The U.N.I.T.Y rapper, Queen Latifah revisited her hometown of Newark to break ground on a new multi-family affordable housing development. For over a decade, she has been working on this project, RISE Living. It was created in hopes to grant the city’s residents access to modern housing at an affordable rate.
According to northjersey.com, the development is planned to have 76 units including 20 three-family townhouses for rent starting at $1,800 per month. Amenities include touchless entry and free wifi in all common areas, online portals for maintenance and rent payment, washers and dryers in units, as well as hardwood floors, green roofs in selected units, and air conditioning, stainless steel appliances, and more, as per Amsterdam News. Pre-leasing is expected to begin in July of this year.
Queen Latifah is co-president of a development firm by the name of BlueSugar Corp., which heads the project, in collaboration with GonSosa Development and Life Assets Development.
For years locals and officials have been trying to prevent Newark from becoming “The Next Brooklyn” with the increase of developments within the city. Hopefully, Newark will “RISE” to the occasion, and continue its efforts to provide those who are underprivileged with resources.
“It took a while, but we stayed with it and it changed and it morphed, and we stayed with what we needed to do, and the timing is right right now for this place to rise,” Latifah said, referring to the project’s name, RISE Living. The name, also an acronym for “Rita is Still Everywhere” is a tribute to her mother, Rita, a former Newark schoolteacher.
