Atlantic County to use Stimulus Fund bonds to raise $15M. for NextGen's first phase
By STEVEN LEMONGELLO, Staff Writer | Posted: Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The Atlantic County government will allocate $15.1 million in special, low-interest bonds toward
the first phase of the Next Generation Aviation Research and Technology Park in Egg Harbor
Township.
The funds can be raised using Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds, created by the
federal government as part of the stimulus bill in 2009, which have lower interest rates than
normal bond financing. The program allocates the authority to counties or municipalities to issue
these new types of lower-interest bonds, but is not a direct funding program.
Gordon Dahl, executive director of the South Jersey Economic Development District, or SJEDD,
said that the bonds would be devoted to financing the construction of the first building at the 55acre
park, to be built next to the William J. Hughes Technical Center at the Atlantic City
International Airport.
Dahl said that the 66,000-square-foot building will be devoted to research and development, as
well as some technology transfer facilities. He added that private firms, in addition to the Federal
Aviation Administration, are expected to be among the tenants.
Requests for proposals for architectural designs have already gone out, he said, with 30 responses
from "high quality architects" already received.
"We hope to complete the process by the early part of May, so we can move forward from the
design phase of the building," Dahl said. "We're hoping to get started on construction in the fall,
once the (site's) infrastructure is complete. ... The allotment of bonds has stepped up the pace of
the development process."
The complete project is expected to create seven buildings totalling 408,000 square feet of offices,
laboratories and research facilities, which Dahl has said would require about $300 million in
private investments to fully develop.
The creation of the NextGen system, part of the nation's upgrading of its air traffic control system
from a ground-based radar system to a satellite-and-plane based GPS system, is expected to bring
2,000 technology jobs to the region - and contracts for the System 20/20 component of the project,
expected to be awarded over the next several months, are estimated to be worth $4 billion, Dahl
said.
James Curcio, chairman of the Board of Chosen Freeholders, said that the aviation park would
have a "ripple effect" beyond the airport, from a proposed air traffic control academy at the
Atlantic Cape Community College to programs at the Atlantic County Institute of Technology and
the Richard S. Stockton College of New Jersey.
"This is Atlantic County's future," said Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson. "We're
talking about an internationally known project that will attract people from all over the world. The
finest minds in aviation will be coming into Atlantic County, not just entry-level jobs but jobs
attracting people with high salaries. It will change the whole complexion of Atlantic County and
South Jersey."
Contact Steven Lemongello:
609-272-7275
SLemongello@pressofac.com
The Atlantic County government will allocate $15.1 million in special, low-interest bonds toward
the first phase of the Next Generation Aviation Research and Technology Park in Egg Harbor
Township.
The funds can be raised using Recovery Zone Economic Development Bonds, created by the
federal government as part of the stimulus bill in 2009, which have lower interest rates than
normal bond financing. The program allocates the authority to counties or municipalities to issue
these new types of lower-interest bonds, but is not a direct funding program.
Gordon Dahl, executive director of the South Jersey Economic Development District, or SJEDD,
said that the bonds would be devoted to financing the construction of the first building at the 55acre
park, to be built next to the William J. Hughes Technical Center at the Atlantic City
International Airport.
Dahl said that the 66,000-square-foot building will be devoted to research and development, as
well as some technology transfer facilities. He added that private firms, in addition to the Federal
Aviation Administration, are expected to be among the tenants.
Requests for proposals for architectural designs have already gone out, he said, with 30 responses
from "high quality architects" already received.
"We hope to complete the process by the early part of May, so we can move forward from the
design phase of the building," Dahl said. "We're hoping to get started on construction in the fall,
once the (site's) infrastructure is complete. ... The allotment of bonds has stepped up the pace of
the development process."
The complete project is expected to create seven buildings totalling 408,000 square feet of offices,
laboratories and research facilities, which Dahl has said would require about $300 million in
private investments to fully develop.
The creation of the NextGen system, part of the nation's upgrading of its air traffic control system
from a ground-based radar system to a satellite-and-plane based GPS system, is expected to bring
2,000 technology jobs to the region - and contracts for the System 20/20 component of the project,
expected to be awarded over the next several months, are estimated to be worth $4 billion, Dahl
said.
James Curcio, chairman of the Board of Chosen Freeholders, said that the aviation park would
have a "ripple effect" beyond the airport, from a proposed air traffic control academy at the
Atlantic Cape Community College to programs at the Atlantic County Institute of Technology and
the Richard S. Stockton College of New Jersey.
"This is Atlantic County's future," said Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson. "We're
talking about an internationally known project that will attract people from all over the world. The
finest minds in aviation will be coming into Atlantic County, not just entry-level jobs but jobs
attracting people with high salaries. It will change the whole complexion of Atlantic County and
South Jersey."
Contact Steven Lemongello:
609-272-7275
SLemongello@pressofac.com
