BRS Projects

CATHEDRAL SOUP KITCHEN PROJECT

BRS, Inc. worked with the Camden Redevelopment Agency on the redevelopment of a former brownfield site to develop the community facility.

History

A former brownfield once hosted a family-owned and -operated hardware and supply store for almost 100 years. Having been abandoned by a subsequent property owner, the site was targeted for redevelopment as the permanent location for Cathedral Kitchen, a local, nonprofit soup kitchen and job training center (learn more about the center here). Transforming this neighborhood eyesore into a community asset has provided for many positive impacts:

• Approximately 8,000 hot and nutritious meals are served at the soup kitchen each month;
• The facilities house a culinary arts job training program;
• The current owner provides the municipality with $20,000 a year of payment in lieu of taxes, where previously no tax revenue was generated at the abandoned property; and
• Over $4 million in private investment was leveraged.

BRS’s role:

• Secured over $35,000 in state grant funds for predevelopment activities;
• Served as a liaison between the redevelopment agency, the state regulatory agency, and the developer;
• Provided oversight of the Camden Redevelopment Agency contractors performing the predevelopment work;
• Facilitated the use of $100,000 in Housing of Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for geotechnical studies; and
• Procured and facilitated the use of state funding for $1.2 million for remediation, demolition, and construction documents.

Learn more about our Funding Services.