By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Hoping to get the project back on track after months of delays, the Ocean City Housing Authority opened construction bids Wednesday for a proposed 60-unit affordable housing development on Fourth Street.
Three construction bids were received ranging from $23.7 million by Epic Management Inc. of Piscataway, N.J., $24.6 million by Gary F. Gardner Inc. of Medford, N.J., and $28.3 million by Costanza Builders Inc. of Mount Laurel, N.J.
Jacqueline Jones, the housing authority’s executive director, said the agency would not comment on the bids until they have been fully evaluated.
There is no guarantee that the lowest bid or any others will be accepted. Last September, the authority rejected two competitive bids, including the lowest one at $22.6 million, for the same project. At that time, the authority announced that the bids were too high.
Ron Miller, the authority’s director of affordable housing, declined to divulge the pre-bid estimate for the project on Wednesday. Like Jones, Miller said the authority would not have any comment until it has completed its evaluation of the bids.
The authority was delayed in seeking a second round of bids by an extensive review by the State Comptroller’s Office that took months to complete. The Comptroller’s Office scrutinized the approximately 1,000-page bid package to make sure it met all of the legal and regulatory requirements.
In this case, it was more complicated than the bid packages for most public projects because it involved a combination of state and federal laws, the authority’s attorney, Michael Watson, explained in April.
Scott Halliday, vice chairman of the authority’s board, attended the bid opening Wednesday and expressed his desire to get the project started.
“We’ve got to get through the process appropriately. We’re anxious to get it going,” Halliday said.
The proposed project would replace the 1960s-era Pecks Beach Village complex, which provides 40 units of affordable housing for families.
Altogether, construction of the 60-unit affordable housing project will take about 18 months to 24 months to complete, the authority has said.
Financing for the project will consist of a mix of grants and loans from the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, funding from the city of Ocean City and tax credits given to private investors.
The project will help Ocean City meet its state-mandated obligation to provide its “fair share” of affordable housing under a court settlement in 2018.
The design of the project will feature 15 duplex-style buildings containing four units each for the families living there, housing authority officials said during a presentation made before the Ocean City Planning Board in April 2023.
Representatives of the housing authority repeatedly stressed during their presentation to the planning board that the development reflects the agency’s philosophy to build new projects that are compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods.
The Pecks Beach Village complex formerly consisted of two parts – a 20-unit enclave of cottage-style housing for senior citizens and 40 units of affordable housing for families along Fourth Street.
The 20 units of senior housing on the north side of Fourth Street were torn down in 2022 to create room for the proposed project consisting of 60 units of affordable housing for families. The seniors who had lived at Pecks Beach Village moved into a new affordable housing complex in downtown Ocean City at Sixth Street and West Avenue.
Meanwhile, the existing 40 units of family housing at Pecks Beach Village on the south side of Fourth Street will remain until the housing authority builds the new 60 units. The 40-unit complex will likely be demolished in stages as residents move into the new development.
