JERSEY CITY – Mayor Steven M. Fulop announced on July 23 that 285 units of new affordable housing have been approved over the past three months and nearly $6 million of Affordable Housing Trust Fund dollars have been invested in projects citywide as the administration forges a state model on how to create affordable housing alongside market rate development.
Included in this was creation of 165 units of affordable housing in two separate high rise projects.
These are the first downtown projects in 30 years to provide 20 percent of the total units as affordable housing.
“When we look at development and housing and the future of our city, our vision includes bringing affordable housing to all areas,” said Mayor Fulop. “We’ve been strategic and aggressive in our approach, using innovative tools and resources, and we are seeing the results. This is the first time in decades there’s been this type of investment in affordable housing in Jersey City in so many diverse communities, including downtown and the waterfront.”
On July 22, the Jersey City Affordable Housing Trust Fund Committee approved funding for two projects. The first, at 105 Old Bergen Road, was awarded $201,000 for the rehab of six affordable housing units and the second, Morris Canal Redevelopment Corp., was awarded $100,000 for predevelopment work at 408-420 Communipaw Avenue, which will include at least 35 units of affordable housing when constructed.
Two new projects approved
Last week, the City Council approved the latest two projects that call for the creation of 64 new low-income housing units at Ocean Avenue and Dwight Street and the rehabilitation of 131 affordable rental units on Montgomery Street.
The new project, by Genesis Ocean Urban Renewal Associates, increases by 18 percent the number of units originally planned to 64 through a 30-year tax exemption and a city grant of $1.5 million from its Affordable Housing Trust Fund approved last month. The second project, the sale of Brunswick Estates to Roseville Avenue Redevelopment Urban Renewal, extends the affordability period for the remaining 17 years of a previously-approved tax abatement on 131 affordable rental units. Last month, the City Council approved the award of nearly $2.0 million from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to rehabilitate these buildings.
In May, the city approved $450,000 of AHTF dollars for six units of veterans’ affordable housing being constructed by the United Way Veterans of Hudson County on Bergen Avenue, as well as $1.5 million of AHTF dollars for eight affordable units being developed as part of a mixed-income project on Summit Avenue.