By Sunayana Prabhu
MIDDLETOWN – Veterans housing is coming to the township.
The Middletown Township Committee officially authorized the sale of property in Belford to the nonprofit Middletown Redevelopment Corporation for the development of 100% affordable housing units solely for those who served in the United States military. The property is located at 37-45 Leonardville Road, just outside Campbell’s Junction, primarily in the Business (B-1) Zone.
“The Township Committee and I are excited about the prospect of turning a blighted property in Campbell’s Junction into affordable housing units deemed solely for the honorable men and women who have served our Nation,” said Mayor Tony Perry.
As part of ongoing initiatives to support and promote veterans, the township consolidated adjacent properties and purchased 37-45 Leonardville Road in 2021. According to the township planning board’s technical memorandum dated Sept. 28, 2021, the property totals “approximately 2 acres (87,962 square feet), and is within the Flood Hazard Area.” The site was previously occupied by Middletown Tool Rental and a gas station. The Middletown Tool Rental one-story building was demolished and removed from the site last year.
The Middletown Veterans’ Housing project will provide 12 residential units within a three-story, 21,660-square-foot multifamily building with associated parking, drainage improvements, landscaping and lighting. The entire building will be above the base flood elevation.
The first story will be used for tenant parking and the second and third stories will each contain six residential units, an activity room and lounge space. Additional parking will be provided in a surface parking lot adjacent to the building. The building will include an elevator. A sidewalk is proposed along Leonardville Road.
Funding for the development will be available in collaboration with Middletown’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund. The township will also be partnering with the Middletown Housing Authority on this project, which currently manages multiple affordable housing units in the township.
“With the proposed ordinances that were approved tonight these are all funds that are going to be reimbursed 100% by the state of New Jersey. So, while it is an up-front cost these are all reimbursed to the township,” Perry said.
According to the 2022 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR), on a single night 33,129 veterans were experiencing homelessness in the U.S.; that number reached an estimated 479 veterans in New Jersey.
For more information about the Middletown Veterans Affairs Committee, Fallen Veterans Commemorative Street Sign Program, Honorary Veterans Parking Program, and other memorial/monument heritage sites located in Middletown, visit middletownnj.org/veterans.
The article originally appeared in the December 22 – 28, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
