By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
The first residents of the Heritage Village senior citizens rental apartment building, located on the site of the former Trent Motel on Brunswick Pike, should begin moving into their new homes in February.
That was the message delivered to Township Council last week by developer Christina Foglio, a principal in Community Investment Strategies. Ms. Foglio’s firm is in a partnership with The Eagle Group to develop the 2.5-acre property, next to the Slackwood Presbyterian Church.
Lawrence Township acquired the Trent Motel site and two adjacent parcels between 2002 and 2003 for a combined $2.3 million and then demolished the buildings. Of the purchase price, $1.2 million came from the township’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund — which is made up of money contributed by developers — and the remainder came from a $1 million bond ordinance adopted by Township Council.
Township officials interviewed prospective developers and selected CIS and The Eagle Group to develop the property. The township sold the land to CIS and The Eagle Group for $500,000 last year. The sale price to the developers was less because the land was vacant.
CIS has begun its marketing campaign and 150 people have expressed interest in renting one of the 64 apartments in the affordable housing development, Ms. Foglio told Township Council at its Oct. 21 meeting. The development is open to persons who are at least 55 years old.
So far, 10 applicants have been qualified to rent a unit, Ms. Foglio said. A one-person household may not have income that exceeds $20,719 to be considered for a low-income unit or $29,598 for a moderate-income unit. The maximum income for a two-person household is $23,679 for a low-income unit and $33,826 for a moderate-income unit.
The rent for a one-bedroom unit ranges is $465 or $675, depending on the applicant’s income. The rent for a two-bedroom unit ranges is $545 or $825. There are 52 one-bedroom apartments and 12 two-bedroom apartments.
”We are treating this as a market-rate development,” Ms. Foglio said. “We will have high quality residents that will become part of this community. We are getting enormous interest from Lawrence Township residents. Based on where the economy is right now, I think we are a pretty good bet for people if they want to lower their cost of living.”
Ms. Foglio said CIS is experiencing an increase in demand for the units from younger senior citizens who would have previously considered buying a unit in a senior citizens development, but who have decided they don’t want to tie up their assets in a mortgage.
Ms. Foglio said The Eagle Group, which is handling the 7,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor of the three-story building, has entered into negotiations with prospective tenants for about half of the space.
After Ms. Foglio completed her presentation, Councilman Bob Bostock said that although “it’s no secret” that he was opposed to the way in which the project was put together, now that it is “up and running,” everyone wants it to succeed.
There are some lessons that need to be learned on how the deal was put together, Mr. Bostock said. The parcels were purchased for $2.3 million and sold for $500,000, he said. Although three developers expressed interest in redeveloping the site — including CIS and The Eagle Group — the project was not put out for bid, he said.
Mr. Bostock said the money from the sale of the property to CIS and The Eagle Group has been put aside and about $100,000 will be used each year as a revenue source in the municipal budget until the money is spent.
But given the “tighter fiscal times,” he said, if the township had received more money from the sale of the property, then it would have more money available for tax relief or to fund essential emergency services such as the police department, the fire department or emergency medical services.
”I think as we go forward, if we have this opportunity again, we need to be a lot more careful about how we construct these deals so that in fact we are getting the most for our money and that taxpayers receive the maximum benefit,” Mr. Bostock said.
Councilman Michael Powers pointed out that the money to purchase the property came from the township’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, and not from the taxpayers. Money in that fund, which was contributed by developers, could only be used to create affordable housing — which the Heritage Village development has accomplished, he said.
Mr. Bostock said the money from the sale of the Trent Motel and adjacent parcels went into the general fund. That money is being used to support the municipal budget, he said, adding that “to suggest this is not about taxpayers’ money is not accurate.” He said there could have been a bidding process from prospective developers for the sale of the land.
Councilwoman Pam Mount noted that redevelopment of the site, near the former Trent Motel, is an integral part of the Brunswick Pike South Redevelopment Area, which was created by Township Council in 1999. “Mr. Bostock doesn’t realize the difficulty of redevelopment in that area, which has been stagnant for many years,” she said. “To just put it down to dollars and cents and whether we did the right thing or not is to remove the effort of many people who worked very hard to make this thing happen.”
Councilman Rick Miller said he agreed with Mr. Bostock that Township Council “probably should have negotiated the deal better.” He said that not all members of Township Council — referring to himself — served on the subcommittee that interviewed prospective developers.
Ms. Foglio, who formerly headed the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, pointed out to Township Council that about 90 percent of all affordable housing developments funded by the HMFA have been built on land that had been donated for development.
The HMFA provides funding for affordable housing opportunities for New Jersey residents, according to the agency’s Web site. It raises money through the sale of bonds to investors, as well as applying for and administering federal and state grants and housing assistance programs.
CIS felt it could not ask for the land to be donated, Ms. Foglio said, adding that her company “worked very hard” to make a payment to the township for the land. CIS also worked hard to obtain grant money to help fund the project, she said. The company could have paid more for the land, but then the quality of the building would not have been as good, she said.
”It was very clear to us that this was going to be an all-brick building and that the quality of the construction had to lead to the housing being used for economic development and not just affordable housing,” Ms. Foglio said. The Heritage Village development is intended to be a key element in the redevelopment of the neighborhood.
”There is a finite amount of money that you get — whether it is me or my competitors — from the state,” she said. “People think there could have been a better deal but I thought we were trying to make the best deal for the township.”
Mayor Mark Holmes defended Township Council’s actions, adding that it solicited proposals from developers. He praised Ms. Foglio and CIS, and noted that CIS is one of a few developers that had received funding from the NJHMFA. The application process is very difficult, he said.
”It’s difficult economic times for all of us, not just for the developer but for the residents,” Mayor Holmes said. “So any time we can deliver a project that’s going to take a senior citizen that’s possibly being taxed out of their home and move them into an affordable rental unit, we have done a good job.”

