Brick OKs $1.65M Land Sale With Affordable Housing Restrictions

BRICK, NJ — The Chambers Bridge Residence, a 184-unit affordable housing apartment building, will soon be operated by a national nonprofit organization, after the Brick Township Council approved the sale of the land the building sits on.

The council approved the sale of the land at 175 Chambers Bridge Road for $1.6 million to National Church Residences, a nonprofit organization that operates affordable housing residences across the country.

The Chambers Bridge Residence, on Ovation Way, currently is operated by Homes Now, and is home to low-income seniors and the disabled, and houses 24 developmentally disabled individuals in eight 3-bedroom apartments. Those apartments are leased to the ARC of Ocean County.

It is part of the same complex where the George Conway Apartments, managed by the Brick Township Housing Authority, are located.

Homes Now has leased the land from Brick Township for $1 per year, but is selling the building to National Church Residences, which has been managing the residence for Homes Now for more than a year.

The sale of the land comes with deed restrictions designed to ensure the property remains affordable housing for the forseeable future. The deed restriction not only requires the property to remain affordable housing for 40 years from the sale, it gives Brick the right of first refusal if, at the end of that 40 years National Church Residences no longer wants to operate it as affordable housing, the town could buy the property back to maintain it as affordable housing.

The move was not without its objectors.

Councilman Jim Fozman, who voted no on the resolution, questioned whether the land appraisal reflected an accurate value, commenting that he thought it was "convenient" that the sale figure was close to the value of the total annual rent collected, which is approximately $1.56 million.

Henry J. Mancini, who appraised the property, countered that the value of the land is based several factors. The fact that the property is not only deed-restricted for affordable housing, but also zoned for affordable housing, means the land cannot be turned into a commercial property or other use and lowers the value. The property also does not front on Chambers Bridge Road, and there are significant wetlands on the site.

Steve Bodkin, the chief operating officer of National Church Residences, said the organization operates 23,000 units of affordable housing across the country. He also said they welcomed the deed restriction because there are no plans to operate the Chambers Bridge Residence as anything other than affordable housing. The organization plans to see tax credits from the state and plans to use the savings that would be gained from that for improvements to the building.

"We are more than just landlords, we care about the residents and sustainability," Bodkin said.

Residents who objected urged the council to delay the vote, but Council President Heather deJong said the issue had been under consideration for 18 months and went forward with the vote.

Click here to get Patch email notifications on this or other local news articles or get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here. Have a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com

Follow us on Facebook. Click here to like our page.

Image via Google Maps