Up for a $550k federal grant

Monday, August 03, 2009
By AMY SARA CLARK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City is considering giving $550,000 in federal Community Development Block Grant money to Belmont Guest House, a for-profit transitional housing facility - the same facility that a homeowners' association would like to shut down. Not surprisingly, the group is yelling foul.

"There are 20 other projects that are 'shovel ready' in the city," said Suzy Yengo, vice president of the Belmont Avenue Homeowners Association. "Then there's this guy who is getting money to renovate his profit-making building. Doesn't that red-flag somebody?"

Ron Brown, owner of Belmont Guest House at 188-190 Belmont Ave., said he requested the funds to make improvements to the building that include upgrading the electrical wiring, enlarging the kitchen, creating a living room and installing security cameras.

Yengo argues government programs already pay Brown plenty of rent for each of some 40 clients living there. "The money (for renovations) should be coming out of the rent for the apartments," she said. "He's being well compensated."

Brown declined to say how much he is paid per resident, but said he is unable to secure a bank loan for renovations because government programs do not provide a dependable source of income.

He also said he has higher expenses than a traditional landlord because he has to pay for several full- and part-time maintenance employees, social workers and "housing monitors," who staff the building 24 hours a day.

"The operating costs are so expensive, and the rents are so low, and there's no guaranteed rent to begin with, so you have to bring in grants," he said.

Jersey City is also considering allocating $494,105 in funds to KIJ and Co., another for-profit developer of affordable housing in Jersey City, said Jennifer Morrill, a spokeswoman for the city.

Susan Mearns, Hudson County's director of community development said it is common for for-profit developers to receive government grants to provide low-income housing.

"If you want to restrict rents to an affordable level there absolutely has to be government funding," she said. "At the end of the day it really is about the tenants and the units you offer, not who builds them."

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Neighbors tackle homeless abode
Group urges Belmont Guest House be closed

Monday, August 03, 2009
By AMY SARA CLARK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A Belmont Avenue neighborhood association has asked the city to shut down a nearby transitional housing facility they say is ruining their quality of life, decreasing their property values and frustrating attempts to improve the neighborhood.

In a May 26 letter sent to Darice Toon, director of the city's Division of Community Development, members of the Belmont Avenue Homeowners Association (BAHA) say the residents of the Belmont Guest House routinely engage in loud confrontations using "foul language," loiter outside the building at 188-190 Belmont Ave., and trespass on private property to gain access to the facility late at night.

Since Jan. 4, cops have been to the building at least 14 times, often several times in one week, police said. Reasons for the calls include domestic violence, assault with a weapon and a noise complaint, said Jersey City Lt. Edgar Martinez.

The association told the city the building should be turned into rentals or condos that would "attract tenants who could positively contribute to the struggling restoration of the Lincoln Park Neighborhood."

The Belmont Guest House is a single-room-occupancy facility that provides supportive services and housing for approximately 43 formerly homeless women and men for periods of three months to a year.

The owner is Ron Brown, the principal of Emet Realty, which has developed several transitional and low-income housing developments in New Jersey, including the Renaissance Project in Union City, which is partnered with the North Hudson Community Action Corporation.

BAHA members wrote the letter in response to an announcement by the city that it was planning to give the facility $550,000. Toon has told developer Brown that he won't receive the money unless he addresses the homeowners' concerns, said Jennifer Morrill, a spokeswoman for Mayor Jerramiah Healy.

Brown said he met with the association on June 2 and said he's willing to take several steps toward becoming a better neighbor, including: adding more security cameras outside the building; paying to fence in the yard of an adjacent home so residents cannot trespass on the property; and becoming an active member of the neighborhood association.

Brown said some of the anticipated funding would be used in part to create an air-conditioned living room, which would encourage residents to stay inside.

But Suzy Yengo, the association's vice president, says she'll believe it when she sees it.

"It's fine to discuss these things, but I haven't seen any plans (or) any commitment letter," she said.

She said closing this particular facility would be better for the residents, many of whom are dealing with substance abuse issues. "There being an active drug trade on the corner does not make this a prime location for this type of facility," she said.

But Morrill, the city spokeswoman, said the Belmont Guest House is one of only three single-room-occupancy facilities in the city and is badly needed to fill a gap in transitional housing.

Grizel Ubarry, a community development consultant who works with Brown, agrees.

"I think there needs to be some understanding that if you want to provide affordable housing in an urban community it cannot just be done by the nonprofit community," she said. "If we close this particular facility down, where do these people go?"