Project Freedom will be delayed one year
By: Lea Kahn
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‘We are still pushing ahead. We will know more by mid-August or early September.’ Timothy Doherty |
Project Freedom Inc.’s planned 54-unit rental apartment complex for the physically disabled has been put on hold until the nonprofit group can find money for the development.
The Robbinsville-based nonprofit group wants to build 54 apartments on a 13-acre site off Princeton Avenue and Betts Avenue. The Planning Board approved the site plan earlier this year.
The group had hoped to break ground on the development this year, but it will likely be another year before that can happen, said Timothy Doherty, executive director of Project Freedom Inc.
Most of the funding for the $6.4 million rental apartment complex was expected to come from two major sources – the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency’s low-income housing tax credit program and the state Department of Community Affairs’ Balanced Housing Program.
The group’s application to the DCA’s Balanced Housing Program was approved, but it did not score enough points to win money from the HMFA’s low-income housing tax credit program, Mr. Doherty said. The agency sought $3.7 million in funding from the low income housing tax credit program.
Now, Project Freedom is exploring its options, Mr. Doherty said. For example, the group may seek an increase in the $1.6 million subsidy it is receiving from the DCA’s Balanced Housing Program, he said.
Another possibility is for the HMFA to apply for unused low-income housing program tax credits, Mr. Doherty said. Sometimes, projects in other states do not proceed in a timely manner, and their tax credits are returned to the national pool of tax credits, he said.
The HMFA also is trying to work with Project Freedom to get a "forward commitment" – to put the project on the fast track to receive low-income housing tax credits from the 2001 round of funding, Mr. Doherty said.
"We are still pushing ahead. We will know more by mid-August or early September," he said. The lack of funding "puts us behind by one year."
Project Freedom Inc. plans to build nine one-story buildings, containing six units each, on the 13-acre site off Princeton and Betts avenues. A community center also is included. The entrance to the development is planned for Princeton Avenue.
This is not Project Freedom’s first venture into the housing market. The nonprofit group owns a 30-unit rental apartment complex in Washington Township, and it has received approval to build 48 units in Hamilton Township.
The 54-unit development in Lawrence would include 10 two-bedroom units and 44 one-bedroom units. The one-bedroom units will contain less than 800 square feet, and the two-bedroom units contain about 900 square feet. Each of the units will have a front door and a back door.
The apartments are designed for the physically disabled, Mr. Doherty said. The kitchen counters are lower, and the electrical switches are lower than standard heights. The bathrooms feature roll-in shower stalls.
The 13-acre tract belongs to Lawrence Township, which is leasing the land to Project Freedom for 50 years. The rent is $1 per year. The township paid $250,000 to buy the land from the state Department of Transportation in 1998.
Money to buy the land came from the township’s affordable housing fund. The money is generated by contributions from developers who do not include low- or moderate-income housing in their housing subdivisions, or who build commercial or industrial property.
Lawrence Township is getting 64 credits – one credit per bed – toward its state-mandated requirement to provide affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households. The residents of Project Freedom’s rental apartment complex qualify as low- and moderate-income households.
The township is required to provide 962 units of affordable housing, under the state Supreme Court’s Mount Laurel II court decision. Lawrence has provided more than 1,000 units of affordable housing, not including the Project Freedom units.