Pennrose, Thriven Design, celebrate groundbreaking for Petersen Commons

Thriven Design was pleased to join Pennrose, the Township of Woodbridge, and numerous New Jersey state dignitaries, including New Jersey Governor and U.S. Navy veteran Mikie Sherrill, on Friday, April 10, for the groundbreaking of Petersen Commons, a 60-unit, 100 percent affordable senor community  with a preference given to veterans 55+.

Thriven Design is providing architectural services for the community, which is named in honor of Avenel resident Carl Petersen, a Navy veteran and Medal of Honor recipient who served on the USS Newark in the early 1900s.

“Today’s groundbreaking at Petersen Commons represents our commitment to ensuring every New Jerseyan—especially those who have served our country—can age with dignity in a safe, affordable place to call home,” said Governor Mikie Sherrill. “By delivering this housing, we are one step closer to effectively ending veteran homelessness this year. I am grateful to our partners for their shared efforts to expand affordable housing across New Jersey.”

Petersen Commons features 55, one-bedroom units; and five, two-bedrooms units; Three apartments are accessible for residents with physical disabilities and two are outfitted for residents with hearing and visual impairments. The community also includes common laundry facilities, on-site management and maintenance offices, resident parking, and community space for gatherings and on-site supportive services, provided by “Soldier On” .

The development is financed through 4% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), Affordable Housing Production Funds provided by the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA), and ASPIRE credits provided by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA). Hudson Housing Capital serves as the syndicator and JP Morgan Chase is the investor for both the LIHTC and ASPIRE credits. Civil engineering for the project is being provided by MidAtlantic; structural engineering is being provided by Mulhern & Kulp; and geotechnical engineering is being provided by Terracon. ARC Building Partners is the general contractor.

Petersen Commons is the second multifamily supportive community in Woodbridge Township developed by Pennrose and designed by Thriven Design. In 2019, Pennrose and Thriven Design completed work on Greens at Avenel, a 4-story 100-unit affordable multifamily apartment building with one quarter of its units reserved for individuals with developmental disabilities.

“Today’s groundbreaking of Petersen Commons at Avenel represents yet another milestone toward achieving our goal of ensuring that Woodbridge Township Veterans and Senior residents have access to quality residential options that allow them to affordably continue to live in the Woodbridge community.  Our partnership with Pennrose established the first new fully-accessible residential community specially designed for developmentally disabled residents at the Greens at Avenel and now, we have expanded to include 60 units of affordable housing specially designed for our Veteran community.  Once again, Woodbridge Township stands firmly on our commitment in partnership with Pennrose to provide state-of-the-art affordable housing to our 55+ Veteran community,” said John E. McCormac, Mayor of Woodbridge Township.”

A spring, 2027, opening is expected for Petersen Commons.

To learn more about Thriven Design’s portfolio of projects benefiting veterans, including Camp Salute, Kilmer Homes, and One Thompson Ave. , visit https://thriven.design/expertise/.