Newark, NJ – March 20, 2023 – The City of Newark has issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to enable it to choose experienced contractors, developers, and non-profits to participate in a major new equitable growth housing initiative. The new initiative will help increase affordability and build wealth through creating or renovating multi-family buildings and homes that residents can own, expanding opportunities for Minority/Women-owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) developers and contractors, and providing jobs and job training for Newark residents.

The initiative, “Equitable Investments in Newark Communities” is a response to reports by the Rutgers Center on Law, Inequality and Metropolitan Equity (CLiME) and the NJ Institute for Social Justice that document the enormous wealth gap between white and black/brown families in New Jersey. The reports also show that homeownership, the major path for families to build wealth, is being eroded in Newark by the widespread purchase of residential properties by corporate buyers. Links to the two reports are given below.

“This initiative is an opportunity for experienced developers, contractors and housing non-profits to participate in building an equitable future for Newark,” Mayor Baraka said. “It is an important step toward creating more affordable housing, increasing homeownership, reducing the wealth gap, providing training and jobs for Newark residents, and expanding opportunities for MWBE businesses.”

Equitable Investments in Newark Communities will use properties acquired from the City, the Newark Landbank, or private owners to build or renovate affordable housing units and sell homes to residents at affordable prices with low interest mortgages.

This RFQ will pre-qualify general contractors and developers for construction and rehabilitation work such as construction of new housing, rehabilitation of distressed properties, and participation in home repair projects. Applicants may be individuals and organizations, both non-profit and for-profit, with the experience, financial resources, and capacity to acquire, manage, construct, rehabilitate, and maintain housing projects.

The City encourages collaborative partnerships between experienced organizations and small, local minority/women-owned enterprises, particularly small, local contractors, subcontractors and developers, and non-profit community development organizations. Interested applicants who do not individually have the required qualifications may form joint ventures that will collectively strengthen the team’s qualifications.

A pre-submission question and answer session will be held on Wednesday, March 29, at 11:00 a.m. at City Hall, located at 920 Broad Street. The meeting will take place in Room B-29 located in the lower-level rotunda.

The deadline for submissions is Monday, May 1, 2023. To apply for RFQ, please visit: https://tinyurl.com/NewarkGrowthHousing2023

Rutgers Center on Law, Inequality and Metropolitan Equity (CLiME) report:

Who Owns Newark? Rutgers-Newark Study Finds Troubling Rise in Corporate Buying of City Homes -2022.

NJ Institute for Social Justice report:

Making the Two New Jerseys One Closing the $300,000 Racial Wealth Gap in the Garden State – 2022.

-NEWARK-

For more information on the City of Newark, please visit our website:

www.newarknj.gov

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