Murphy administration awards tax credits to expand affordable housing

TRENTON, NJ — Opening the door to more than 1,200 new apartments affordable for families, seniors and residents with special needs, the Murphy administration announced Dec. 23 that it has awarded more than $22 million in annual 9-percent federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits. The highly competitive tax credits are expected to generate $214.7 million in private investment to create 17 developments totaling nearly $325 million.

The 2019 awards, administered under the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency’s new guidelines, will create apartments for families in Closter, veterans in East Greenwich and seniors in Branchburg, among other projects, some of which are located in Essex County. The new guidelines place greater emphasis on locating housing in areas providing children access to good school systems; promote creating on-site services, such as nurses and health-related programs, in senior housing to enable seniors to remain in their community; and renew emphasis on mixed-income development to avoid segregating low- and moderate-income housing.

“Low Income Housing Tax Credits make it financially possible to build and rehabilitate affordable housing for residents in New Jersey, which is why it is such a critical federal program,” said Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who serves as commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs and NJHMFA board chairwoman. “Gov. Murphy and I remain committed to the production of safe, decent and affordable housing through the LIHTC program and New Jersey’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund; these are the engines that help drive our mission to ensure that everyone has a place to call home.”

In the 2019 round, tax credits were awarded to nine projects in the family cycle, five in the senior cycle, two in the supporting housing cycle, and one in the mixed income cycle.

In the family cycle, awards went to the Walter G. Alexander Phase IV project in Orange, by developer Orange Housing Development Corporation, for 44 apartments; and the 722 Chancellor Ave. project in Irvington, by developer NRP Group, for 56 apartments. In the senior cycle, awards went to the West Orange Senior Housing project in West Orange, developed by the Alpert Group, for 65 apartments.

  Phil Murphy, Redevelopment, Senior Citizens