FBI not targeting $3.5M that 'cleaned up' Orange neighborhood, authority says

The third phase of the Walter G. Alexander affordable housing development replaces dilapidated structures that were occupied by drug dealers and squatters, housing authority officials say.

ORANGE -- In the midst of a federal probe into grant money spending by at least one city entity, another is celebrating the fruits of $3.5 million in federal Sandy funding.

State and local officials gathered this week at the ribbon cutting of the Walter G. Alexander, Phase III development of 42 affordable housing units on Parrow Street in Orange.

The Orange Housing Authority financed the new development - the third in a series of affordable units it is building throughout the city - using a $7.4 million tax credit from the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, and $3.5 million from the Community Development Block Grant Sandy Disaster Recovery funds.

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"The need for affordable housing is absolutely incredible," Walter D. McNeil, the OHA's executive director, said in a phone interview about the grand opening. For spots in the development's 42 units, the authority received about 1,400 applications, he said.

The opening of the third Walter G. Alexander complex comes as city officials and others are being investigated by the federal government in connection with the alleged misuse of funds at the public library and in the city's purchase of a YWCA building. That probe has focused on the use of federal grant money.

But, McNeil says that the OHA, which operates independently, has not been served with warrants in connection to any investigations.

"We haven't been impacted at all by that," he said of the federal investigation, and the OHA's use of federal Sandy money to build new complexes.

Officials at the ribbon cutting commended the authority for using the money to improve the neighborhood. In addition to building on previously vacant land, the new development replaces about seven homes that McNeil said were in disrepair, and being used by drug dealers, prostitution operations, and squatters. Kids attending the Oakwood Avenue Elementary School next door, he said, previously had to walk through the blighted area to get to class.

"I am glad to see some of my efforts in the fights that we had in Washington - and they were difficult around Sandy dollars - have come to fruition and come into fruition in my district," said U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-10th Dist.).

A rending of the Walter G. Alexander developments. (Courtesy OHA)
 

"It warms my heart to know that the fight was not in vain and this is the result of some of those dollars."

The design of the new Walter G. Alexander  project - made up of 54,300 square feet of living space in a three-story building on Parrow Street, four-story building on Wilson Place, and 4,500 square foot community room - is designed specifically to deter criminal activity, McNeil said.

There are limited communal spaces, dozens of security cameras throughout the complex, and it is marketed as "affordable workforce housing," for working families, he said.

The OHA's developments throughout the city's East Ward are meant to replace the Walter G. Alexander Village originally built in 1952, which had fallen into disrepair, housed criminal activities, and has since been demolished, officials said.

The authority, McNeil said, is now focusing on building a fourth phase of the new development, a 44-unit structure between South and Hickory Streets.

"This area is completely cleaned up," McNeil said. "It's making the community safe...and improving the quality of life."

Jessica Mazzola may be reached at jmazzola@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessMazzola. Find NJ.com on Facebook.