Apartment Complex Opens on Clinton Avenue Yesterday

New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) Executive Director Anthony L. Marchetta yesterday joined Mayor Cory Booker, other city officials and representatives of the HELP Development Corporation and Make It Right Foundation to celebrate the grand opening of Clinton Hill Apartments, an affordable housing community for military veterans and low-income families located at 634-648 Clinton Ave. in Newark. The HMFA, an affiliate of the state Department of Community Affairs, awarded $1.6 million in federal tax credits to assist with the project’s development and construction.

“Unfortunately, many of the homeless in our communities are military veterans who have fought for our country only to find no one fighting for them and their needs. This project will help some of our veterans move into safe, affordable housing befitting their service,” said DCA Acting Commissioner Richard E. Constable, III. “We thank everyone who was involved in making Clinton Hill Apartments the success that it is.”

Clinton Hill Apartments, located in the South Ward, includes 56 permanent affordable apartments which will provide housing to a minimum of 14 disabled veterans. To further help subsidize the affordability of these units, HELP Development Corporation has been awarded fourteen Section 8 vouchers from the Newark Housing Authority and will work with the East Orange VA Medical Center to make these available to income eligible veterans.

The 4-story building features 14 one-bedroom, 20 two-bedroom, and 22 three-bedroom units with rents affordable to residents earning no more than 50 percent of the area’s  median income. Additionally, there is on-site parking and a community service room for the use of residents, the public at large, HELP’s mentoring program (Mentoring USA), and other social service programs. The Make It Right Foundation contributed its design and sustainability expertise to ensure that the highest level of green features was incorporated into the building’s development and construction.

The HMFA awarded $1.67 million in federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits to HELP Development Corporation. The credits generated close to $11.7 million in equity for the Clinton Hill Apartments project. In addition, the project received an award of $3.16 million from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP II).

New Jersey is annually allocated approximately $18 million in low housing income tax credits. The sale of the credits produces over $162 million in project equity.  

HELP Development Corp. is an affiliate of HELP USA, Inc., a national not-for-profit organization with a mission to empower the homeless and others in need to become and remain self-reliant. Founded by Andrew Cuomo in 1986, it has grown to become one of the largest builders and operators of service-enriched transitional and low-income permanent housing in the nation.

Make It Right Foundation, founded by actor Brad Pitt, is known for its commitment to architectural design and high levels of sustainability through its extensive housing construction in New Orleans in response to Hurricane Katrina.

For more information on HMFA programs, please call 1-800-NJHOUSE or (609) 278-7400, or log on towww.state.nj.us/dca/hmfa/.