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You have reached the application page for the Cultural and Arts Facilities Expansion (CAFE) Program.
The CAFE Program is designed to enhance economic development by supporting facilities that are engaged in cultural, arts and cultural education, or artistic enrichment. It provides tax credits based on a percentage of the project's eligible costs. This initiative aims to bolster arts and cultural facilities, contributing to the broader economic and cultural fabric of the state.
The CAFE Program encourages arts and cultural economic development in the State by providing tax credits for five years (the “eligibility period”). The amount of tax credits a Cultural and Arts Institution (or “applicant”) receives is 100 percent of the eligible project costs and is subject to a statutory cap of $75 million. A project must result in a capital investment of at least $5,000,000. If the cultural arts facility is part of a larger building, any shared parts like foundations or parking lots can only be counted as project costs in proportion to the square footage that the cultural arts facility occupies in the building. In addition, to ensure that the funding is used as intended, the program prohibits leasing / subleasing for non-mission related activities and other non-eligible uses to 40 percent or 15,000 square feet of the facility, whichever is less.
“Cultural arts institution” or “applicant” means a governmental entity or nonprofit or governmental economic or community development entity incorporated pursuant to Title 15 of the Revised Statutes or Title 15A of the New Jersey Statutes, operating on a not-for-profit basis, and having the primary mission and specific policy goal of cultural, educational, or artistic enrichment of the people of this State. A “cultural arts institution” shall include a for-profit business seeking a tax credit for a cultural arts institution facility primarily open to the public provided that the cultural arts institution facility is receiving a federal historic rehabilitation tax credit pursuant to the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26 U.S.C. § 47, or a tax credit pursuant to the “Historic Property Reinvestment Act,” N.J.S.A. 34:1B-270 through -276.
The applicant for this program is the cultural arts institution. The applicant must continue to meet the eligibility requirements throughout the project.
“Cultural arts institution facility” means an existing or proposed facility within this State, operated and maintained by a cultural arts institution for cultural arts and that is open to the public. A “cultural arts institution facility” includes, without limitation, an aquarium, botanical society, historical society, library, museum, gallery, performing arts center, arts-based community centers, or any related facility that is principally for the support and benefit of any of the foregoing. The term “cultural arts institution facility” shall not include facilities predominantly used for athletics, recreation, and non-arts-based community centers.
“Cultural arts project” or “project” means a capital project for the construction or improvement of a cultural arts institution facility that is located in the State for which a cultural arts institution is to be awarded tax credits by the Authority under the Program pursuant to a tax credit agreement, provided that the project for which the tax credits are awarded will result in a capital investment of at least $5,000,000.
The full application requires detailed information and supporting documentation about your entity, co-applicant, affiliates, and the proposed cultural arts project for which you are applying for tax credits.
The application is broken down into numerous sections, with many potential separate pages to be clicked through and completed, depending on your specific circumstances. You will not be able to proceed further into the application without completing all required fields and uploads within the current section. Progress on the application can be saved as you complete each section. At all times, you will be able to go back to sections that you have already completed.
This full application will take several hours to complete. Please read the prompts to questions carefully and provide professionally written responses that address all details requested in the questions in the suggested length of text. Applications submitted with placeholder documents and/or acknowledgements that the requested materials will be provided separately will not be deemed complete and you are advised against submitting applications without all required documentation.
It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you review information and resources on the main CAFE webpage.
It is also HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to name your files descriptively to assist NJEDA with the review process.
Uploaded file names should:
-Be identifiably connected to the project.
-Accurately describe file contents and application elements
-Denote date modified or file version number.
In the event of any questions, please contact a CAFE team member at CAFE@njeda.gov.