Smart Growth Award
In 2002, RPM Development Group was chosen as a 2002
Smart Growth Award recipient by New Jersey Futures Board
of Trustees. The award honors outstanding redevelopment
work that advances smart growth designed to revitalize
New Jersey’s cities, older suburbs and towns as
thriving, community alternatives to suburban sprawl.
RPM was cited in partnership with the New Jersey Department
of Community Affairs for turning an old bakery in one
of the most economically depressed neighborhoods in
North Jersey into environmentally friendly family housing
in the form of Bakery Village.
The Newark-East Orange border runs directly through
the site of the old Ward Bakery, a neighborhood employer
that closed its doors in 1979 amidst a host of financial
and environmental difficulties. Where others saw a dilapidated
structure in a decaying neighborhood, RPM Development
Group envisioned safe and inexpensive apartments.
Walking through the lobbies, hallways, and apartments
of the Bakery Village, the fruits of RPM’s vision
are apparent. The handsome foyer, decorated with elegant
stained glass windows representing various stages in
the building’s history, generates a sense of openness
as well as a feeling of security, familiarity, and the
welcome continuity of neighborhood landmarks. The architects
preserved many of the most characteristic and charming
features of the Ward Bakery, including the green industrial
facades and the terra cotta cornice. The RPM team, committed
to environmentally conscious construction, installed
energy-efficient features such as thermal fiberglass
windows, thick insulation, state-of-the-art boilers
and electrical networks. Factory-sized windows brighten
living quarters, and spacious indoor parking increases
the desirability of the address. Perhaps most impressively,
the Bakery Village offers its low-income residents thorough
and rigorous security that never feels intrusive or
threatening -- while the building, located in the center
of a high-crime area, is carefully monitored through
the use of video equipment and identification, there
is scant external evidence of surveillance.
According to RPM’s Smart Growth Award profile,
Bakery Village seamlessly and successfully combines
attractive design features with utility and security
concerns, and it exists as tangible proof of a solid
intention among progressive-minded developers and state
agencies to revitalize even the most impoverished pockets
of urban New Jersey.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 2
Environmental Quality Award
April 30, 2002
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Energy Star Labeled Homes
Outstanding Achievement Award
For building Over 50 ENERGY STAR Labeled Homes In the
Past Year
New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency
Excellence in Housing Management Award
For Your Organization’s Continued Commitment to
Affordable Housing
The Berkeley
New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency
Excellence in Housing Management Award
For Your Organization’s Continued Commitment to
Affordable Housing
Park Avenue Apartments
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Energy Star Labeled Homes
Outstanding Achievement Award
For building Over 50 ENERGY STAR Labeled Homes In the
Past Year
New Jersey Excellence in Housing Award
Outstanding Sustainable Housing Development
“Creating an affordable rental community using
environmentally friendly materials.”
West Side Village at North 13th Street, Newark
West Side Urban Renewal
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