La Casa de Don Pedro Breaks Ground on 11 Affordable Housing Units

Officials broke ground on an 11-unit affordable housing project in Newark's Lower Broadway section Tuesday, part of La Casa de Don Pedro's comprehensive plan to revitalize the community from the ground up.

Two-family, townhouse-style homes will be built on five sites scattered throughout the neighborhood, including 19-23 Victoria Ave., where the official groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday morning. The $2.2 million housing development project, funded in part by TD Bank, also includes the rehabilitation of an existing row house on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, between Crane Street and Park Avenue.

"The idea here is to make it affordable for families to get into a home and keep it," said Raymond Ocasio, executive director of La Casa de Don Pedro.

For 40 years, development corporation La Casa de Don Pedro has been focused on empowering the Latino community in Newark and beyond. The agency has targeted the Lower Broadway area for years, seeking residents' and community organizations' input on how to reinvigorate the area. To date, about 60 units of affordable housing have been built in the neighborhood with additional sites throughout Newark.

The two-family, three-bedroom home will be erected within the next three months at the Victoria Avenue site and has already sold for $189,000 to a first-time homeowner, officials said. The other properties will be available to buy or rent once completed.

In May, La Casa de Don Pedro will break ground on a $2.4 million streetscape plan in Lower Broadway which includes new lighting, outdoor benches, crosswalks, trees, public artwork and trash receptacles. The firm has also been working with local merchants on a facade project to beautify storefronts.

"It's incredible to see that in the worst housing market of a generation that we've been able … to more than double the production of affordable housing … " said Mayor Cory Booker. "Not just affordable housing in general but helping populations that are often unfortunately ignored."