NORTH BRUNSWICK – The moon and stars seem to be aligning for the Crescent apartment complex.
The former Oakleaf Village, located on Oak Tree Drive between How Lane and Route 27 in North Brunswick, already has three of its nine buildings renovated and waiting for residents.
“After many, many challenging years of trying to secure financing of low income tax credits for that project, CIS (developer Community Investment Strategies) secured their funding last December, last fall, and so they’ve been renovating throughout this year,” Michael Hritz, director of North Brunswick’s Department of Community Development, said during the Sept. 25 council workshop meeting.
Oakleaf Village was a 184-unit, garden-style apartment neighborhood constructed in 1968. It was located on a 16.1-acre site at 1435 Oak Tree Drive, on North Brunswick’s northern border near New Brunswick. The apartments were contained within 16 two-story brick buildings, consisting of 154 one-bedroom units and 30 two-bedroom units, according to information previously reported in the Sentinel.
To date, three buildings have been “renovated to the core,” according to Hritz, and have central air conditioning, washers and dryers in each unit instead of in the basement, and other amenities such as a clubhouse and playground under construction.
“It’s quite impressive,” Hritz said of the renovations, inviting council members to tour the site. “They’re doing a nice job. It’s been a long time coming.”
The planning firm of Clarke, Caton, Hintz, which prepared the plan dated Jan. 24, 2013, said at the time that the building and site conditions had grown increasingly dilapidated over time, and it had become a well-known haven for criminal activity. The North Brunswick Planning Board had officially approved the redevelopment plan in February 2013.
Hritz said that emergency response calls have since been “reduced to virtually zero,” whereas prior “for a time, perhaps it was one of our highest call levels of anywhere.”
“It was a double bonus for us. Not only did we get 100 percent of the affordable housing credits, but we are improving the housing … which was a serious test and challenge of our first responders,” Hritz said.
“One of the reasons was to make this part of the community a safer community,” Councilman Bob Davis said.
Residents of the first three buildings could have chosen to accept up to $4,000 in relocation incentive or will be able to move back in, Hritz said. The remaining units will be open to the public via lottery, but residents must qualify for affordable housing.
To do so, Hritz said on Sept. 25 that the council must name CIS as the designated administrative agent for Crescent so that processing paperwork and certifying all residents becomes the company’s responsibility instead of the township’s. CIS would coordinate with Tom Vigna, the township’s municipal housing liaison.
In order to facilitate the project, the township agreed to make a $5.25 million contribution toward the acquisition of the $10 million property four years ago, according to past reports. This disbursement from their Affordable Housing Trust Fund received approval from the N.J. Department of Community Affairs as an amendment to the township spending plan, according to past reports.
Contact Jennifer Amato at jamato@newspapermediagroup.com.
