By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
It may very well be Ocean City’s version of the lottery.
But instead of being awarded cash prizes, the lucky winners will be selected to live in a new type of affordable housing in Ocean City.
Altogether, the Ocean City Community Development Corp. is building five attractive duplexes that will provide 10 units of rental housing for families with low or moderate incomes.
“These are awesome places to live,” said Jacqueline Jones, executive director of the Ocean City Housing Authority, the parent entity of the nonprofit Ocean City Community Development Corp.
The distinctly residential duplexes have been designed to seamlessly blend in with the surrounding neighborhoods.
Two duplexes are being built at 3300 Bay Ave. at the former American Legion post property, another two at 240-244 Haven Ave. and the fifth at 224 Simpson Ave. All of the duplexes will be close to the bay either in the north end or midsection of town.
To make the duplex at 224 Simpson Ave. even more appealing, the decision was made to save a towering tree on the property that has been a favorite sight for neighboring homeowners.
As construction enters the final stages on the duplexes, the housing authority has begun scrutinizing applications it has received from would-be tenants in a random selection process by computer, Jones said.
A little more than 200 applications were received. From those, the top 100 applicants were selected. The housing authority has been paring them down to determine who is qualified to live in the duplexes.
Jones explained that applicants will go through a rigorous process that will include a credit check and a criminal background investigation. They will also have their income levels checked to make sure they fall within the guidelines for low and moderate housing.
In addition to meeting the requirements for low- or moderate-income levels, residents will also have to comply with a litany of “house rules” nine pages long. Tenants, though, will be allowed to have pets.
“If somebody doesn’t want to live by the rules, then this is not a place where you want to live. And we’re going to make that clear,” Jones said.
Although the duplexes are considered affordable housing, they will not be subsidized, so the tenants must have adequate income to afford the rent.
“This is a situation where if they don’t pay the rent, they will be evicted,” Jones said at the monthly board meeting Tuesday of the Ocean City Housing Authority and Ocean City Community Development Corp.
Applications were received from residents of Atlantic, Cape May and Gloucester counties, among other areas. Only a small number of applications came from Ocean City, Jones said.
“A few from Ocean City, but not many at all,” she told the housing authority’s board members.
Board member Patricia Miles-Jackson said she was surprised that the authority didn’t receive a lot more than 200 applications because of the affordable housing crisis in New Jersey.
“It’s really bad in New Jersey,” Miles-Jackson said of the availability of affordable housing.
The application process has been closed. But in response to Miles-Jackson’s remarks, Jones said the authority may consider accepting new applications if the authority has difficulty finding enough qualified tenants.
With construction nearing completion, the housing authority expects to begin moving in tenants early in 2024, if not sooner, Jones said. Each duplex unit will have either two or three bedrooms.
The total cost for the five duplexes is about $4.6 million. A combination of city and state funding financed the project. Financing includes a $2 million grant from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs through the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The DCA has also agreed to contribute an additional $450,000 for the project.
The duplexes “will fill the gaps within the existing affordable housing ecosystem, build on current assets and investments, and add value to neighborhoods by addressing housing needs in an equitable way,” according to a DCA press release.
The city, meanwhile, is kicking in about $2.2 million in an agreement with the Ocean City Housing Authority and the Ocean City Community Development Corp.
The duplexes will help Ocean City to meet its state-mandated obligation to provide its “fair share” of affordable housing under a court settlement in 2018.
