By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
A proposed 60-unit affordable housing development in Ocean City is entering the final stages of a months-long review by the state Comptroller’s Office and appears “100 percent” on track to begin construction later this year, officials said Tuesday.
The Ocean City Housing Authority hopes to begin soliciting construction bids for the project on April 3 if the Comptroller’s Office, as expected, soon wraps up its review of the proposed Pecks Beach Village development.
The Comptroller’s Office, which scrutinizes major public projects in New Jersey, began reviewing the approximately 500-page bid package for the Pecks Beach Village development last October.
Michael Watson, the housing authority’s solicitor, said the Comptroller’s Office originally had more than 700 comments about the bid package. The comments have since been narrowed down to just 21 issues, largely of a legal and regulatory nature, he told the authority’s board members at their monthly meeting Tuesday.
“They are known to be very detail-involved and just nitpicky overall. So, it wasn’t a surprise,” Watson said of the Comptroller’s Office review. “The bid package itself is over 500 pages, so we were expecting a lot of comments from the OSC and they probably added a little bit more on this one comparatively.”
He explained that his office is drafting language that should resolve most, if not all, of the remaining issues with the Comptroller’s Office. Mainly, it’s just a matter of inserting regulatory or statutory language into the bid package that the Comptroller’s Office has requested, he said.
“We’re moving forward. We have a goal of getting this thing out on Friday to the OSC for final review. I think that’s very achievable. Whether or not it is truly the final review remains to be seen,” Watson said.
The authority has been waiting for the Comptroller’s Office to finish the review so that it can begin advertising for construction bids for the estimated $22 million to $23 million development proposed in the north end of Ocean City on Fourth Street.
Bob Barr, the housing authority’s chairman, said he remains “absolutely 100 percent” confident that construction will begin later this year.
“While it did have some delay, I believe it was minor,” Barr said of how the Comptroller’s Office review slowed down the timetable somewhat for the project. “But we’re still pretty much on target in our view.”
Altogether, the 60-unit affordable housing project will take about 18 months to 24 months to complete, said Jacqueline Jones, the authority’s executive director.
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.
Financing for the project will consist of a mix of grants and loans from the New Jersey Housing 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 will replace the existing Pecks Beach Village housing complex dating to the 1960s.
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 that 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.
