NJEDA Opens Opt-In Process For NJ Municipalities To Allow For NJ-C-PACE

Earlier this month (December 2024), the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) published municipality opt-in documents to participate in the Garden State Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) Program.

C-PACE is a program that has been adopted in 38 states and the District of Columbia and allows commercial property owners in Participating Municipalities to access a new form of financing to undertake energy efficiency, water conservation, renewable energy, and resiliency improvements. Typically loan proceeds approximate 30% of the stabilized value of the project (i.e., a higher value to base proceeds on that merely just hard costs). Moreover, while typical commercial lenders were initially skeptical of allowing C-PACE lenders to have “soft” second positions in their deals, most regional and national lenders have come around to the program and realized that because the C-PACE lender is not permitted to accelerate their loan for non-payment, the