The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently approved a plan to rehabilitate and redevelop Passaic’s Alfred Speer Village. According to a report on NorthJersey.com, the project will expand the federal department’s Rental Assistance Demonstration program in the city, while rehabilitating some units and tearing down three existing buildings.
The redevelopment plan, as outlined in a December 5th report, estimates the project’s price tag will range between $38 million and $48.5 million. Two residential buildings and an office building will be torn down, while 256 units across four buildings will be rehabilitated.
The apartment buildings at 24 State Street and 11 Aspen Place, which total 128 units, and the office building at 52 Aspen Place – currently housing the Housing Authority of the City of Passaic – are slated for demolition. The latter site will make way for a new mixed-income apartment building with 120 units.
The buildings at 45, 33, 23, and 19 Aspen Place, which comprise the majority of the complex’s 383 apartments, will be upgraded.
The city’s housing authority told NorthJersey.com that Westchester-based developer L+M Development Partners will be involved in the project. However, the developer declined to share additional information with Jersey Digs about its involvement.
The estimated cost to rehabilitate each apartment is projected to range between $150,000 and $175,000, though financial estimates are still being finalized.
The Alfred Speer Village apartment complex was built by the city’s housing authority in 1953 and cost approximately $5 million to develop. It was named after inventor and winemaker Alfred Speer, who became the city’s first superintendent in 1866, according to the Passaic County Historical Society. The Garden State native is credited with laying the first sidewalk and constructing the first brick building in the city, the Speer’s Wine Warehouse, which was torn down in the 1960s to make way for Route 21.
A 2017 public update from HUD stated that the city’s housing authority secured a $1.5 million grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to revamp parking lots, replace apartment windows, eliminate sinkholes, and repair storm drains. However, the housing complex has reportedly faced a history of infrastructure challenges. A June report from NJ.com noted that residents had to evacuate their homes after a blackout left them without air conditioning for several days during the peak of summer.
News of HUD’s approval comes nearly eight months after News 12 reported that the city’s housing authority was looking to tear down some buildings that could no longer be rehabilitated while also expanding Speer Village. City officials at the time said the project could cost up to $150 million and take two to three years to complete. Additionally, the project would increase the number of units from 383 to 500.
