From the Fair Share Housing Center blog:
Mixed-Use Development in Wood-Ridge Will Include New Train Station, Homes for Working Families
Posted by Kevin Walsh on March 25th 2011
Good news! Yesterday, the groundbreaking occurred on an inclusionary 406-unit transit-oriented development by Avalon Bay Communities in Wood-Ridge, NJ that, as a result of a May 2008 settlement with FSHC, will include 47 homes that are affordable to lower-income New Jerseyans. The mixed-use Westmont Station development, which will include a new train station on the Bergen Line, is minutes from Manhattan. Families earning between $17,000-$59,000 annually will be able to live there, in addition to families earning significantly more.
The Avalon Bay rental development is part of a larger redevelopment of a 70-acre site. FSHC challenged the site plan approvals for the project in Superior Court, contending that Wood-Ridge had not provided a realistic opportunity for its fair share of homes for lower-income households. The litigation against Wood-Ridge and Somerset Development settled in 2008. Overall, fifteen percent of the homes developed on the site must be affordable. Plans for later phases of the development have not yet been announced.
Without our involvement, there would be no reasonably-priced homes in this development, especially in its early phases. We are excited that Avalon Bay, which has a great record of inclusionary development in New Jersey, is now involved in the project and look forward to seeing families with a broad range of incomes living there. The inclusion of a substantial amount of housing for lower-income New Jerseyans on this site demonstrates the potential for development near train stations that helps spur the economy and includes everyone from janitors and secretaries to white-collar commuters to New York City. As we continue to promote inclusionary transit-oriented development throughout New Jersey, we are happy to see more on-the-ground results, especially in this economy.
For more information about the development, see the stories in the Wall Street Journal and The Record.
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