The Trenton Times published the following article on April 23, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Rush Crossing development transforms site of former Miller Homes in Trenton

By Erin Duffy/The Times of Trenton 
on April 23, 2013 at 7:00 AM, updated April 23, 2013 at 7:06 AM.

TRENTON — Pipes are being fitted and foundations laid at the new Rush Crossing development, where townhouses and apartments are being built at the former site of a public housing project.

Developer Pennrose Properties broke ground in December after the long-vacant Miller Homes townhouses and apartment towers between Lincoln Avenue and Monmouth Street were demolished to make way for new low- and middle-income housing.

Over the past month, construction crews and workers, some of them local, marked utility hook-ups, prepared to raze more buildings on Monmouth Street, poured foundations and framed future rental units, the Trenton Housing Authority said.

The housing authority, which is overseeing construction, estimates 14 percent of the work has been completed. The first multi-unit building will be finished by September and 12 more will be done by March 2014, the agency said.

“We’re very happy so many local businesses and residents are involved in this project,” THA executive director Herb Brown said. “They’re helping us meet our original schedule for completion.”

The $61 million project is financed in part by a $22 million Hope VI grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which went toward the demolition, $3.5 million in affordable housing funds from the city of Trenton and $17.7 million from the state Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit program.

The project was originally expected to be completed in two phases over three to five years. But Trenton Housing Authority and Pennrose officials recently revised that estimate, saying that new funding sources will allow all the work to be done in just 18 months, allowing residents to move in next year.

A total of 204 apartments and townhouses will be built, with a mix of one- to four-bedroom rental units. The housing authority said 182 will be built on the former Miller Homes site and another 22 across the street on Monmouth Street.

Authority officials are touting the number of local workers and contractors involved in the construction. Under federal Section 3 guidelines, 30 percent of the project’s workforce must live in public housing or qualify as low-income.

Pennrose has faced questions and criticism from local vendors and City Council members who contended the developer has not made hiring local firms and residents a priority.

Local unions and the Metropolitan Trenton African American Chamber of Commerce filed a complaint with HUD in 2010, alleging that Pennrose and general contractor AJD Construction were shutting local workers out of the redevelopment project and failing to meet minimum federal hiring requirements.

In a construction update, THA said it has hired 28 new Section 3-certified workers and has awarded contracts to 12 Section 3 businesses, including Ewing trash hauler Gibson Truck Service, drywall contractor Carter Wilson Group and J.T. Coy Security. The project is on track to spend $4 million on Section 3 workers and businesses in its first half, according to the THA.

Contact Erin Duffy at (609) 989-5723 or eduffy@njtimes.com.