The full-gut rehabilitation of a crumbling Jersey City, N.J., public housing complex into the new Catherine Todd Senior Living Center was a first-of-its-kind project, conceived as a joint venture between The Michaels Organization, the Jersey City Housing Authority, and the Montgomery Gardens public housing complex’s resident council. The original public housing complex contained 434 units across six towers, and the new development’s first priority, as voiced by the resident council, was to ensure the well-being of its existing senior residents.
The gut-rehab concept was chosen with regard to maximizing the number of units available to rehouse the senior citizens as well as the availability of affordable housing opportunities in the future. The undertaking served not only to cut the costs associated with the development of a new building, but also to ensure that the newly modernized structure would continue to serve the needs of the Montgomery/McGinley Square neighborhood.
Five of the six towers were demolished, while the sixth was preserved and rehabilitated as the new senior living center. While the original towers were known for their minuscule, claustrophobic windows, new floor-to-ceiling windows offset the new structure’s low ceilings. The existing brick face has been replaced and repointed, and a new, two-story lobby has been added at the lowest level. The tower’s basic structure remains the same, which serves both to cut development costs and to maintain a piece of the Montgomery/McGinley Square corridor’s history.
All rents at Catherine Todd are restricted to residents whose income level doesn’t exceed 30% of the area median income. The community features 20,000 square feet of community and supportive-services space, including lounges and libraries on each floor, on-site laundry, and an eat-in kitchen. Medical professionals provide free health-care services to residents with Medicare and Medicaid in medical offices on-site.
The living units have been reconfigured to accommodate oversized bathrooms, many of them with wheel-in showers for wheelchair users. All units feature resident-controlled HVAC systems and Energy Star–certified appliances.
