By Donald Wittkowski
In a big boost for a project that has languished on the drawing board for the past year, the Ocean City Housing Authority has awarded a nearly $7 million construction contract for a new senior citizens housing complex.
Two construction companies submitted bids for the contract. Gary F. Gardner Inc. of Medford, N.J., came in at $6.9 million, while Fabbri Builders of Vineland, N.J., submitted a $7.3 million bid. The housing authority awarded the contract to Gary F. Gardner.
Bob Barr, a city councilman who also serves as the housing authority chairman, said negotiations will begin with Gary F. Gardner to see if changes could be made with the project to reduce the cost.
“There could be changes to trim costs down,” Barr said. “Most likely, it will result in costs coming down.”
The authority plans to develop a 32-unit senior citizens affordable housing complex that would replace the flood-prone Pecks Beach Village on Fourth Street. The project will be built next to the housing authority’s existing Bayview Manor housing complex at Sixth Street and West Avenue.
The next step calls for the authority to obtain a key state permit allowing it to build in a coastal zone. Barr noted that it could take up to five months for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to grant approval for the Coastal Area Facility Review Act permit.
“Hopefully, it will be smooth,” he said of the permitting process.
Under the latest timetable, the authority hopes to begin construction late this year or in early 2020. Completion is targeted for May or June of 2021, according to Barr.
Last year, the housing authority had proposed building a new 21-unit affordable housing project to replace the senior citizens complex at Pecks Beach Village. Originally, the agency had planned to complete the project by late 2019.
However, those plans were dealt a setback when two separate rounds of bids came in much higher than the project’s estimated $4.2 million price tag and were rejected.
Going back to the drawing board, the authority conceived plans to expand the project to 32 units in a funding partnership with the city.
In March, City Council approved a $6.6 million bond ordinance to build or rehabilitate affordable housing sites for senior citizens and low-income families. The projects will help Ocean City meet its state-mandated obligation to provide its “fair share” of affordable housing as part of a court settlement in 2018.
One of those projects is the proposed senior citizens complex that will replace Pecks Beach Village. In addition to the city’s money, the housing authority previously announced plans to use a $4.2 million Hurricane Sandy recovery grant to help finance construction.
The low-lying Pecks Beach Village was swamped by storm waters from Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, underscoring the need to develop new housing in a location less vulnerable to flooding. It continues to suffer from flooding during storms and even in high tides.
“It’s bad down there with the flooding because it’s so low,” Barr said of Pecks Beach Village. “Those buildings date to when JFK was president.”
The new senior citizens complex next to Bayview Manor will offer modern amenities in an area protected from flooding. Barr said the project reflects the importance the city has placed on building attractive and safe housing for senior citizens.
“It means they will go into a nice, state-of-the-art building. Most importantly, they’ll be out of the flooding,” Barr said. “It will take a lot of stress off the residents, and a lot of stress off us.”
Senior citizens who live in the one-story, cottage-style Pecks Beach Village units will be moved into the new project, which will be called Speitel Commons, named in honor of the late housing authority commissioner Edmond C. Speitel Sr.
The authority will demolish the senior citizens portion of Pecks Beach Village, located on the north side of Fourth Street, after the new housing project is completed.
Pecks Beach Village also includes affordable housing for low-income families. The 40 family units are located on the south side of Fourth Street and are not as vulnerable to flooding as the senior citizens complex. The family units will stay for the time being, although there are longer-range plans to replace them with new housing construction.
