An affordable housing complex with 120 apartments in Voorhees seeks planning board approval

The developer of an affordable housing apartment complex in Voorhees expects the same heavy demand from potential tenants that he experienced with a similar complex his company opened nearby in April.

Hundreds of potential tenants fill the waiting list for available apartments at the 81-unit Victory Commons, a $30 million project that held a grand opening on April 30 at 1223 Haddonfield-Berlin Road, said Nicholas J. Cangelosi, regional vice president of The Michaels Organization, the Camden-based national developer of rental properties.

Cangelosi said he expects far more applicants than openings when his firm opens 120 affordable housing apartments on the 6.6-acre site of the now-vacant L&L Redi Mix concrete company at 600 and 602 Centennial Boulevard.

Centennial Housing Associates LLC, owned by Michaels, is scheduled to appear before the Voorhees Planning Board on Sept. 9 for preliminary and final site plan approvals for The Oaks at Centennial, which would feature 120 apartments built in two phases. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. after a 6:45 caucus at the Voorhees Township Municipal Building.

The $50 million Oaks at Centennial project is included in the fourth round of the township’s affordable housing commitment.

A third Michaels project in Voorhees, a $23 million project with 60 affordable units on Sheppard Road, has been approved by the planning board and awaits financing approval by the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, Cangelosi said.

The total of 261 units developed by Michaels in the town will be sought because families want to live in Voorhees, he said.

Rent for the affordable units will be paid by the tenants, whose incomes must fall under a maximum amount.

Many of the Victory Commons units have been rented to “essential workers” in the community who are employed in retail, healthcare, and schools, Cangelosi said.

“They’re the essential backbone of the community,” he said. “They get to live close to where they work,” he added.

Monthly rent for a two-bedroom unit at the proposed Oaks development for a family earning 60% of Area Median Income would be $1,587. Rent for a one-bedroom unit would be $1,323 and $1,834 for three bedrooms.

In the developer’s application to the Planning Board, traffic consultant Shropshire Associates LLC of Atco estimates The Oaks would generate 43 extra trips during the morning peak hour and 60 extra trips during the afternoon peak hour.

New Jersey’s elected leaders are focused on the shortage of housing. Gov. Mikie Sherrill in April signed an Executive Order that called for a housing plan to be delivered in September.

“We can’t make New Jersey more affordable without making housing more affordable,” Sherrill said in a statement when she signed the order. “With this Executive Order, we are aligning every tool at our disposal to accelerate housing production and make it easier for families to put down roots in the communities they love,” she said.

70and73.com is a hyperlocal news site focused on South Jersey, including the communities of Cherry Hill, Evesham, Mount Laurel, Voorhees, Medford, Medford Lakes, and Moorestown.