Construction Begins in May on Major Housing Project

By DONALD WITTKOWSKI

After a slight delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Ocean City’s public housing agency said Tuesday that it plans to begin construction in May on a nearly $7 million affordable housing project for senior citizens. The Ocean City Housing Authority originally had planned to celebrate the start of construction with a formal groundbreaking ceremony on April 4, but the event was called off because of social distancing requirements and the state’s ban on large gatherings. Gov. Phil Murphy issued an executive order on April 8 that halted most of the construction projects around New Jersey to help slow the spread of COVID-19. However, the order exempts certain types of essential projects that would be allowed to continue, including construction of affordable housing. Jacqueline Jones, the Ocean City Housing Authority’s executive director, said full-fledged construction will get underway in May, but there will be no formal groundbreaking ceremony to mark the occasion. She estimated the project will take 12 to 15 months to complete, which means a grand opening would occur sometime in 2021. A $6.9 million construction contract has been awarded. The project will be built on what is now a parking lot adjacent to the authority’s Bayview Manor housing complex at Sixth Street and West Avenue. The 32-unit project will be named Speitel Commons in honor of the late Edmond C. Speitel Sr., a housing authority commissioner. Speitel, who was chairman of the authority’s finance and redevelopment committees, helped to oversee the new project from the conceptual phase. Locking up the last piece of financing needed for the project, the authority is expected by next week to finalize $4.5 million in funding from the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, Jones said. Jones gave a report Tuesday on the project during the authority’s monthly board meeting, which was held by teleconference because of social distancing requirements during the coronavirus outbreak. Money for the Speitel Commons project will also come from Ocean City. In 2019, 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 Speitel Commons complex. The city is expected to contribute more than $2 million toward the project. Speitel Commons will be built next to Bayview Manor at Sixth Street and West Avenue. Senior citizens who now live in the authority’s flood-prone Pecks Beach Village housing complex on Fourth Street will be moved over to the new project when it is completed. The housing authority will demolish the senior citizens portion of Pecks Beach Village, located on the north side of Fourth Street, after the Speitel Commons project is finished. Pecks Beach Village also includes affordable housing for low-income families. The 40 family units are located on the south side of Fourth Street. The family units will stay for the time being, although there are longer-range plans to replace them with new housing construction. In the meantime, the housing authority’s staff has remained on the job to continue overseeing the Pecks Beach Village and Bayview Manor complexes during the coronavirus outbreak. As the pandemic continues, the authority has been maintaining constant communication with residents by phone or signs to keep them informed about COVID-19 precautions, Jones explained. “I think we have good compliance at this point,” she said. Jones noted that no cases of COVID-19 have been reported with any of the residents or staff at the authority’s housing sites. The staff members are taking precautions by wearing masks and gloves and by regularly wiping down high-touch surfaces with disinfectant seven days a week, she said. Residents have been given masks to wear when they venture outside the housing complexes to make essential trips. Jones, though, said masks are not a requirement for residents when they are within the confines of the housing sites. “It’s strongly suggested to stay in the units and we’ve had strong success with that,” she said of the residents. The housing authority currently has no formal pandemic policy, but the administrative staff will develop one and present it to the board members later on. Pecks Beach Village, located on a section of Fourth Street prone to flooding, will be demolished after the new Speitel Commons housing complex is built.