News Release
For Release: Tuesday, December 14th
Contact: Frank Baraff 914-469-3775

Orange Redevelopment Progress Continues to Gain Statewide Attention

Over the past two months, Orange’s progress with redevelopment has been the subject of cover stories in two statewide magazines.

   

The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce quarterly magazine, Enterprise, currently features a cover story by Mayor Eldridge Hawkins, Jr. about Orange’s downtown redevelopment strategy and its environment-friendly construction initiatives.  http://www.ci.orange.nj.us/News-releases/Chamber-Green-Issue.pdf

Now, in the December issue of the League of Municipalities magazine, New Jersey Municipalities, the cover story is “Innovation in Orange Continues”.  The League story is a discussion of Orange’s Transit Village initiative to bring new development to the areas surrounding train stations and also the replacement of the Walter G. Alexander public housing complex by a new neighborhood of attractive low-rise homes.   http://www.ci.orange.nj.us/mayor/League-Article-1210.pdf

The two cover stories follow the 2010 NJ League of Municipalities Conference in November at which Orange’s redevelopment plans and strategy were highlighted in several panel discussions and presentations.

At the League Conference, Mayor Hawkins presided over a panel discussion on redevelopment; at another panel, Commissioner Lori Grifa of the State Department of Community Affairs applauded Orange’s commitment to revitalization and discussed how the Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit (NRTC) funds helped the Valley District in Orange; and at the NJ Urban Mayors Association Annual Meeting – Orange was praised for its Vacant and Abandoned Property Strategy by Diane Sterner, Executive Director, Housing and Community Development Network and Wayne Meyer, President, New Jersey Community Capital and Orange resident.

Statement by Mayor Eldridge Hawkins, Jr.
“Despite the bad economy and huge cuts in state aid we are moving the city forward. We are committed to restoring abandoned properties and stabilizing our neighborhoods. I am proud that Orange is being recognized as an example of the good things that can be accomplished even in difficult economic times.

I want to thank the City Council, Director Valerie Jackson’s Department of Planning and Development, the Orange Housing Authority and our other partners for helping to make Orange a recognized leader in redevelopment and revitalization.  I also want to thank the League of Municipalities and the Chamber of Commerce and their staffs for drawing attention to our progress in Orange. This kind of positive publicity is very helpful in our campaign to attract new development and to recruit new developers.”