Frequently Asked Questions

General

1. What is WinnCompanies?

Founded in 1971 and still privately-held, WinnCompanies or "Winn", is an award-winning owner, developer and manager of high-impact, quality apartment homes.​ WinnCompanies is split into three divisions: WinnDevelopment, WinnResidential, and WinnMilitary. Additionally, Winn's affiliated non-profit, Connected Communities, serves residents and assists local partner non-profits with growing their services. WinnResidential manages more than 120,000 apartment homes across 761 communities in 26 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Winn is ranked as one of the largest managers of affordable housing and all rental housing in the US and the second-largest manager of privatized military housing and is a developer and over of 130 communities across 11 states and the District of Columbia. Winn has 4,300 dedicated team members and growing, with minority team members holding 52% of managerial positions.​ 

2. How was WinnCompanies selected as the developer for the RAD process at Joanne Hollis Gardens?

Winn was selected by the Housing Authority of Plainfield ("HAP") via a competitive Request for Proposal ("RFP") process. Winn submitted a successful RFP response and completed their final presentation to the HAP board on October 7th, 2024. The HAP Board ultimately voted to select WinnCompanies, specifically WinnDevelopment, via Board approval as the RAD developer for Joanne Hollis Gardens in November of 2024.

Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD)

1. What is Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD)?

Created in 2012, the Rental Assistance Demonstration Program (RAD) allows public housing agencies to leverage public and private debt and equity in order to re-invest in public housing stock. Leveraging this subsidy is critical given the up to $75 billion dollar backlog of deferred maintenance expenses. In RAD, units move to a Section 8 platform with a long-term contract that, by law, must be renewed at expiration. This ensures that the units remain permanently affordable to low-income households. RAD maintains the public stewardship of the converted property through clear rules for ongoing ownership via operating agreements and loan agreements between PHAs and private developers. The RAD program is cost-neutral and does not increase HUD subsidy to participating PHAs. The program simply shifts units from the Public Housing program to the Section 8 program so that providers may leverage the private capital markets to make capital improvements.

2. How will your rent change under RAD?

In short, all tenants will continue paying 30% of their monthly income to rent and they will maintain the same basic rights as they possess in the public housing program.





Development Process and Timing

1. What is involved in the development process?

The development process is complicated and takes a long time to complete. Below is a rough outline of the development process:

1. Winn will conduct a thorough physical needs assessment (PNA) of Joanne Hollis Gardens and solicit feedback from residents

2. Winn will conduct a visioning sessions with Joanne Hollis Gardens residents to receive feedback about the property and to discuss the workflow, tentative timeline, and construction period.

3. Through the above processes, Winn and the selected design team will prepare a detailed scope of work

4. Winn and the Housing Authority of Plainfield will submit funding applications to agencies such as HUD, the New Jersey Housing Mortgage and Finance Agency (NJHMFA), and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA).

5. The design team will simultaneously prepare construction drawings and documents required for the building permit and approval process.

6. After funding applications are approved and all financing is closed on, construction will start.

2. What are Winn and HAP's plans for Joanne Hollis Gardens

The current plan is to rehabilitate all units at Joanne Hollis Gardens and upgrade all units to have modern finishes, appliances, etc. Winn will work with the residents to solicit feedback on the specific rehabilitation plan for Joanne Hollis Gardens.

3. When will construction start?

As outlined above, there are many steps in the process before construction can proceed. At a minimum and subject to change, construction will not start for at least a year and a half.

Community Involvement

1. What engagement has occurred with residents of Joanne Hollis Gardens?

Our team began meeting with the residents of Joanne Hollis Gardens in January of 2025 to understand key needs and priorities. You can follow our events and meetings in the Timeline section.

We launched this website to share information and gather feedback from residents in addition to community members. We understand not everyone is available to attend all meetings and want to make the process as accessible and inclusive as possible.

2. How can I get involved?

Click subscribe at the top of the page to receive email updates directly from the project team! We will be sharing information about upcoming meetings and events. You can also provide feedback here.

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