September Forum: Spotlight on Jersey City, NJ

Join GreenHomeNYC, and our co-sponsors, the Urban Land Institute, the Jersey City Environmental Commission, and the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency for our September forum as we turn our sights to the West for a Spotlight on Jersey City!  We’ll be learning about various active sustainability projects and intiatives going on in the area.  This will include a look at sustainable buildings, affordable housing, and other city initiatives.  To properly set the tone we’ll be holding this forum in Jersey City.  It’s just a quick PATH train ride away so come join us!  See below for transit directions. Note:  Due to scheduling issues this forum is on a Thursday instead of our usual 3rd Wednesday of the month! This forum is free and open to the public. Date:  Thursday, September 20, 2012 Time:  6:30pm – 8:00pm Place: 30 Montgomery St., 14th floor, Jersey City, NJ 07302 RSVP here! Our Speakers will include: Richard Garber, Partner of GroArc Richard Garber, AIA, is a tenured Associate Professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s College of Architecture and Design.  His work uses computer simulation and computer numerically controlled (CNC) hardware to generate innovative design, construction, and assembly solutions. He is also a partner in the New York City-based firm GRO Architects. Garber and his partner at GRO, Nicole Robertson were each named one of 32 new faces of design in the December 2010 issue of Dwell magazine. That issue also showcased PREttyFAB, a precast concrete urban housing prototype designed by GRO in Jersey City, New Jersey.  PREttyFAB has been published widely and won multiple awards including an AIA Merit Award and a Project of the Year Award form the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency (JCRA). Current projects include Jackson Green, a 38,000 SF housing proposal that will bring 22 new town houses to the MLK JR. Hub section of Jersey City in fall 2012, two sustainable housing proposals for the Oliver neighborhood of Baltimore, and the master plan for Maozuizhen, a 14.5 million SF plan for a community in rural Hubei Province, China, done in partnership with NJIT.  In April 2009, Garber was a guest-editor of Closing the Gap: Information Models in Contemporary Design Practice, an edition of Architectural Design published by John Wiley & Sons. Garber was the ‘Emerging Architect’ Visiting Assistant Professor at Barnard College in 2007. He was previously a project manager at SHoP Architects. He holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, New York) and a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Garber is a licensed Architect in New York, New Jersey, and Maryland. Robert Antonicello, Executive Director of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency For the past seven years, Robert Antonicello has served as the Executive Director of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency. The Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, New Jersey’s largest and oldest municipal redevelopment agency, is responsible for project implementation and oversight within the City’s 82 redevelopment areas. The Agency’s broad area of expertise includes project facilitation, site assemblage and clearance, environmental remediation and developer selection.  Since taking over the reigns of JCRA, Bob has championed the “forgotten” neighborhoods and workforce housing quickly making Jersey City one of the leaders in the development of workforce housing in the State. Bob has quickly earned the reputation of the “bridge” between the City’s private real estate professionals and the City. His vast and diverse background include 25 years as owner/manager of a number of brokerage management real estate consulting businesses. Early in his career, Bob served both as a City Planner and Executive Director of Neighborhood Housing Services for the City of Jersey City. In December, 2008, Bob was named Public Official of the Year by the Urban Land Institute of Northern New Jersey. Bob earned a B.S. from Rutgers University in Planning and Urban Affairs and an M.S. in Real Estate Development from New York University. Bob is also Chairman of the Board of the Northern New Jersey District Council of the Urban Land Institute. Bob has been married 27 years to his wife, Karen, and has two sons and a golden retriever named “Sunny.” Daniel Gans, CEO of Hoboken Brownstone Co. Daniel J. Gans serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Hoboken Brownstone Company — one of the nation’s leading innovator of energy-efficient building practices and technology — overseeing the firm’s design, approval process and construction operations. Mr. Gans career in the real estate industry and experience in the development of community-conscience and environmentally-responsible new home neighborhoods dates back more than 30 years when he joined personal friend and partner George Vallone to form the locally-based Hoboken Brownstone Company, Their first project – a renovation of four condominium homes at 210 Third Street in Hoboken in 1980 – was the perfect springboard to the creation of a diverse real estate company that specialized in development, construction, brokerage and management of urban properties along the Hudson River waterfront and beyond. Recent initiatives by Hoboken Brownstone Company are reaffirming its community commitment and taking the vision of Mr. Gans to new heights. In 2008, Mr. Gans sponsored with Mr. Vallone a White Paper titled “Mass Wall Building: An achievable approach to green, high performance, and net zero energy buildings.” The paper was used extensively to help create the NJ Energy Master Plan. Not sure how to get to Jersey City?  There are two easy mass transit options from NYC: 1)  Take the E train to World Trade Center, the A, C trains to Chambers St, or the 2, 3 to Park Place.  Then walk to the PATH World Trade Center station and take any PATH train one stop to Exchange Place. 2)  Get on the PATH train at 6th Av. and 33 St, 23 St, 14 St, or 9 St, or at Christopher St. in Greenwich Village and take a Journal Square bound train to Newport.  At Newport, transfer to a World Trade Center bound train and take it one stop to Exchange Place. A PATH train map can be found here!