TZL 1303

BUSINESS NEWS LAND-USE FIRM DRESDNER ROBIN HELPS NEW JERSEY ACCOMMODATE GROWING EDUCATIONAL NEEDS Jersey City, New Jersey-based land-use consultancy, Dresdner Robin , has provided a suite of services for two New Jersey urban education projects, furthering its mission of bringing creative solutions and technological innovation to development in underserved communities. The firm offered expert engineering, environmental, planning, and survey services to the Clinton Hill Early Learning Center in Newark, New Jersey, and produced a campus vision report for Dr. Lena Edwards Academic Charter School in Jersey City, New Jersey. The initial project for the early learning center involved developing a temporary site to supplement the existing operation while a new, permanent facility is developed. The charter school project involved a land-use vision report utilizing the firm’s landscape architects, surveyors, and input and advice from the school community. “These are meaningful education projects and our firm played a direct role in their outcome,” said Grant Lewis, Dresdner Robin’s senior project manager, engineering. “Bringing creative technological solutions and a collaborative nature to the projects, Dresdner Robin continues to address community needs in a densely populated state whose educational requirements remain ever-changing.” The New Jersey firm worked with the Maher Charitable Foundation on a temporary learning center on a vacant block in Newark’s South Ward. The one-acre site, leased from the New Jersey School Development Authority,

now consists of a one-story, 9,350-square- foot building – constructed using 10 modular trailer units. The Clinton Hill facility serves 78 students, from infants to 5-year-olds. The temporary site will remain in use while the firm develops design documents, acquires land entitlements and conducts an environmental investigation to allow the construction of a permanent facility on an adjacent block. Dresdner Robin is responsible for all aspects of site development (including layout and zoning analyses, etc.). “This is an important project for the community and a direct response to its needs. Overall, it is a great way to facilitate ongoing progress for Newark,” Lewis added. “Some of its notable features include a playground for toddlers along with a community room for various local needs.” The firm provided engineering and planning testimony during a 2018 public hearing in support of site plan approval from Newark’s Board of Adjustment. Dresdner Robin also provided environmental services to comply with requirements of the Department of Children and Families, including remediation on soil and groundwater. DIGroupArchitecture , of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was the architect of record and a critical partner for both Newark projects. Dresdner Robin also completed conceptual design, programming, and analysis work at Dr. Lena Edwards Academic Charter School, which serves approximately 400 students at the site of the former Saint Patrick and Assumption/All Saints parochial school – at 509 Bramhall Ave., Jersey City, New Jersey.

The school’s physical space required alterations to match its next-gen curriculum. In 2018 and early 2019, Dresdner Robin’s landscape architects worked with the campus to develop a comprehensive report, incorporating curriculum components and anticipated future needs. “Dresdner Robin has truly been a strategic partner in this project, allowing DLEACS to accommodate the educational needs of current and future students,” said Christopher Garlin, CEO of the Jersey City charter school. “Their work to anticipate demands on the space, while also incorporating the feedback of the school community, was special and we’ve valued the concepts they’ve put forward.” The firm met with DLEACS administrators and stakeholders in a design charrette, gathering input from faculty, parents, and students. Data obtained from the gathering was used to develop a campus-wide program diagram, which informed the conceptual design. “Dresdner Robin will continue its work on community-oriented projects,” added Lauren Venin, project manager, landscape architect at Dresdner Robin. “We provide a range of services for the revival of urban landscapes and our projects – like those in Newark and Jersey City – bring clear results.” Dresdner Robin provides creative solutions that emphasize service, client satisfaction, and technological innovation with specialties in site/civil engineering, land surveying, environmental service, planning, surveying, and the revival of urban landscapes.

JAVIER SUAREZ, from page 11

boilerplates as locked PDF files. The idea is to have something to compare to after writing the new language for the submit- tal. Include the lessons learned based on past comments from reviewers of previous documents. The intelligence gained by looking in the mirror can prove invaluable. ❚ ❚ The “Hello, my name is…” tag. If used correctly, your boiler- plate is never used as-is and you have several versions of the same topic. It is important to label your boilerplates to make it easier to select for future uses: for example, “quality control AND stormwater AND municipality” or “project management AND new K-12 facility AND repeat client.” Redefine what boilerplates used to be – a collection of generic texts – and create a library of past successful write-ups. Give it a new name if you want. Once more, I am not suggesting that you use boilerplates as-is in final documents, but there are ways to make them work to your advantage. In this era of recycle/reuse/renew, instead of discarding information, we should embrace it. Zig Ziglar said, “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” So, use boilerplates as your starting point to greatness! JAVIER SUAREZ is the central marketing and sales support manager with Geosyntec Consultants. Contact him at jsuarez@geosyntec.com.

the right direction. The key is to keep a close eye on the devel- opment of the text so that the final product is not the original boilerplate you submitted for reference. “I am not suggesting that you use boilerplates as-is in final documents, but there are ways to make them work to your advantage. In this era of recycle/reuse/ renew, instead of discarding information, we should embrace it.” ❚ ❚ The chameleon effect. It is common to find boilerplates for internal processes like project management, quality control, schedule/cost control, etc. Technical professionals are ex- tremely tempted to use them as-is, but we must remind them of the message sent to the client by doing so. The best prac- tice is to edit these processes to match the client’s needs and requirements – showing them how we adapt instead of push- ing the same thing to every client for every project. ❚ ❚ The mirror, mirror on the wall scene. You could share

THE ZWEIG LETTER July 8, 2019, ISSUE 1303

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