The agency's full board is expected to approve the allocations Dec. 19.
Tolls collected at the Benjamin Franklin, Walt Whitman, Commodore Barry and Betsy Ross Bridges are the authority's chief source of revenue.
Help for L-3 project
The first measure would provide a $1.2 million grant for a rent abatement and a $10 million loan guarantee for refinancing of the L-3 Communications facility in Camden.
L-3, a high-tech government contractor, operates in a pair of buildings constructed in 1992 on land formerly occupied by RCA. The $80 million complex was built in part with money from a county bond issue.
As part of lease-renewal talks for L-3, the state Economic Development Authority, the lead agency in the project, and Camden County have come up with a plan to refinance the project through Commerce Bank, the politically connected financial institution based in Cherry Hill. The port authority and the state authority would provide $10 million each in loan guarantees to make the refinancing possible and allow the county to recoup its investment.
L-3 employs about 800 people in Camden.
Freeing up 20 acres
Under the second measure, the port authority would pay $3.85 million to satisfy two mortgages held by Camden County on about 20 acres of waterfront property.
The properties include RCA's former Nipper Building, which developer Carl Dranoff plans to convert into luxury rental apartments in a $50 million project.
The authority said in its resolution that the county mortgages were a "financial disincentive to developers for future redevelopment" on the waterfront.
Additional projects on the drawing board include an expansion of the New Jersey State Aquarium, a family-entertainment retail complex, and a $32 million aerial tramway between Camden and Philadelphia.
Tramway work on the New Jersey side of the Delaware River has already been delayed by the county's effort to get back its waterfront investments.
By paying off the mortgages, the port authority would control all of the remaining waterfront land available for redevelopment between the aquarium, the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, and Delaware Avenue.
Joseph Gambardello's e-mail is jgambardello@phillynews.com.
