“One of Hollister's core commitments as a company has been to support the on-going revitalization of Newark, with a special focus on reaching out to the city's under-served youth, and it is therefore a great honor be part of the team building Teachers Village,” says Johnson. “This extraordinary project, which brings new opportunities to the city, allows us to add our deep expertise as construction managers in Newark to a visionary integration of excellent schools and affordable housing.”

Hollister has worked a number of recent major projects in Newark. These include a 180,000-square-foot, temperature-controlled facility at 52-62 Cornelia Street in Newark's East Ward, which serves as a distribution center for Wakefern Food Corporation; Damascus Bakeries' new 72,000-square-foot bakery facility at 60 McClellan Street; Newark Collegiate Academy, a 63,855-square-foot charter high school located at 18-36 Norfolk Street; and the Scott Flamm Center For Afterschool Development, a comprehensive renovation of the headquarters of the All Stars Project at 33 Washington Street.

Johnson says that the Teachers Village project entails meeting construction challenges that come with its location in the heart of downtown Newark. The construction team, with David Williams as project manager and Tom Ehrola as project superintendent, must raise the three buildings with virtually no clearance, while trying to limit disruption in a busy downtown.

Hollister is using a modified structural framing and concrete floor construction system, which allows the buildings to be raised floor by floor without bringing in heavy equipment to the confined lot for an extended period.