Building continues in UEZs / The UEZs have money to lend and businesses are taking advantage.

While a worsening economy has put the brakes on big-time construction projects, such as new casinos in Atlantic City, the same can’t be said for commercial building within some of the state’s local Urban Enterprise Zones.

In fact, UEZ coordinators say they’ve got the money to lend, whether it’s for commercial and industrial projects or to businesses wanting to renovate, buy equipment or make capital improvements. The UEZ program, which the state launched in 1983, offers low-interest commercial loans and various tax incentives to its member businesses — ways to attract investments in New Jersey’s economically distressed urban centers.

In southern New Jersey, UEZs are located in Pleasantville, Bridgeton, and Millville and Vineland, which are a joint zone, as are the Wildwoods.

Pleasantville’s UEZ soon will close on a $1.75 million loan to a company constructing the Cambria Commerce Center industrial park. The $7 million project, consisting of showrooms and office space on Cambria Avenue, already has more than half of its units leased.

The city has other loan applications awaiting approvals, including for a commercial bakery, a commercial laundry and a financial services company. The state recently approved the infusion of $5.05 million in zone assistance funds to the city's business loan program, said Roger Tees, Pleasantville's director for economic and industrial development.

“Pleasantville should be well-positioned for economic growth when relief finally comes to the state and nation’s economic troubles,” Tees said Monday during a groundbreaking for the Pleasantville Business Center, a warehouse-office complex going up on New Road near the Northfield border.

The economy hasn’t stifled growth in Vineland’s UEZ either. Vineland Industrial Park-South is a hotbed of expansion and new building, including the growth of companies such as Garden State Bulb, Compass Wire and Wahl Supply.

“You wouldn't know there’s a recession going on here,” said Jim Lelli, the city's economic development director.

Vineland’s loan program offers a second mortgage on industrial and commercial properties at a fixed rate of 5 percent for as long as 20 years. The city has about $29.4 million in approved loans that have yet to close, Lelli said.

The loan approval process is similar to getting a loan through a conventional bank, and borrowers must meet certain credit standards and underwriting requirements.

Pleasantville has seen success with its program, Tees said, with only one of 84 borrowers defaulting on a loan since the city’s UEZ was instituted in 1997.

In the Wildwoods, UEZ coordinator Louis Ferrara said his zone does not have such a loan program, but one could be devised on a project-by-project basis in the future.