In 2001, The Jersey City Housing Authority received $34.1 million in HOPE VI funding to revitalize Lafayette Gardens, the city’s oldest and largest public housing development. After selecting The Michaels Organization as a development partner, Michaels and JCHA collaborated on 414 mixed-income residential units in six separate developments.

The massive revitalization of Lafayette Gardens has been widely praised as a showcase for the HOPE VI program, which states as a goal the creation of truly mixed-income residential developments that will appeal and attract residents of all income levels. Several phases of the revitalization, funded with the federal grant as well as federal low-income housing tax credits and state and private resources, have received numerous awards from both state and national industry groups.