Newark Mayor Ras Baraka is the first to acknowledge that Newark has benefited greatly from state tax incentives on major projects and buildings.
It has helped bring millions of dollars of development and jobs to Newark, he said.
Baraka, however, thinks there’s a better way, one that could create more growth — for the larger community.
Speaking in a fireside chat with Genova Burns leader Angelo Genova Monday morning at the Newark Real Estate Summit at 550 Broad Street, Baraka said incentives should be given out to geographic areas — and be all-encompassing — rather than tied to specific projects.
“We should move away from just project-based incentives,” he said. “The problem is, there’s only a few cities that can benefit, and there’s only a few developers that can actually get them. So, it’s not really a diverse program.”
Baraka talked of instead creating incentivized zones — preferably around transit — which could be used to spur housing, small businesses and tech hot spots. He envisioned a scenario for the area around the Broad Street Station area, where there are a lot of abandoned and vacant properties that would be perfect for housing and startups.
Investing there, he said, would just be a start.
He envisioned a scenario in which the payroll taxes and state taxes could then be reinvested to create affordable housing — the biggest need in the city.
Baraka, as he does, was on a roll.
He explained a scenario in which the city could incentivize developers to partner with local developers — Black and Brown developers, he said — and partner with nonprofits to create services that would help build out the community.
The alternative, he said, was staying the course, going project by project.
It’s a process Baraka said will require 30 to 40 years of investment to have the same type of community impact.
