‘Affordable’ Isn’t Affordable: Newark’s Plan To Create More Housing

NEWARK, NJ — There’s a hard truth to face in New Jersey’s largest city, according to its mayor: much of the housing defined as “affordable” under federal programs isn’t actually within the reach of many people living in Newark.

But hopefully, that’s where the city’s “Affordable Newark” plan can help fill the gap, Ras Baraka says.

Last week, the mayor and other community leaders gathered to give an update about the Affordable Newark project, which was first announced last year. Read More: Newark Trying To Add Housing For Families Earning Under $32,000

The $20 million housing initiative is targeted at Newark families earning 30 percent of the area median income (AMI) for a family of four. Through the program – which gives developers access to funds to help pay for construction – officials hope to create and preserve housing for local families who earn $32,000 or less per year.

Developers are able to apply for these funds based on the following criteria:

• City funding is only provided to produce units at 30 percent or less AMI
• Units above 30 percent AMI must be funded with other sources
• City funds can finance up to 50 percent of the per unit cost
• The project can be mixed income
• Preference for projects that produce units with at least two bedrooms
• Affordability period must be a minimum of 20 years

The latest developments were announced during a news conference at 2-18 Stratford Place, where the apartment buildings were once “infamous for their uninhabitable conditions,” as well as health and fire code violations, officials said.

Now, more than a third of the 75 apartments under rehabilitation are being financed under Affordable Newark. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, officials said.

“Last year, we set forth very ambitious five-year housing goals prioritizing housing in all five wards that the average Newark resident can afford,” Baraka said.

That includes renters in the city, who have seen their housing costs skyrocket amid a corporate home buying spree, a recent Rutgers University study claims. Nearly half of Newark's residential property is owned by corporations; the highest rate in the nation, researchers said. Read More: Who Owns Newark? City Fights Back Against Corporate Home Buying Spree

According to Baraka, 59 percent of all Newark renters are “cost-burdened,” spending more than a third of their incomes for housing.

“Much of the housing defined as affordable under federal housing programs is not affordable by the people of Newark,” he said. “The Affordable Newark program is one way for us to help fill this gap.”

The program will be paid for with municipal funds, some of the city's share of federal American Rescue Plan aid, and funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Home Investment Partnerships Program.

Baraka’s office released more information about the upcoming projects (see the full descriptions below):

“Among the developments are renovation of an existing vacant apartment complex containing two midrise buildings on Stratford Place in the South Ward, permanent housing on 3rd Avenue in the East Ward for homeless veterans, two mid-rise apartment buildings on vacant lots on South 15th and 16th Streets in the West Ward, a package of three mid-rise buildings in the North and West Wards, construction of affordable housing for seniors on Thomas Street in the East Ward, and a 10-story mixed-income residential development on the corner of Halsey Street and Central Avenue in the Central Ward.”

A third of the housing created under the Affordable Newark housing plan will be performed by minority and women developers and co-developers. Preference was also given to small-scale developments of 30 or fewer units, officials said.

So far, the program is working, according to data from a city-run tracker that logs the number of homes that have been funded and built, where they are located, and how “affordable” they actually are.

Since the announcement of Affordable Newark, almost 40 percent of the affordable homes funded in the city were targeted to households at or below 30 percent of the AMI. This is more than five times the number of units constructed for families earning this amount in each of the four previous years.

The total number of Affordable Newark units funded at 30 percent AMI is 196, officials said on May 12. To access the tracker, click here.

WHAT'S ON TAP FOR NEWARK?

The following information was provided by the office of Mayor Ras Baraka.

Projects Funded Under Affordable Newark I

Residence of St. Martin of Tours - Through its nonprofit developer Domus Corporation, the Catholic Archdiocese of Newark will be bringing this brand new affordable senior living facility to the North Ward. The development will provide 11 units at 30% AMI and 14 units at 50% AMI for older Newarkers.

450 Ferry (Ballantine Site G) - Part of the redevelopment of the former Ballantine Beer brewery in the East Ward, this allaffordable component of the project will contain 21 units at 30% AMI and 22 units at 80% AMI, ensuring that the transformative redevelopment on the edge of the Ironbound will be inclusive of low-and moderate-income Newarkers.

Halsey Central - Halsey Central is an upcoming 10-story mixed-income residential development being developed by L&M Partners and MSquared on the corner of Halsey Street and Central Avenue in the heart of downtown. It will contain 5 units at 30% AMI, and 46 units at 80% AMI, alongside 51 market-rate units. Alongside the all-affordable Kawaida Towers being developed across the street, the intersection of Halsey & Central will soon be a demonstration of Mayor Baraka's commitment to Equitable Growth in action and a nationally prominent example of Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (eTOD).

184-194 Thomas - This all-affordable apartment community in the South Ironbound is currently under construction, and thanks to Affordable Newark will provide 20 units of housing at 30% AMI alongside 10 units at 50% AMI and 22 units at 80% AMI. This project will provide much needed affordable housing to the East Ward, the ward in the city with the highest rents and the lowest vacancy rates.

Clinton Hill Family Homes - Clinton Hill Community Action, a neighborhood community development corporation founded in 2019 dedicated to serving the South Ward, has acquired three vacant lots and one abandoned home in the Upper Clinton Hill neighborhood. Thanks to Affordable Newark Funding, they will be returning all four properties into productive use as three-family homes, providing an affordable homeownership opportunity for households making 80% AMI, and seven units of 30% AMI rental housing.

Oak Towers - The long troubled and more recently blighted and abandoned Aspen Stratford apartments on Stratford Place in Lower Clinton Hill are being rehabilitated and transformed into the modern, all affordable Oak Towers. Thanks to Affordable Newark, the development will contain 28 units at 30% AMI alongside 47 units at 80% AMI.

Bergen Family Living - As part of its promise to give back to its Weequahic community around Beth Israel Hospital in the South Ward, RWJ Barnabas is facilitating the renovation and expansion of a row of commercial storefronts along Bergen Street in order to provide affordable housing above retail properties on the busy commercial strip. The development will contain 15 units at 30% AMI, 19 units at 50% AMI, and 32 units at 80% AMI.

Affordable Newark II

Fairmount Commons Phases I & II - The Fairmount Commons redevelopment, a partnership between the City of Newark, the Urban League of Essex County, and private developers RPM and MCI, will be transforming vacant parcels on a disinvested city block across the street from West Side High School into quality affordable housing, new homeownership opportunities, and community facilities. The West Ward project was designed with special care by the City's Office of Planning & Zoning to integrate seamlessly with the surrounding residential community. Fully realized, the plan will contain 29 units of 30% AMI housing alongside 72 units of 30% AMI housing and 16 community homeownership opportunities.

Arrow Senior Living - Arrow Senior Living is bringing four all affordable senior living facilities to sites in the West and North Wards, providing much-needed affordable homes for our elders. Together the projects will contain 52 30% AMI units alongside 126 50% AMI units and 74 80% AMI units.

West Side Villas - Located in the West Ward Model Neighborhood, this mixed-income project will bring much needed housing at a variety of income levels to a series of vacant lots on 15th and 16th Streets near West Side Park. The apartment building will contain eight units of 30% AMI housing and 20 units of 80% AMI housing to accompany 41 units of market-rate housing.

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