The Economic Opportunity Act, 2013’s major corporate incentives overhaul, has been very good to Camden.Last week’s approvals of nearly $118 million in subsidies for Subaru to make its long-awaited move from Cherry Hill to Camden, plus a $40 million award for Cooper Health Systems to con-solidate some of its suburban back offices at the former L-3 Communications building, means more than $650 million in incentives have been awarded in the city.



Camden Mayor Dana Redd said EO13 “has truly catapulted Camden as the hottest market in the country for investment and economic development.”



But is Camden’s “transformation,” as Redd put it, coming at the expense of its suburban neighbors?



The Subaru and Cooper projects, plus earlier awards to Holtec International and Lockheed Martin, all involve either a complete or partial relocation of jobs and business to Camden from its suburbs.



“Obviously we’re disappointed by the decision,” Cherry Hill spokeswoman Bridget Palmer said of Subaru’s approved move away from its home of roughly 28 years. “We’ve worked hard over the last two years to keep them here.”



However, Palmer said the alternative — Subaru fleeing the state altogether for Philadelphia’s Navy Yard — would have been far worse. At least with the company nearby in Camden, the good number of employees that call Cherry Hill home can continue to do so.



“At the end of the day, it’s important that they’re staying in South Jersey,” Palmer said.



With Camden and Cherry Hill also sharing a county, Palmer said there’s plenty to be gained from an economic resurgence in the “City Invincible.”



“What’s good for Camden is good for Cherry Hill,” Palmer said. “It’s certainly good for the region.”



That same logic is not as easily transferrable to nearby Burlington County, where business has also been lost to Camden and its high-powered incentives. Last week, online marketing firm Webimax opened its new headquarters in the city after moving from Mount Laurel, thanks to a $12 million Grow New Jersey incentive.



“I think we’re in a competitive region and we know that,” Burlington County spokesman Eric Arpert said.



But rather than sit back and watch, Arpert said the county has been proactive in using incentives to its advantage. Camden garners headlines with each big-name project it lands, but Burlington has gotten its fair share, too, he said.



Take Destination Maternity, for example. The maternity apparel retailer was one of the major projects under the previous Grow New Jersey program, receiving approval for a $40 million incentive award in September 2013 to bolt Philadelphia for Burlington County.



“So, there’s a lot of expansion going on here as well (that is) certainly not getting the attention that folks moving to Camden get,” Arpert said. “That’s just the name of the game, I guess.”



Jason Wolf, founder and principal of Marlton-based Wolf Commercial Real Estate, said there “has not been an immediate effect yet” on the suburban corporate real estate market due to Camden’s incentive offerings.



When it comes to available office space in South Jersey, Wolf said Camden County as a whole sits is around 19 percent vacant. Burlington County is faring better, at about 10 percent.



He said that, given the demands of the region, he doesn’t expect a site like Subaru’s 115,000-square-foot headquarters in Cherry Hill to go too long without either being filled or redeveloped.



“There are not a lot of quality buildings to locate to,” Wolf said. “There is a shortage of supply right now.”



For critics who slammed Subaru’s incentive last week, a main talking point was that millions in tax breaks were being provided for a company to move just four miles down the road.



Sound familiar? Panasonic, anyone?



The electronics giant made waves in North Jersey in 2011 when it was awarded $102 million Urban Transit Hub tax credit to move to Newark from its longtime home in Secaucus.



Not so fast, says Sills Cummis & Gross real estate attorney Ted Zangari.



While old incentive programs such as Urban Transit Hub alienated some suburban areas, the new Grow New Jersey program under the Economic Opportunity Act levels the playing field for all areas to compete, he said.



“The beauty of Grow NJ is that it doesn’t pick winners and losers, unlike some of the old programs that rendered suburban locations ineligible,” Zangari said. “Grow NJ provides businesses complete flexibility to move just about anywhere in the state, but then motivates the business through bonuses to achieve policy objectives such as encouraging mass transit or locating in a poverty pocket within a municipality.



“So, a suburban location near a train station or on a brownfield or that’s a high-efficiency building will garner a larger incentive than an urban site that achieves none of its goals.”



Zangari added that what often gets lost in the discussion over intrastate business moves is that the companies involved were considering leaving the state entirely.



“So, in reality, that company’s ultimate decision to stay in New Jersey but move locations is often driven by a flight to cheaper rents or higher location bonus amounts under the program,” Zangari said. “In Camden, a company gets the best of both.”



E-mail to: andrewg@njbiz.com

