The Phillipsburg Trust bank building that we just listed sits in one of New Jersey’s Opportunity Zones AND in Phillipsburg’s downtown UEZ (urban enterprise zone) where a business can enjoy many tax incentives – plus your retail customers will not have to pay a sales tax here on their purchases.

This building at 55 s. Main st. Could be a really cool mixed-use live/work spot… creative space that would work well for an art gallery /studio /home / boutique / coffee haus / wine bar … a rooftop deck here would be so awesome – this perch above the Delaware river has pretty Easton views and could also take advantage of the confluence view of the Lehigh river coming in … oh, so many possibilities!

Another advantage for this location that holds great promise are the big plans to rehabilitate Union Square – the area just approaching the Free Bridge into Easton. 55 s. main St. is literally about 30 steps from it. The city plans to finally offer some tax incentives to develop that now too, and improve its under-utilized waterfront.

UEZ Director Pat Dragotta mentioned that he hopes the new owner of this property will bring some jobs and tasteful updates; this could be a really neat coffee house, retail shop or professional office.

Several sites in Easton are now re-purposed and once again thriving, thanks to the the KOZ (Keystone Opportunity Zone) tax advantage. These sites

are often blighted properties; sometimes acquired via eminent domain measures – most have some architectural qualities and in a promising location to be re-developed, but due to the amount of deferred maintenance and/or abatement issues they were beyond any economic value to a private investor/developer, since there was just way too much investment vs. return on a renovation project there. Luckily, our city planners were able to identify a few key spots that would benefit from the Keystone Opportunity Zone grant. The city planners worked hard to secure a few of these from the state and offer them to developers for bids in a few downtown, and at the 13th st. Simon Silk Mill locations.

There is still a site in south Easton at the former Stewart Silk Co. – a 4-acre abandoned factory site located on Lincoln St. The Stewart Silk Mill is planned to be a low to moderate income housing development.  There will be a small medical facility, community room, and other commercial users that have not been identified as of yet.  Currently, the environmental assessment work is being done in partnership between the developer, Tim Harrison, and the City of Easton.  Once that is complete, a plan will be made on how to remediate the site and prepare it for development.

One very nice advantage on these KOZ developments is that not only does the developer get to enjoy some tax-credits (so that the blighted property can finally make sense to invest in), but tax benefits can also be passed on to their new residents and business owners. So you can either move here to live, or move your business here – and you then do not have to pay your business net income taxes to PA! There is also a break on local income tax. The period of time for this break varies based on the project completion. At 118-120 Northampton St. there are still a number of years left for the store front tenants.

Case-in-point: 118 or 120 Northampton St. this blighted building was completely renovated into gorgeous modern, chic apartments and two street-level commercial spaces that are currently available for lease. One is $1200/month and the larger one at 118 is $1500/month. When you move your business here, you will enjoy paying zero taxes on your net income to PA and the city of Easton till the year 2023 ?.

PA: See info. about KOZ sites on PA’s website, and you can also learn more about KOZ here.

NJ: Opportunity Zones in New Jersey. UEZ: Urban Enterprise Zones in Phillipsburg.

All information herein has not been verified and is not guaranteed. © 2018 free bridge realty, llc. www.freebridgerealty.com