RPM Development Group and New Jersey's City of Pleasantville Mayor Jesse L. Tweedle, Sr. hosted the Groundbreaking for the Pleasantville City Center project on September 30^th. MaGrann's Rich Selverian and Ray Perkins were on hand for the program as MaGrann is providing the LEED MidRise and Energy Star Multi-family High Rise services for this two-phase, $38.7 million redevelopment initiative.

Located in the heart of Pleasantville's downtown, the project aims to transform an overgrown, underutilized lot on one of Pleasantville's primary mixed use areas. It will create 135 residential apartments and approximately 18,000 square feet of street-level retail space. Public transportation, medical facilities, public schools and shopping are all located within a half mile. The two buildings, Pleasantville Mixed-Income and Pleasantville Mixed-Use, are the first two phases of the multiphase Pleasantville City Center mixed income redevelopment project.

The Groundbreaking event included remarks from Anthony Marchetta, Executive Director of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency which will be providing a mortgage for the project and Melissa Orsen, Deputy Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs. Funding will also be provided by Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, construction financing from Wells Fargo Bank and Community Development Block Grant Sandy relief funds.

Read more about the project here.

Photo courtesy of People's Climate Flickr

September 21^st marked an important day for climate change everywhere. While world leaders were assembling in New York City for a landmark summit on climate change, about 400,000 students, celebrities, organizations and concerned citizens took on the streets in a march, standing together and demanding action. The People's Climate March was a huge success. It received abundant press attention including a feature on the front page of The New York Times and was determined to be the largest climate march in history by far.

MaGrann's Technical Consultant, Jon Jensen attended the impressive event. "It was validating to see how many people showed up to express their concern about these issues. What inspired me about the day was the collective sense of excitement about the solutions. We have the answers and now is the time to decide as a society how we want to make the changes we need to pass forward a livable planet," he said.

World leaders gathered for the United Nations Climate Summit two days later to address the climate crisis. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon invited government, finance, business and civil society leaders to the Summit and had them present suggestions to reduce emissions, strengthen climate resilience and mobilize political will for a legal and global agreement in 2015.