Carpenter's Hill
Camden, New Jersey
Leasing Information

Description

• New construction of affordable housing for families
• 49 two-and three-bedroom two-story town homes   in 25 buildings
• New Urban planned community
• Placed in service in 2002

Developer
Pennrose Properties
St. Joseph Carpenter Society

Architect
Kitchen & Associates
Collingswood, NJ

General Contractor
AJD Construction
Leonardo, NJ

Management
Pennrose Management Company

The Challenge

Over the course of its three-hundred-year history, Camden, New Jersey, has prospered during robust periods of manufacturing demand and faced distress during periods of economic dislocation. At its zenith, Camden was the corporation capital of the United States.   In the second half of the twentieth century, the demise of the industrial base that had sustained its prosperity brought upon the city ubiquitous poverty, intrusive blight, and a host of associated social pathologies. Abandoned buildings, vacant lots, absentee landlords, and disinvestment repelled all but the least intrepid or socially conscious.   As a real estate, development firm with over three decades of experience, Pennrose recognized the business opportunity and positive social possibilities that redevelopment of Camden presented.   In the 1990s, Pennrose formed a partnership with The St. Joseph Carpenter Society (SJCSC)   to actively engage in the production of affordable rental housing that would improve the quality of life and create safe neighborhoods for low and moderate income families in the City of Camden.  

The Solution

The partnership chose to redevelop a 4.5 acre scattered site of vacant land and/or abandoned buildings along North 32 nd Street in the Rosedale/Dudley section of East Camden.   Sources of funding for the project came from among others, LIHTC equity and the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Balanced Housing Program.   To create a sustainable community, the design team applied New Urbanism principles that resulted in a walkable neighborhood of homes with front and back yards, interconnecting sidewalks, covered front porches, and off-street parking. The 49 newly constructed apartments in 25 buildings consisted of 5 accessible two-bedroom units and 44 three-bedroom units in two-story, wood- frame side-by-side twins with pitched roofs.   All apartments included central air-conditioning, a fully equipped kitchen, and an intrusion alarm system. Evidencing the very real need for these homes was the fact that there were over 900 initial applications for the housing.   The success of the project laid the framework for the Baldwin's Run, the HOPE VI revitalization of Westfield Acres.

The multi-million dollar Carpenter's Hill redevelopment underscores the success Pennrose has had in working with community groups to transform neighborhoods physically and socially.   Carpenter's Hill is managed and maintained by Pennrose.

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