New Affordable Housing in

Elizabeth, New Jersey

Elizabeth, New Jersey Leveraged funding is critical to successful brownfields 

redevelopment. The City of Elizabeth used EPA grant funds to clarify 

environmental issues at local brownfields and was able to leverage $6.2 

million in state and federal funding to support development that meets 

local needs. This funding enabled a local non-profit developer to build a 

35-unit affordable residential development called Marina Village. 

Elizabeth, located south of Newark, boasts a population of 110,000 within 

its 11.6-square-mile area. Founded in 1664, Elizabeth was once home to 

a variety of manufacturing, tool, and die companies. As major companies 

closed or went bankrupt, residents migrated elsewhere, leaving the city 

responsible for abandoned properties with real or perceived 

contamination. By the 1990s, the city was in dire need of economic 

recovery. Furthermore, in order to slow the decreasing population trend, 

the city needed to provide affordable housing for its 10 percent 

unemployed and 16 percent below-poverty community. 

In June 1997, EPA awarded the City of Elizabeth a $200,000 Brownfields 

Assessment Demonstration Pilot in order to identify and assess the city’s 

brownfields. Ten contiguous brownfields were identified in the 

Elizabethport neighborhood, the oldest section of the city. 

Under a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the New Jersey 

Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Voluntary Cleanup 

Program, environmental assessments were conducted on the ten 

brownfields in 1999. One year later, the New Jersey Redevelopment 

Authority awarded the City of Elizabeth $525,000 for cleanup of these 

properties. Several former auto repair garages and a tavern had left 

behind metals and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), which 

were removed from the soil. Cleanup was completed in 2002. 

The Elizabethport area has been a part of the HOPE VI’s Neighborhood 

Revitalization Program since 1997. The HOPE VI Program funds 

demolition of distressed public housing and the construction of new 

housing. HOPE VI guarantees a 3:1 ratio-matching grant as an incentive 

for leveraging redevelopment funding. The city’s Housing Authority 

selected Brand New Day Inc., a local non-profit developer, to redevelop 

continued • 

The Marina Village Housing development 

in Elizabeth, New Jersey. 

JUST THE FACTS: • A $200,000 EPA Brownfields grant 

helped the City of Elizabeth perform 

assessments on ten targeted 

properties that included former auto 

repair sites. 

• A subsequent $525,000 grant from the 

New Jersey Redevelopment Authority 

was used to remove soil contamination 

from these ten brownfields. 

• More than $6 million has since been 

leveraged from the public sector to 

create attractive, affordable housing, 

aesthetic improvements, and new 

infrastructure on Elizabeth’s former 

brownfields. 

“The development of

Marina Village followed the script

of how brownfield sites are expected

to be developed: the identification

of a problem, the rallying of

resources, the establishment of

partnerships, and the

implementation and conclusion of a

redevelopment plan.”

—William D. Jones, 

Executive Director 

City of Elizabeth Housing Authority 
the Marina Village property. The Housing Authority and its partners leveraged more than $6.2 million in

redevelopment funding from a variety of sources, including: City of Elizabeth Home funds, $370,000;

State of New Jersey Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program, $3,895,000; New Jersey Balance

Housing Program, $1,312,000; NJRA Brownfields Remediation Program, $525,000; and the

State Urban Enterprise Zone, $183,770. The Housing Authority’s HOPE VI Program

contributed $3,180,873 in matching funds.

The $6.2 million of leveraged funds saw the vision of attractive, affordable

housing realized. Built in 2003, the Marina 

rental units, of which 20 are public housing units and 15 are low income

Village development consists of 35 CONTACTS:

housing tax credit units. Composed of one, two and three bedroom flats, For more information contact duplexes, garden apartments and townhouses, the development also U.S. EPA-REGION 2 encompassed updates to the infrastructure including new curbing, paving, (212)637-5000 signage, street lighting, street trees and landscaping. Immediately after 

completion, the development was 100 percent occupied, and has remained so 

to this day. Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at: 

http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ 

“By redeveloping the Elizabethport brownfields site, we were able to meet the

city’s need for more affordable housing,” said Elizabeth’s Mayor Christian

Bollwage. “The Marina Village redevelopment fits into

our overall commitment to provide 557 new residential

units.” In agreement with Mayor Bollwage, Housing

Authority Executive Director, William D. Jones stated, “The 

development of Marina Village followed the script of how 

brownfield sites are expected to be developed: the identification 

of a problem, the rallying of resources, the establishment of 

partnerships, and the implementation and conclusion of a 

redevelopment plan.” 

Elizabeth’s revitalization efforts have paid off. Over the past 

few years, the city has gained more than 3,000 new residents, 

which places it as one of the fastest growing cities in the state. Additional housing units in Marina Village. 

Marina Village’s success has spurred other residential redevelopment 

in the area. Shortly after its completion, HUD’s HOPE VI program also 

funded a nearly $30 million project that demolished parts of a nearby public housing development in order 

to rebuild townhouses for housing authority tenants. 

“Having clean, developable land is the first step toward neighborhood revitalization. Using EPA’s

brownfields grant helped Elizabeth turn a contaminated site into a productive community where people

can now live, work and raise a family,” said former EPA Regional Administrator Jane M. Kenny.

The Marina Village project demonstrates how partnerships can lead to large economic rewards.

For more information about the Brownfields projects in Elizabeth, NJ, please contact EPA Region 2 at

(212) 637-5000. 

Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste EPA 560-F-06-268 

Elizabeth, New Jersey and Emergency October 2006 

Response (5105T) www.epa.gov/brownfields/