Trenton, NJ – September 8, 2015 TRENTON’S EAST STATE STREET BROWNFIELDS REVITALIZATION PROJECT RECEIVES NATIONAL AWARD FOR INNOVATION IN BROWNFIELD REDEVELOPMENT

The City of Trenton was awarded a Community Impact Award for its East State Street Brownfields Revitalization Project. The Revitalization Project involved the transformation of three former industrial sites, several dilapidated and abandoned row houses, and a small park that was transformed into a brand new park and named after former NBA basketball star Greg Grant and 20 new homes.

Specifically, the project led with the remediation and redevelopment of properties once occupied by Standard Roofing, V&S and the abandoned turn-of-the-century Thropp Brothers Machine Shop. The dilapidated row homes and obsolete park were redeveloped into 20 new, affordable single-family homes—now known as East Trenton Homes—at a cost of $4.3 million. A $3.5 million grant from the Balanced Housing Grant/Loan Program funded construction, while financing also came from $85,000 in Regional Contribution Agreement Funds (RCA); $712,626 from the Better Community Housing of Trenton‘s “100 Homes” Campaign; and $260,000 from Mercer County.

Project Partners for this effort included:  Architects Michael Graves and THINKFORM’s Russell DiNardo, Better Community Housing of Trenton, Inc. (formerly Martin House); USEPA (Region 2); NJ Department of Community Affairs; NJDEP; Mercer County; Brownfield Redevelopment Solutions, Inc.; and members of the East Trenton Collaborative.  V. J. Scozzari & Sons, Inc. served as the General Contractor for the 20 affordable single-family homes, developed for Better Community Housing of Trenton, Inc.

The Phoenix Awards™, inspire and recognize exemplary brownfield redevelopment and revitalization. Created in 1997, this environmental award honors individuals and groups working to solve critical environmental or social challenges, transforming blighted and contaminated areas into productive new uses and sustainable development projects. The Phoenix Awards™ are widely recognized as the outstanding award for achievement of excellence in Brownfield redevelopment.

V.J. Scozzari & Sons, Inc. is a General Contracting, Construction Management, and Design/Build firm that has been meeting the needs of clients for more than three generations. They continue to adhere to the basic business values that have guided them from the very earliest days in business-attention to quality, honest and mutual beneficial client relationships, and a management philosophy that emphasizes treating clients, employees, and partners with respect and fairness.   Since the early 1990’s the firm has been a pioneer in the providing cost effective sustainable construction services and high performance buildings. The firm has a staff of United States Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Accredited Professionals (AP) as well as G|PRO Construction Management professionals, certified by the Urban Green Council, USGBC of New York. For more information about V. J. Scozzari & Sons, Inc. and the construction services they provide visit www.vjscozzariandsons.com