Photos: Milton Allimadi\Janet Tonkins\A.R.T. Jius Enterprises
The Mill Street Square, a $26 million affordable housing development that includes units for grandparents raising grandchildren officially launched Wednesday in Paterson, New Jersey.
Owen Tonkins shown with Paterson Mayor Sayegh
Several dignitaries were at the launch Wednesday morning including: Paterson, N.J., Mayor Andre Sayegh; the developers Janet Tonkins and her husband Owen, who are co-owners of A.R.T. JIUS Enterprises; their partners from WinnDevelopment; and several elected leaders and activists.
Ms. Tonkins is also known as the “Cash Flow Diva” for her passionate advocate about the need for African Americans and other marginalized communities to learn the business of real estate development and wealth-creation for the community. In addition to this new development in Paterson, N.J., the Tonkins family has purchased, sold, rehabbed and managed over $700 million in single-family and multi-unit apartments in Maryland, Georgia, Florida and New Jersey.
“Cash Flow Diva” Janet Tonkins
This new development includes 74 low income housing tax credit (LIHTC) apartments; 52 units are reserved for multi-generational households with grandparents who earn less than 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI) and who are raising their grandchildren. Eligible families will receive project-based rental assistance from the Paterson Housing Authority. The non-profit Grand Parent Relatives Care Resource Center (GPCRC) has a new headquarters within the development.
The 22 remaining units are reserved for families earning below 80% below AMI. Fifty-four new apartments are new two- and three-bedroom units “creating much-needed space and flexibility for larger families in Paterson,” said the development partners ART-JIUS Enterprises and WinnDevelopment, in a press statement Wednesday.
A 97-kilowatt solar PV system that will produce about 120,000 kilowatt hours of clean, renewable energy annually and offset 35% of the building’s electrify load, the development partners said.
The project transformed the four-story 7,700 square-foot historic Brick Argus Mill into six loft-style two-bedroom apartments; constructed a new four-story apartment building for 68 low- to moderate- income households; built a new parking garage; and restored the historic Thompson and Ryle Houses which now becomes the offices of ART-JIUS Enterprises, WinnResidential, and the non-profit Paterson Music Project.
More than $5 million in contracts were awarded to nine Section 3 and M/WBE businesses. “The development team also helped four existing local businesses become certified and registered as MWBEs in New Jersey, expanding their access to public sector business opportunities. Thirty-one Paterson residents were hired during construction at New Jersey prevailing wage rates,” the development partners said.
Financing for the project came from: the City of Paterson; New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency; Fallbrook Capital; Citibank; BlueHub Capital; and Bank of America.
For more details about Janet Tonkins and her transformative ventures, please contact Natalie at (301) 244-9072 or visit thecashflowdiva.com
