Under the leadership of Pennrose Properties, WRT is working with other team members including the Affordable Housing Group of North Carolina, Inc., Tise-Kiester, Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon, Inc., and Cole Jenest & Stone to provide high quality development and design services and to optimize the use of public resources. WRT will assist in the finalization of the master plan, ensuring it suits the development team’s implementation strategy, and will lead community engagement efforts and detailed designs.

In 2013, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) selected the City of New Bern and the Housing Authority of the City of New Bern as one of only nine cities in the country to receive a 2013 HUD Choice Neighborhoods Initiative planning grant; a grant that helps local leaders in their efforts to transform struggling neighborhoods of concentrated poverty into sustainable mixed-income communities. 

Residents, business owners, and officials came together to plan the revitalization of The Greater Five Points Area, which is comprised of Duffyfield community, the Walt Bellamy community, and two public housing developments: Trent Court and Craven Terrace. New Bern’s Choice Neighborhoods Transformation Plan promotes affordable housing, safer streets, good schools, and improved access to jobs for the city’s residents.

One component of the Choice Plan is the redevelopment of Trent Court, which calls for the demolition of 218 apartment units and replacing them with 337 units on-site and 400 additional units off-site.

“We are thrilled to work on this important project in New Bern,” said Woo Kim, AICP LEED AP, Senior Associate at WRT. “Our Housing and Neighborhoods team at WRT is dedicated to transforming neighborhoods of poverty into renewed vibrant communities where people will choose to live.” 

To date, WRT has completed 12 Choice Neighborhood projects.