Funding Approval Slightly Delayed for Ocean City Housing Project

Ocean City’s public housing agency will have to wait a little longer for the state to approve a major part of the funding for a proposed $23 million affordable housing project.

The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency was originally expected to vote on the $9 million funding package of grants and loans for the Ocean City Housing Authority in December. Now comes word that the vote will be pushed back until the HMFA’s February meeting.

Representatives of the Ocean City Housing Authority stressed Tuesday during their monthly board meeting that the slight delay is no reason for concern and that the HMFA funding is not jeopardized at all.

“That’s OK, because they were able to secure and confirm that the $9 million is not at risk at this point,” Ron Miller, the authority’s director of affordable housing, told the board members.

Miller said no reason was given by the HMFA for moving back the vote until February, but he assured the board that it won’t cause “any significant delay on our part.”

Bob Barr, the authority’s chairman, also indicated that he was not concerned that the HMFA will vote in February instead of December.

“We’re comfortable with where we’re at. The fact that we’re confirmed on the agenda (in February) also makes us comfortable,” Barr said in an interview.

    Members of the Ocean City Housing Authority discuss the project during their monthly board meeting Tuesday.
  

In what will be its biggest project ever, the authority is planning to build a 60-unit affordable housing complex starting sometime next year.

At its Sept. 12 board meeting, the authority awarded a $23 million construction contract to Gary F. Gardner Inc. of Medford, N.J., for the proposed Pecks Beach Village project.

Once construction begins, it is expected to take about 18 months to finish the project, a timetable that would put completion around late 2026 or early 2027.

The Pecks Beach Village project will provide affordable housing for local families within 15 duplex-style buildings containing four units each. It will be built on the north side of Fourth Street.

The existing 40-unit Pecks Beach Village complex on the south side of Fourth Street will be demolished when the new project is completed.

    Vacant land on the north side of Fourth Street is the site for the proposed housing complex.
  

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 project is a centerpiece of the authority’s strategy to modernize its affordable housing stock with new, attractive units for families now living in the existing Pecks Beach Village, a complex dating to the 1960s.

Representatives of the housing authority have repeatedly stressed that the development will reflect the agency’s philosophy to build new projects that are compatible with the surrounding neighborhoods.

In 2021, the authority completed a nearly $7 million affordable housing project for senior citizens at Sixth Street and West Avenue in downtown Ocean City. Dubbed Speitel Commons, the 32-unit building was hailed as a success for integrating affordable housing in the heart of Ocean City with attractive architecture that blended in with the surrounding neighborhoods.

    The existing family-style homes at Pecks Beach Village will be demolished after the new housing project is built.