TRENTON, N.J. – New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Acting Commissioner Richard E. Constable, III today joined Trenton Mayor Tony Mack, U.S. Housing and Urban Development representatives and other officials at the ribbon cutting for three renovated, architecturally significant properties which will create additional affordable housing units in Trenton’s historic district. The properties received Neighborhood Stabilization Program funds through the DCA from a federal grant program intended to stabilize neighborhoods hard hit by home foreclosures.
“I am so pleased that the DCA’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program has been a catalyst for the renaissance in Trenton’s Cadwalader Place - a historic area with beautiful, stately homes dating from the 1890’s,” said Acting Commissioner Constable. “As the work to date demonstrates, these NSP projects deliver the best of both worlds – local involvement from community organizations and quality, affordable housing for community residents.”
As a component of the federal Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, the Neighborhood Stabilization Program is specifically intended to assist neighborhoods that are experiencing the negative effects of the foreclosure crisis and that are statistically at high risk of continued market deterioration. In 2009, the DCA secured $51,470,620 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide funds to municipalities, counties and developers to acquire and rehabilitate foreclosed properties that might otherwise become sources of abandonment and blight. The DCA awarded 35 grants.
The City of Trenton received a $2.5 million grant from the program. The City partnered with non-profit developer CityWorks, Inc. of Trenton to acquire and rehabilitate properties in the historic Cadwalader Place neighborhood, which was planned by Frederic Law Olmsted, founder of American landscape architecture and the designer of Central Park in New York City. Isles, Inc. is also assisting on the project.
Carteret Avenue in particular, where today’s ribbon-cutting took place, is surrounded by several strong Trenton neighborhoods including Berkeley Square, a National Register Listed Historic District that is considered part of the Cadwalader Place neighborhood.
Always a residential area, with predominantly Queen Anne and Colonial Revival style architecture, the architectural integrity of this neighborhood had, in many instances, been severely compromised over time. This NSP project seeks to reverse the improper renovations and restore the architectural significance of these homes and return them to their original grandeur.
CityWorks’ mission is to provide new jobs, commercial goods and services, physical renewal and economic vitality to communities that have traditionally been left out of the economic mainstream. Isles, Inc. is a non-profit community development and environmental organization that offers services designed to foster self-reliant families in healthy, sustainable communities.
The Cadwalader Place project goal is to redevelop seven abandoned or foreclosed properties thereby creating 11 affordable, safe housing units for low and moderate income residents. To date, three properties have been completed.
All properties assisted with Neighborhood Stabilization Program funding must be completely renovated. Most of the properties have new appliances, new roofs, new flooring, and new paint finishes. All the units include energy efficiency improvements to reduce utility costs for the tenants.
For more information about the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, log on to http://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/dhcr/offices/nspguide.html on the DCA website.