newjerseynewsroom.com

Ground was broken Thursday for Roseville Commons, a 50-apartment affordable housing building to rise at 533-567 Orange Street in Newark's North Ward.

The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and state Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency are providing an estimated total of $12 million to support the project.

DCA Acting Commissioner Charles A. Richman said the building's construction will also reduce energy usage and costs. "The city of Newark should be proud of Roseville Commons and the assistance it will provide the city's residents," he said.

Roseville Commons will be a five-story building, which will contain 50 family apartments ranging from one to four bedrooms on the upper floors and community/commercial space on the ground floor. Each apartment will include a high efficiency dishwasher, kitchen appliances and heating and cooling systems. To create a green interior living space, the units on the second floor will be designed around an open garden, which the upper floors will overlook. A rooftop garden will occupy the fifth floor. Solar panels on the roof will help supply power for the building's common spaces.

The building will have 20 apartment for homeless families and homeless or disabled military veterans. Additionally, two apartments will be reserved for persons who are blind or visually impaired. Case management and social services such as financial literacy programs for adults and after-school and summer programs for youth will be available in the building for the residents.

The HMFA provided a mortgage commitment of approximately $7 million in permanent financing and an estimated $2 million in funding for this project through the Special Needs Housing Trust Fund, which aims to develop independent residential opportunities as alternatives to institutionalization for persons with special needs. The DCA is contributing more than $3 million to the project from its Balanced Housing Program and will assist some of the tenants with state rental assistance vouchers. The project has also received financial support from the Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the city of Newark, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York.

"This project will not only be a great addition to the city's North Ward section, it will give homeless and special needs individuals the opportunity, stability and support needed to live a productive life," said HMFA Executive Director Marge Della Vecchia. "We couldn't be prouder to be a part of this project because it truly represents our mission of increasing the availability of and accessibility to safe, decent and affordable housing for New Jersey's families."

RPM Development, the project developer, has developed approximately 2,000 affordable housing units in New Jersey. The company attempts to assist in the revitalization of inner cities by renovating old, vacant and historic properties and developing abandoned vacant parcels of land.

— TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM