By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
The new duplex at 224 Simpson Ave. is tucked behind a towering tree that has a quaint, old-fashioned wood swing hanging from it.
Trimmed in a color scheme of gray and white paint and featuring a flowing stairway up to the first and second floors, the duplex is an attractive addition to this Simpson Avenue neighborhood just a block from the bay.
In Ocean City, this is the new style of “affordable housing.”
Altogether, five new duplexes totaling 10 units have been built by the Ocean City Housing Authority through its nonprofit affiliate, the Ocean City Community Development Corp., to provide affordable housing throughout town for families having low or moderate incomes.
The distinctly residential duplexes have been designed to seamlessly blend in with the surrounding neighborhoods.
“That was everything that we wanted to work towards. We wanted to build something that we could all be proud of, that the residents could be proud of, that the community could be proud of,” said Bob Barr, chairman of the Ocean City Housing Authority.
During its monthly board meeting Tuesday, the housing authority announced that four of the 10 families that will live in the duplexes are scheduled to start moving in on March 1.
The other tenants will follow once the state completes the rigorous criminal background and financial checks to make sure they fall within the guidelines for low and moderate housing.
“As soon as they’re approved, we’ll sign the leases,” said Jacqueline Jones, the housing authority’s executive director.
In addition to the duplex at 224 Simpson Ave., two more duplexes were built at 3300 Bay Ave. at the former American Legion post property and another two at the corner of Third Street and Haven Avenue.
“Make no mistake, I just saw a video the other day of the inside of one of the units and they are beautiful. Whoever lives in there will be privileged to do so and I hope be proud to do so, because we’re sure proud of what we did,” Barr said in an interview after the board meeting.
To make the duplex at 224 Simpson Ave. even more appealing, the decision was made to save a stately tree in the front yard that has been a favorite sight for neighboring homeowners, especially when it is in full bloom in the warm weather months.
Although the duplexes are considered affordable housing, they will not be subsidized, so the tenants must have adequate income to afford the rent. If they fail to pay their rent, they will face eviction.
Jones said tenants considered to be low-income families will pay $844 per month for the two-bedroom units. Families that have moderate incomes will pay $1,306 monthly for two-bedroom units.
For the three-bedroom units, families considered to be in the low-income level will pay $989 per month. Families with moderate incomes will pay $1,404 monthly for three-bedroom units.
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.
“There are house rules, and they’re going to have to be good stewards of the neighborhood. If they don’t, we will have a site manager and they will be enforcing those things and making sure that everybody’s being good members of the neighborhood, like everybody else is” Barr said.
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.
A little more than 200 applications were received from families wanting to live in the new duplexes. From those, the top 100 applicants were selected. The housing authority and the state then pared down the applications to determine the 10 qualified families.
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.
