At the most recent North Bergen Board of Commissioners meeting, officials introduced a redevelopment plan that would allow the township’s housing authority and the North Bergen Renaissance Corporation, a low income senior housing developer, to construct 61 one-bedroom units reserved for low-income residents aged 55 and over.
One third of the units slated for construction would also be accessible for residents with disabilities, according to the redevelopment plan. The site was originally named by the town as “in need of redevelopment” back in May, which allowed them to move forward with the current plan.
“This is a public-private partnership,” Town Administrator Chris Pianese said. “The developer was interested in creating this piece of property adjacent to Terrace Apartments, and now that we’ve adopted what the planner gave us, we’re getting into the nuts and bolts of the project.”
“This will be a huge help to meet the demand for affordable housing we have in town,” Mayor Nicholas Sacco said after the ordinance was introduced.
Terrace Apartments is a 252-unit Housing Authority building on Columbia Avenue, and the new addition will be on the same property, which is owned by the North Bergen Housing Authority.
The roughly three-acre site, which is completely undeveloped and underutilized at the moment, was described as “stagnant and unproductive” in its current state in the redevelopment plan. Once it is developed, pending approval, it will have 62 affordable/supportive housing units, along with 80 parking spaces.
The building is currently planned to be four stories tall, including a parking level.
Officials also entered into a PILOT (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) agreement with North Bergen Renaissance Corporation to construct the development. With the expected revenues of the project totaling just under $650,000 the township will receive a municipal service charge of 6.28 percent, totaling $40,070 annually.
Plenty of potholes to be paved
The township also awarded contracts to DLS Contracting to pave several roads in town.
Officials awarded a $310,095 contract to pave Dell Avenue, and another $817,410 for improvements to various streets throughout the year.
The funding for all of the street paving was awarded to the township through a grant from New Jersey’s Department of Transportation.
For updates on this and more stories check hudsonreporter.com or follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Mike Montemarano can be reached at mikem@hudsonreporter.com.
