetscape Program or application process, please contact the NJEDA Office of Recovery at 1-855-SANDY-BZ or StrongerNJBusiness@njeda.com.