EDA offers two companies combined 40M to move to Bell Works

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Another 370,000 square feet could soon be leased at the former Bell Labs building in Holmdel, thanks to more than $40 million in state tax credits that have been awarded to two companies.The larger of the two, the Matawan-based recruiting software provider iCIMS Inc., was approved Tuesday for a 10-year, $38 million tax credit by the state Economic Development Authority. If it accepts the award under the Grow New Jersey program, the fast-growing company would relocate to about 339,000 square feet at what is now Bell Works.

ICIMS currently employs 552 people between two sites in New Jersey and anticipates hiring another 390 in the near term, according to the EDA. The 16-year-old company is also considering a facility in Phoenix as an alternate location for those jobs, but state officials say keeping iCIMS in the state would have a net benefit of $170.7 million over 20 years.

The EDA on Tuesday also offered a 10-year, $4 million tax credit to Manhattan Telecommunications Corp. to locate 100 jobs and lease 30,000 square feet at Bell Works, which is being redeveloped by Somerset Development. The New York-based company, which services corporate clients, is considering an alternate location in Salt Lake City.

Bringing the firm to New Jersey would have a 20-year net benefit of $26 million, the EDA said.

The awards come a month after the EDA approved a $15.7 million tax credit for WorkWave LLC, a software solutions provider, to relocate to Bell Works. The company announced soon thereafter that it was leasing 72,000 square feet in the building and has the option to double that space.

If iCIMS and Manhattan Telecommunications accept the awards, they would join a growing roster of tech firms that are repopulating the iconic, 2 million-square-foot complex in Holmdel. Somerset Development is leading an effort to reincarnate the building as a dynamic, mixed-use destination and has leased about 170,000 square feet to date to startups and other tech firms.

“For decades, the former Bell Laboratories site was at the global forefront of innovation,” Melissa Orsen, CEO of the authority, said in a prepared statement. “We are hopeful that these companies will choose to locate their operations at the Holmdel site and bring hundreds of high-paying jobs back to the region.”

EDA officials noted Tuesday that iCIMS was approved for a $13 million Grow New Jersey award in March 2015, but said its “unprecedented growth” since that time has made it necessary for the company to increase hiring and find an even larger facility.