Walter G. Alexander Court was an obsolete high-rise Public Housing Authority community located in the northern New Jersey City of Orange Township. Built in 1952, the two seven-story apartment buildings of the project—containing 140 units of low-income, affordable housing. Throughout the resident population, the buildings were notorious for rampant crime, violence and drugs, and considered one of the most dangerous areas within the local community. Fed up with unrelenting crime and vandalism, the Orange Housing Authority, along with a number of motivated public stakeholders and private partners, developed a revitalization plan to replace the two aging buildings with a new, lower density, affordable housing community, offering multi-family, workforce and senior housing opportunities.

The site, now known as Dr. Walter G. Alexander Village, is located in what is known as the Transit Village District East district of the City of Orange Township, as delineated in the just recently adopted Central Orange Redevelopment Plan. The surrounding neighborhoods consist predominantly of single-family homes with a sprinkling of small-scale commercial properties, businesses, civic organizations, places of worship, and a school—the Oakwood Avenue Elementary School. Due to its proximity to the Central Avenue Commercial Corridor district, as well as a variety of transit options—including the Orange Transit Station and Brick Church Station in neighboring East Orange—it is anticipated that this area will serve as a cornerstone to the long-term revitalization efforts of the city.

With the first two phases complete, the new Dr. Walter G. Alexander Village neighborhood represents the beginning of what is expected to be a long-term, multi-phased process to redevelop the immediate area and reinvigorate the local economy. Phase I of the project focused on the creation of 66 new affordable family housing units, while Phase II provides 48 new affordable housing units devoted to seniors. Both phases received their Certificates of Occupancy in April of 2012, and were placed into service shortly thereafter.

Due to the immediate success of these first two phases within the local community and neighborhood residents, plans to move forward with the next phase of development have already begun. Phase III of Dr. Walter G. Alexander Village, expected to offer an additional 42 units of family and workforce housing, recently received final Planning Board approval, and is anticipated to be completed within the next 18-20 months.