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New Jersey yesterday awarded tax breaks to a developer that wants to convert the Paramount Theater in Newark into apartments.

(William Perlman/The Star-Ledger)

A project that could transform the commercial center of downtown Newark got a boost yesterday when the state Economic Development Authority awarded it nearly $52.5 million in tax breaks.

The Four Corners Millennium Project, which had applied unsuccessfully for the grants last year, is designed to convert the neighborhood around Newark's Broad and Market streets into a residential and retail center. The intersection was once considered the commercial heart of northern New Jersey.

Yesterday, the project was awarded $33 million in tax credits under the Urban Transit Hub program, which expired at the end of last year, and $19.5 million under the Economic Redevelopment and Growth Program.

EDA President and Chief Operating Officer Timothy Lizura said the developer didn’t qualify when it applied last year because it was unable to provide commitment for all the funding sources.

It resubmitted its application before the Urban Transit Hub program was absorbed into the Economic Opportunity Act, which trimmed the number of programs available and revised eligibility requirements.

“All of the approvals had to be done before the end of January,” Lizura said. “This is the last month we can make this kind of an approval.”

Yesterday’s grants were for the first phase of the redevelopment, which will include a 130-room hotel, as well as a residential and retail building at the site of the former Paramount theater.

The developer, RBH Group, is the same company behind Teachers Village in Newark, a $150 million project that opened in late September. The concept behind Teachers Village was to transform a blighted neighborhood with schools, housing and retail outlets.

The Four Corners project is larger in scale and is expected to cost $410 million.

The proposal would convert dormant office and warehouse space into more than 800 apartments above 135,000 square feet of street-level stores.

Lizura called the development "a substantial investment in Newark's historic center."

RBH and its partners purchased three of the five parcels for $9 million in 2006 and 2007. Contracts are pending for the two remaining lots, which are expected to cost $16 million.

A spokesman for RBH said the company is finalizing financing plans. It recently received approval for about $88 million from HMFA. It has applied for $10.3 million in Low Income Housing tax credits, and has received $12 million in grants from Newark.

Goldman Sachs is expected to provide the loans. RBH and its partners are investing nearly $66 million of equity.

Construction is expected to begin this spring.

According to the EDA, the project is will create 400 construction jobs.

EDA Chief Executive Michele Brown opened the monthly meeting with a summary of the past year. She said the state agency charged with luring and creating new jobs provided more than $1.2 billion in financing for 213 projects.

More than $412 million was provided through the EDA incentive programs, which leveraged more than $977 in public/private investment.

Brown said the agency helped create 5,300 new jobs in 2013, and saved 5,200 from leaving the state.

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