A site on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard that once held Trenton Junior High School No. 1 is about to become something entirely different: a 107-unit affordable apartment building for seniors. The Trenton Housing Authority announced that the site will be redeveloped as Choice Junior One, a project combining senior housing, an early childhood daycare center, and ground-floor retail space.
According to NBC10 Philadelphia, the Trenton Housing Authority secured a $54.3 million award from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to help fund the project. The NJHMFA board approved permanent financing for the project on September 3.
Per NBC10 Philadelphia, Choice Junior One will include 107 one-bedroom apartments serving residents ages 62 and older who earn at or below 60% of the area median income, making the building 100% affordable housing. Amenities are set to include a fitness room, a community room, an outdoor patio, walking paths, on-site parking, and playground equipment. The station reports that the Trenton Housing Authority and its development partner also plan to offer workforce development, senior services, youth education support, and financial empowerment programming on-site.
Redeveloping the Former School Site
The former Junior High School No. 1 site is slated for redevelopment as Choice Junior One.
Trenton Housing Authority leadership framed the project as more than a construction milestone. “Choice Junior One represents what is possible when we invest in both people and place,” said Clifford Godfrey, per NBC10 Philadelphia, adding that the development will transform a site important to North Trenton's history into a new community. Mayor W. Reed Gusciora struck a similar note, telling the station that rebuilding a neighborhood requires more than building housing.
One Piece of a Much Larger Plan
Choice Junior One is only the opening phase of a far bigger effort. The project is the first step in a multi-phase master plan to redevelop Donnelly Homes, a public housing community originally built in 1939, into more than 500 modern, mixed-income residences across North Trenton, according to NJ.gov. The City of Trenton and the Trenton Housing Authority landed a $15.6 million Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in July 2024 to anchor that broader transformation of Donnelly Homes and the surrounding North Ward Battle Monument neighborhood, per the City of Trenton.
The groundwork for all of this stretches back years. The initial planning process began in September 2019, when HUD awarded a $1.3 million Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant to the Trenton Housing Authority and the City of Trenton, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Trenton Housing Authority later selected Property Resources Corporation, known as PRC Group, as its private co-developer to execute the multi-phase redevelopment, the Trenton Journal reported.
Building Without Displacing Residents
The former Junior High School No. 1 site and more than 200 city-owned North Ward properties are part of the phased redevelopment.
Beyond the 107 senior apartments, Choice Junior One will also include an early childhood daycare center and ground-floor commercial space, adding intergenerational uses to the site, according to NJ.gov.
Naming the Neighborhood, Setting a Timeline
North Trenton residents are also getting a direct hand in shaping how the redeveloped area will be marketed. In July, the Trenton Housing Authority and The Boulevard Collective launched The Third Battle Community Naming Challenge, offering a $5,000 cash award for a resident-submitted public-facing name for the new destination emerging around Donnelly Homes and Junior High School No. 1. Submissions were accepted through October, according to The Third Battle Community Naming Challenge.
As for Choice Junior One itself, the timeline is now set. NBC10 Philadelphia reports that the Trenton Housing Authority plans to break ground in December, with construction expected to take about 25 months. That puts the project on track to welcome its first residents in fall 2028, capping nearly a decade of planning that began with the 2019 federal grant.
