Calling it a “big deal,” Mayor Steven Fulop hit Twitter and blasted out an email today to tout a $500 million plan to revitalize the Holland Gardens public housing complex.
Plans to tear down and replace the 76-year-old, 3.3-acre complex at 15th Street and Jersey Avenue date back to 2019.
At a press conference yesterday to announce the new plan, Fulop was joined by Jersey City Housing Authority Executive Director Vivian Brady-Phillips, Winn Companies Senior Vice President David Ginsberg and Holland Gardens resident and advocate Bernadine Taylor.
“This is a big deal for us as it is the most significant and transformational project downtown since Newport” said Fulop.
The four buildings approved under the updated Holland Gardens Revitalization Plan include a “Senior Building” with 74 affordable units set aside for seniors on fixed incomes, a 56 unit “Condominium Building” with half of the units designated as affordable, a “Retail and Community Building” which will include a public library branch and a “North Residential Tower” with 192 public housing units and 309 market-rate units.
Current residents of Holland Gardens who will be temporarily relocated will have the right to return to the new complex.
The complex will also house offices for the JCHA’s Resident Empowerment and Community Engagement Department, which partners with community organizations to connect residents with resources and programming, including after school programs, workforce development, senior services, and a digital inclusion program that, according to the administration, has garnered national recognition.
The redevelopment project will create approximately 1,000 jobs, with prioritization for local hiring and minority- and women-owned businesses, said the administration.
The administration says that every unit will be built equally in terms of the design and finishes to ensure residents of all income levels can equally experience high quality, equitable living with amenities such as in-unit dishwashers, and washer and dryer units.
The plan, which includes green energy and sustainable building practices, will, according to the administration, also transform the surrounding neighborhood by reconnecting 15th street, creating a pedestrian plaza with the goal of fostering community by adding amenities for all residents and the surrounding neighborhood.
“By working closely Holland Gardens residents, listening to their concerns and their dreams, the JCHA co-created a transformative vision with them to attract public-private investment that not only benefits public housing residents who will return to a new, revitalized home, but also enriches the surrounding neighborhood,” said Brady-Phillips.
Said Taylor, who serves as a resident representative and voting member on the JCHA’s Evaluation Committee, “In this plan, they made sure to fit our needs as residents, specifically for the seniors. When they gave us a choice to live in the new senior building or stay in the parcels that was a big plus to me.”