New Affordable Housing in
Elizabeth, New Jersey
L
Elizabeth, New Jersey
leveraged funding is critical to successful brownfields
redevelopment. The City of Elizabeth used EPA grant funds to clarify
environmental issues at local brownfields and was able to leverage $6.2
million in state and federal funding to support development that meets
local needs. This funding enabled a local non-profit developer to build a
35-unit affordable residential development called Marina Village.
Elizabeth, located south of Newark, boasts a population of 110,000 within
its 11.6-square-mile area. Founded in 1664, Elizabeth was once home to
a variety of manufacturing, tool, and die companies. As major companies
closed or went bankrupt, residents migrated elsewhere, leaving the city
responsible for abandoned properties with real or perceived
contamination. By the 1990s, the city was in dire need of economic
recovery. Furthermore, in order to slow the decreasing population trend,
the city needed to provide affordable housing for its 10 percent
unemployed and 16 percent below-poverty community.
In June 1997, EPA awarded the City of Elizabeth a $200,000 Brownfields
Assessment Demonstration Pilot in order to identify and assess the city's
brownfields. Ten contiguous brownfields were identified in the
Elizabethport neighborhood, the oldest section of the city.
Under a Memorandum of Agreement (MO A) with the New Jersey
Department of Environmental Protection's (NJDEP) Voluntary Cleanup
Program, environmental assessments were conducted on the ten
brownfields in 1999. One year later, the New Jersey Redevelopment
Authority awarded the City of Elizabeth $525,000 for cleanup of these
properties. Several former auto repair garages and a tavern had left
behind metals and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), which
were removed from the soil. Cleanup was completed in 2002.
The Elizabethport area has been a part of the HOPE VI's Neighborhood
Revitalization Program since 1997. The HOPE VI Program funds
demolition of distressed public housing and the construction of new
housing. HOPE VI guarantees a 3:1 ratio-matching grant as an incentive
for leveraging redevelopment funding. The city's Housing Authority
selected Brand New Day Inc., a local non-profit developer, to redevelop
The Marina Village Housing development
in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
JUST THE FACTS:
• A $200,000 EPA Brownfields grant
helped the City of Elizabeth perform
assessments on ten targeted
properties that included former auto
repair sites.
• A subsequent $525,000 grant from the
New Jersey Redevelopment Authority
was used to remove soil contamination
from these ten brownfields.
• More than $6 million has since been
leveraged from the public sector to
create attractive, affordable housing,
aesthetic improvements, and new
infrastructure on Elizabeth's former
brownfields.
"The development of
Marina Village followed the script
of how brownfield sites are expected
to be developed: the identification
of a problem, the rallying of
resources, the establishment of
partnerships, and the
implementation and conclusion of a
redevelopment plan."
—William D. Jones,
Executive Director
City of Elizabeth Housing Authority
continued
-------
the Marina Village property. The Housing Authority and its partners leveraged more than $6.2 million in
redevelopment funding from a variety of sources, including: City of Elizabeth Home funds, $370,000;
State of New Jersey Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program, $3,895,000; New Jersey Balance
Housing Program, $1,312,000; NJRA Brownfields Remediation Program, $525,000; and the
State Urban Enterprise Zone, $183,770. The Housing Authority's HOPE VI Program
contributed $3,180,873 in matching funds.
The $6.2 million of leveraged funds saw the vision of attractive, affordable
housing realized. Built in 2003, the Marina Village development consists of 35
rental units, of which 20 are public housing units and 15 are low income
housing tax credit units. Composed of one, two and three bedroom flats,
duplexes, garden apartments and townhouses, the development also
encompassed updates to the infrastructure including new curbing, paving,
signage, street lighting, street trees and landscaping. Immediately after
completion, the development was 100 percent occupied, and has remained so
to this day.
COMPOS:
Famaehfomndicn contact
U.S. ERA-REGION 2
(212)637-5000
Visitthe EPA Brownfields Web site at:
"By redeveloping the Elizabethport brownfields site, we were able to meet the
city's need for more affordable housing," said Elizabeth's Mayor Christian
Bollwage. "The Marina Village redevelopment fits into
our overall commitment to provide 557 new residential
units." In agreement with Mayor Bollwage, Housing
Authority Executive Director, William D. Jones stated, "The
development of Marina Village followed the script of how
brownfield sites are expected to be developed: the identification
of a problem, the rallying of resources, the establishment of
partnerships, and the implementation and conclusion of a
redevelopment plan."
Elizabeth's revitalization efforts have paid off. Over the past
few years, the city has gained more than 3,000 new residents,
which places it as one of the fastest growing cities in the state.
Marina Village's success has spurred other residential redevelopment
in the area. Shortly after its completion, HUD's HOPE VI program also
funded a nearly $30 million project that demolished parts of a nearby public housing development in order
to rebuild townhouses for housing authority tenants.
"Having clean, developable land is the first step toward neighborhood revitalization. Using EPA's
brownfields grant helped Elizabeth turn a contaminated site into a productive community where people
can now live, work and raise a family," said former EPA Regional Administrator Jane M. Kenny.
The Marina Village project demonstrates how partnerships can lead to large economic rewards.
For more information about the Brownfields projects in Elizabeth, NJ, please contact EPA Region 2 at
(212)637-5000.
Additional housing units in Marina Village.
Brownfields Success Story
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Solid Waste
and Emergency
Response (5105T)
EPA 560-F-06-268
October 2006
www. epa. gov/brownfields/
------- |