Newark, NJ - December 20, 2007 - Mayor Cory A. Booker, West Ward Council Member Ronald Rice, and other municipal leaders, developers, and community activists today announced the launching of a program that will unite community groups, local and minority-based developers, and the City to redevelop up to 102 parcels of land, which consist of City-owned properties and privately-owned abandoned buildings in the West Ward. The program follows the City’s adoption of an Abandoned Property Ordinance earlier this year, based on state legislation which empowers municipalities to take action against residential or mixed-use properties that have been vacant for more than six month and have unpaid taxes or create blighting or unsafe conditions.
At a press conference in the Welcome Baptist Church, Mayor Booker described how up to 102 vacant and abandoned properties in the West Ward will be redeveloped by a consortium of locally-based developers in accordance with a plan drafted by the Urban League of Essex County (ULEC). The plan will be based on meetings and consultation with residents of the neighborhood and other key area stakeholders and will address the types of housing that should be built, design standards and community redevelopment goals and priorities.
Vivian Cox Fraser, President and CEO of the ULEC, said “As an anchor institution in the West Ward, the Urban League of Essex County is excited to lead the community outreach and neighborhood planning for the West Ward Initiative because we believe that engaging the community stakeholders and residents is the most important element to ensure a successful project. The League is involved to engage the community in this process in a way that builds the capacity of the residents to shape the development of their community. While physical development is important, the only way neighborhoods will improve is if we also focus on developing the skills and assets of people in the community. This means that community members are engaged, they drive the process, they benefit from the development, and in the end they have the tools and training to rebuild and sustain their neighborhood.”
The Urban League of Essex County was selected from 22 separate proposals, backed by a letter of support from approximately 150 neighborhood residents.
“This is the beginning of a new day for the West Ward’s residents and for minority developers and contractors in the City of Newark. I am grateful to Mayor Booker and his Administration for embracing a community development plan that embraces community empowerment and collaboration at its foundation,” said West Ward Councilmember Ronald C. Rice.
“Development works best when it includes the views and ideas of the community from the beginning, uses the talents and gifts of indigenous residents and workers, and impacts neighborhoods in need without gentrification and displacement. The residents of the West Ward now have an opportunity to chart the future course of their neighborhood, and lead it to prosperity for all. This project will define how this entire city approaches its development, and in turn, the entire state and nation. Newark’s West Ward is leading by example. That is why this effort is so special and represents the best model for development in our neighborhoods for the entire city of Newark,” said Councilman Rice.
The plan will be put into action by The George Group, LLC, founded by Newark native Tate George, and its 13 partners, to renovate existing buildings or build new homes. George, who was a collegiate and professional basketball player for several years, founded The George Group, LLC, a development firm focused on holistic, socially responsible redevelopment in urban areas. He has worked on redevelopment projects in New York, Florida and New Jersey.
“As a native of Newark, and with family members and friends still living in the West Ward, I am extremely excited about the opportunity to come back and help redevelop this neighborhood. The local companies that have joined my team, both large and small, minority and women-owned developers and contractors, all represent some of the best talent around and will help ensure the project’s success in revitalizing the neighborhood. We look forward to being a part of the redevelopment in this community now and in the future,” George said.
The City also selected Habitat for Humanity to build two new homes in the area. Habitat for Humanity produces affordable home-ownership housing for low-income individuals and families with volunteer labor and homebuyers that agree to “sweat equity.”
The City will work with Macedonia Ministries Community Development Corporation and AEG, Inc. to support the City in overseeing rehabilitation and construction work. Macedonia/AEG will assist private property owners who voluntarily choose to complete needed repairs with technical support.
“We will focus neighborhood revitalization efforts in a concentrated fashion in this one neighborhood, simultaneously creating new opportunities for our residents to gain additional practical development experience. We will move with strength and vigor against landlords who abandon and neglect their properties, creating an unsafe and unhealthy environment for our neighborhoods and residents. We will return these properties to productive use, provide quality housing to those who need it, and most of all, continue to restore and manifest the excellence of Newark as a place for families to live,” said Mayor Booker.
After publishing its Abandoned Property List, the City created an inter-departmental team that included City Council, Mayoral, and Planning, and Housing Division staff to evaluate submissions and select the winning proposals. The City received technical support in the evaluation and selection process from The Greater Newark Housing Partnership, a nonprofit affordable housing development intermediary.
“We at the Housing Partnership Development Corporation are excited to be working with the City of Newark in establishing the Greater Newark Housing Partnership, headed by a longtime Newark resident. The West Ward Vacant and Abandoned Restoration Project represents the beginning of our partnership with the City of Newark, and we are pleased to provide our technical expertise to ensure that quality, new affordable homeownership developments are built and Newark’s neighborhoods are revitalized,” said Daniel Martin, President and CEO of the Housing Partnership Development Corporation.
Following negotiation of a formal redevelopment agreement, the selected firms will be submitted to the Municipal Council for approval.
“We are seeing the highest level of partnership between private and public sectors in our City to achieve the most basic of human needs: a quality home. We are also uniting to rid our great city of blighted properties and abandoned buildings, bringing a higher quality of life to our residents, and re-energizing the neighborhoods these properties stand in. We are sowing the seeds of future prosperity and happiness,” the Mayor said.
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