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At 8 a.m. Monday, the brick and mortar at Boston Way began to tumble.

In two weeks time, the 114 homes that once existed at the southwest corner of Memorial Drive and Sylvan Avenue will be a thing of the past, making way for 104 townhouse rental units [see videos below], Asbury Park Housing Authority Chairman Greg Hopson said. Bricks from the structure will be cleaned up, cataloged, and distributed to members of the community who may want a keepsake of a structure that housed many generations.

Joining him at the site were Vice Chairman Frank Syphax and Councilwoman Yvonne Clayton [at right].

“I’m thrilled, this is exciting,” Clayton said. “I am so happy Boston Way is coming down and being replaced by beautiful new affordable apartments that’s going to give hope for the community and a new generation.

The $28 million project marks more than the redevelopment of a long vacant Asbury Park Housing Authority [APHA] complex, but also the start of revitalization in the southwest neighborhood. The project’s redevelopment plans feature 21 one-bedroom, 62 two-bedroom, and 21 three-bedroom, mixed-income units.

The work will include knocking down the building, removing footings and foundation walls, grinding up masonry materials for use in back-filling the excavated holes so the site can be leveled. Since there will be no basement level, a slab foundation will be constructed before the vertical framing work begins, Asbury Park Housing Authority Chief of Staff Daniel Gibson Jr.

Syphax expressed his thanks to his fellow Housing Authority Board Members ‘for their hard work and many hours needed to get us to this point.’

Hopson said he intends to be very vigilant with regard to the project’s participation in the Section 3 workforce development arm of the project.

Vacated in 2014, a $12.3 million federal Housing and Urban Development [HUD] Superstorm Sandy Relief Community Development Block Grant will help fund the project, headed by Jersey City-based Metro Company and Fort Lee-based Alpert Group.

HUD’s Section 3 regulations mandate that ‘to the greatest extent possible, a project must provide job training, employment, and contract opportunities for low- or very-low income residents.’

A list of local contractors and laborers, garnered during a November open call meeting, will be submitted to the developers for subcontracting work.

“We want to give these men and women a chance to bid for whatever specialties they represent and intend to put laborers and skilled workers on this job,” Gibson said.

The Boston Way redevelopment is slated for a February 2019 completion.

[Boston Way Walk Through video courtesy of Asbury Park Housing Authority]

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