EDISON — A $15,000 grant from M&T Bank will help needy veterans and previously homeless families qualify for low-cost housing and help pay move-in expenses at the affordable housing available at the former Camp Kilmer Army base site.
The project’s first phase calls for the construction of 86 apartments with 25 percent set aside for veterans and their families, and another 25 percent for homeless families. Triple C Housing in Monmouth Junction will provide on-site support services for at-risk residents.
The first 86 apartments will be in two, four-story buildings, each with 16 one-bedroom units, 48 two-bedroom units, and 22 three-bedroom units.
In 2007, the township had taken its first steps in acquiring a 23-acre plot of land aimed at ultimately acquiring the last remaining land in Camp Kilmer, which had been a largely unused Army base at the intersection of Kilmer Road and Truman Drive.
Camp Kilmer was a U.S. Army camp during World War II.
Pennrose Properties and Triple C Housing are redeveloping part of Camp Kilmer into 172 affordable rental units for lower-income veterans and previously homeless families. The development will also include space for township departments of recreation and public works.
Representatives from Pennrose Properties LLC in Philadelphia and Triple C Housing joined Mayor Thomas Lankey at the Municipal Complex on Jan. 30 for the check presentation from M&T Bank executives.
“Our community and our redevelopment partners are grateful to M&T Bank for this grant that will afford veterans and lower-income families access to much-needed housing,” Lankey said. “We look forward to Camp Kilmer’s redevelopment as a key component of Edison’s affordable housing plan.”
On hand for the presentation included M&T Bank Vice Presidents Alle Ries, Robert Carrozza and Vincent Moretti; Triple C’s Executive Director Leslie Stivale and Director of Operations Kimberly M. Ewell, and Pennrose’s Regional Vice President Jacob Fisher.
M&T Bank Corp., a Buffalo, NY-based financial holding company, has banks throughout New Jersey and other East Coast states.