South Ward Wellness Center awarded $21.7 million in Aspire tax credit funding

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) has awarded Brick Education Network’s South Ward Wellness Center in Newark, NJ, $21.7 million in tax credit funding through New Jersey’s Aspire program. The funding will support the construction of a 45,000 square foot multi-use facility that will include:

• a branch of the Newark YMCA, offering fitness and wellness options to South Ward residents;
• prenatal care, maternal care, and support programs offered by South Ward Healthy Beginnings;
• a 12,000sf Federally Qualified Health Center operated by St. James Health, that will offer primary and preventative community health care services to Newark residents, regardless of patients’ ability to pay.

Thriven Design is providing comprehensive architectural, engineering, and interior design services for the project, which will transform the corner of Clinton Avenue and Bergen Streets in Newark into a four-story development with a significant focus on resilient and sustainable design.

The South Ward Wellness Center is being developed by the BRICK (Building Resilient Intelligent Creative Kids) Education Network, a 14-year old charter school management organization located in Newark, NJ. Since its founding in 2010, the organization’s focus has expanded beyond education to the holistic needs of children and families in Newark’s South Ward.

In 2018, BRICK created the nonprofit South Ward Promise Neighborhood, a coalition of more than 25 South Ward organizations, to address community housing, healthcare, and community support services. The South Ward Wellness Center building will also provide office space for BRICK and South Ward Promise Neighborhood partners.

New Jersey’s Aspire program provides financial support to commercial, mixed-use and residential real estate projects that strengthen communities and are determined to have a net positive benefit to the state. The program has awarded more than $200 million in awards since its creation in 2020.

Last July, NJEDA awarded Aspire Funding to Terrell Homes, for which Thriven Design is also providing architectural and engineering services. The multi-phase project supports the redevelopment of Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood; phase I is currently in construction.