Student Housing Towers; Artist's rendering courtesy of Design Collective, Inc.
HOBOKEN, NJ—Late last month, the New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority unanimously approved the issuance of bonds not to exceed $270 million that will help the Stevens Institute of Technology finance the construction of two new student residential towers and a new, three-story university center here.
The financing for the developments, to be located in the heart Stevens' Hoboken campus, is anticipated to include a tax-exempt and a taxable series of bonds, all or a portion of which are authorized to be issued as Green Bonds. Green Bonds are traditional municipal bonds the proceeds of which are used for environmentally beneficial projects.
All three buildings to be constructed by Stevens through the Green financing are designed to LEED standards in green building design and construction and are expected to receive Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
The two residential towers (19 and 21 stories) will accommodate approximately 1,000 students in single, double, and suite-style units with panoramic views of the New York City skyline. Once complete, the towers will enable Stevens to house approximately 80% of its student population on campus. The 75,000-square-foot university center, which will be located at the base of the residential towers, will provide Stevens' students, faculty and staff with multi-purpose event space, dining facilities, retail space, a fitness center, study lounges, game rooms and more.
The financing will be the largest single, new money financing in NJEFA's 53-year history. It will also be NJEFA's first Green Bond issuance and one of the first Green Bond higher education issuances in New Jersey.
NJEFA executive director Eric Brophy said, "We look forward to continuing to work with Stevens Institute of Technology and the finance team to bring this important transaction to market later in the year. We are also extremely pleased that Stevens' projects are representative of higher education infrastructure development that can simultaneously help the State meet broader environmental goals laid out by Governor Murphy last year."
Those goals include putting New Jersey on a path to becoming a carbon-neutral state that is 100% reliant on clean energy by 2050.
New Jersey officials note that Green Bond issuance is on the rise in higher education nationally. Since 2013, National Green Bond activity has exceeded $42 billion, including $1.8 billion issued for higher education institutions such as the University of Virginia, New York University and Columbia University, among others.
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John Jordan
John Jordan is a veteran journalist with 36 years of print and digital media experience.
