FIVE YEARS AFTER HURRICANE SANDY, SENIORS RETURN TO BEAUTIFUL NEW HOMES

HUD Region II Regional Administrator Lynne Patton speaks during the grand opening.

Five years after the devastation left by Hurricane Sandy, HUD Region II Regional Administrator Lynne Patton joined developer Community Investment Strategies, State, County, local officials and senior residents of Port Monmouth, New Jersey to celebrate the grand opening of their newly built apartments. HUD New Jersey Field Office Director Maria Maio-Messano was also present.

Bayshore Village replaced a 96-unit, 12-building complex that had 5 buildings badly damaged by the hurricane in 2012. Developer CIS demolished the structures and built a beautiful three-story, 110-unit senior building above flood elevation, where seniors 62 and over can feel safe.

The $31.8 million project was financed with $18.9 million in HUD Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding through the New Jersey State Fund for Restoration of Multifamily Housing, created after Superstorm Sandy to provide for-profit and nonprofit housing developers zero-interest and low-interest loans. The New Jersey Housing Mortgage Finance Agency also provided $16.9 million in construction and permanent financing, and $754,205 from the Multifamily Rental Housing Production Loan Program. NJHMFA also awarded the project 4 percent Low Income Housing Tax Credits, which were expected to generate $8.1 million in private equity.

"Middletown was ground zero for the interagency relief efforts working hard to bring normalcy back to the Garden State after Hurricane Sandy. To that end, it's only appropriate that we gather here today to celebrate another example of critical partnerships - Bayshore Village," said Lynne Patton, HUD Regional Administrator for New York and New Jersey. "It's great to see how $18.9 million in HUD disaster recovery funding through NJHMFA can transform lives, and reassuring to know that this development was built with resiliency in mind to withstand the impact of potential future disasters."

Speakers included Christiana Foglio, CEO of Community Investment Strategies; Thomas A. Arnone, Director, Monmouth County Freeholder; Anthony Marchetta, Executive Director of NJHMFA; Anthony P. Fiore, Middletown Committeeman; and Raoul Moore, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Community Partners.

###