Newark Will Create 6,600 Affordable Homes In 5 Years: Mayor

NEWARK, NJ — There’s an ambitious number on the horizon in Newark: 6,600. This is how many units of affordable housing that local officials hope to create through a new, five-year plan.

On Monday, Newark officials released details about the plan to create and keep more affordable housing in the state’s largest city (watch the video below).

Speaking at a news conference in front of 550-552 South 18th Street, a six-family affordable building built by a local developer, Eugenia Hamlett, residents of the building said they were grateful for the chance to finally find a place they can afford.

“As a New York City transplant, I came to Newark with the hope of finding affordable housing,” one woman said. “I spent my entire life in New York looking for a place, and just wasn’t able to find one.”

And it’s folks like this who deserve a hand up, officials say.

“An equitable city is built on the foundation of affordability,” Mayor Ras Baraka said. “Our new housing goals and the actions outlined to achieve them will help us ensure all Newark residents have access to safe, decent, and affordable housing and that our city continues to be a vibrant gateway to opportunity for all – regardless of income, race, ethnicity or immigration status.”

Baraka said the city has already launched several initiatives that will help hit Monday’s ambitious targets. They include a $20 million investment to support the creation of units affordable to Newark families earning $32,000 or less, and more than $14 million in emergency rental assistance to help people impacted by COVID-19 pay their rent and utilities.

• See related article: Newark Trying To Add Housing For Families Earning Under $32,000
• See related article: Newark Will Use $14M In Federal Aid To Help Renters, Landlords
• See related article: Newark Families Get Keys To Their 1st Homes: 'My Dream Came True'

To help fuel the effort, Newark officials plan to use American Recovery Plan funding, which the city received from the federal government to help it rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.

• See related article: Newark Will Get $182 Million From Latest COVID Relief Bill

“The housing goals provide a roadmap to ensure we maximize funding from the American Rescue Plan, Treasury Emergency Rental Funds, and American Jobs Act, as well as state and local sources, to meet the needs of Newark’s most vulnerable residents,” Deputy Mayor Allison Ladd said.

It’s a stretch goal, city officials acknowledged. Between 2015 and 2020, the city created or preserved 3,514 homes – about half of the new goal.

The goals were developed through a housing working group convened by the mayor, which included more than 30 representatives from community-based organizations, nonprofits, developers, housing advocates, private companies, municipal departments, the Newark Housing Authority and Invest Newark.

The new benchmarks include:

• Fund the creation or preservation of 6,600 affordable homes, prioritizing units affordable to Newarkers making less than 30 percent area median income (AMI).
• Support 1,500 new and 200 existing low- and moderate-income homeowners.
• Convey all of the vacant properties currently held by the City or Land Bank, which are suitable for residential development and not currently under Residential. Development Agreements (RDAs), with at least 30 percent of the units developed on these sites affordable to residents making at or below 80 percent AMI.
• Support 10,000 vulnerable or unsheltered households annually.
• Add 3,000 new housing units (market rate and affordable) across all five wards, ready for residents to move in.

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