Dynamic commercial districts are the heartbeat of a community.
Creating and managing these districts takes an agile, experienced team to navigate the often competing needs of real estate professionals, civic leaders, and community stakeholders. With a focus on building partnerships, CDS delivers an economical, turn-key management solution, providing a complete suite of services with the goal of creating the best environment possible for community investment.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:
Journal Square Restoration Corporation (JSRC)
Jersey City, NJ
Journal Square is both a mixed-use commercial district and major transportation hub within Jersey City. With complex development needs, Journal Square has benefitted from the leadership of the JSRC in the on-going efforts to capitalize on the tremendous growth of the City and continue its revitalization. Within this context, CDS advocates for the District with municipal agencies, developers and provides day to day administrative management, program development and a robust operations agenda.
In recent years, the JSRC has been tasked with enhancing the public spaces found around the Journal Square Transportation Center. To achieve this goal, CDS has worked with the City to reinvent the area around the Journal Square Plaza by reinvigorating the Journal Square Farmers Market with new food and merchandise offerings as well as expand programming to add a unique Night Market with curated foods, craft cocktails and artisan goods on a monthly basis. This led to a collaborative partnership between the JSRC, the KRE Group, the City of Jersey City, and Port Authority, to establish a new public space for daytime and nighttime events called Magnolia Landing at the eastern entrance of the Journal Square Transportation Center.
The project reflected an overall investment of $100K investment from the KRE Group and successfully answered the demand for more entertainment options for residents and visitors alike.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:
Mt. Prospect Partnership (MPP)
Newark, NJ
The Mt. Prospect Avenue Neighborhood Improvement District is noteworthy for its substantial residential population. This District’s challenge is to develop strategies to bridge the space between the residential neighborhood and the businesses in order to realize a vision of a connected community. To achieve this vision, CDS has worked closely with the Board of Trustees in developing a work plan that clearly identified cleanliness, security, and community programming as its three top priorities.
CDS’s ability to develop successful partnerships with municipal and county agencies has been the foundation of success in this District in two key areas:
1. Mt. Prospect Partnership (MPP) provides a daily sanitation and sweeping program that removes more than 12,000 pounds of trash per week, while working closely with the Department of Public Works to address illegal dumping and other sanitation violations.
2. MPP established a great working relationship with the Newark Police Department and the Essex County Sheriff’s Department, leading to the implementation of a seasonal off-duty police program to address quality-of-life issues, and strengthen ties with the business community.
To support and enhance the community’s connection to the business district, MPP has invested in programming to provide residents with opportunities to experience the Mt. Prospect Avenue corridor in new and exciting ways. CDS has created a robust event schedule to achieve the MPP goal of diverse community programming including the largest Classic Car Show in Essex County, free yoga in Common Thread Park, a seasonal Holiday Light Parade, and Holiday Tree Lighting, as well as a much anticipated annual program in partnership with the Newark Fire Department that brings Santa Claus to local schools, daycare centers, and senior citizen community centers.