NEWARK – The Economic Development Authority has awarded yet another Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit (UTHTC).
Two weeks ago, it awarded one to Prudential. On Tuesday, it awarded a 10-year, $37.45 million UTHTC to Cablevision, the company that provides cable television service to numerous customers in the state.
The credit will help keep 574 jobs from moving out of the state. Many of these jobs, which were deemed by the EDA as “at risk,” are in the customer service field with an average salary of $36,760. The jobs are at risk because the company could move the jobs to New York or Connecticut if remaining in Newark is not considered cost-effective by Cablevision. Therefore, a tax credit is an incentive the EDA is providing to preserve the jobs in Brick City.
The cable giant has exhausted its current office space and is looking to move into a new building at 494 Broad St., with a price tag of $73 million, according to EDA documents. The building should be completed by 2014, when Cablevision’s lease at its current location, 765 Broad St., will expire.
In addition to the 574 jobs, EDA said Cablevision could create 150 new jobs.
Thus far, some $977.8 million in Urban Transit Hub Tax Credits have been approved by the EDA. Of that, of which more than $728 million were for commercial projects. The remainder was residential. Tax credits are awarded after the project has been completed, and the number of jobs projected to be created are actualized. No upfront costs are covered by the state under the program.
To qualify, developers must, among other things, make a substantial capital investment, create jobs and build the project with a one-half mile radius of the train station. In Newark’s case, that station is the rail station on Broad Street.
