Mayor Ras J. Baraka, members of the Newark Municipal Council, and Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Baye Adofo-Wilson launched the “Live Newark” Program to encourage municipal employees and public school teachers to purchase homes in two struggling neighborhoods. The program will provide home purchasers with forgivable loans to cover closing costs and rehabilitation expenses for homes purchased in one of the City’s two struggling Model Neighborhood Initiative areas.
The “Live Newark” program will offer municipal workers a $5,000 forgivable loan for closing costs and a $25,000 forgivable loan for home rehabilitation if they purchase and live in a home in either of the two Model Neighborhood Initiative areas – Upper Clinton Hill and the Lower West Ward. For the $5,000 loan, 20 percent will be forgiven for each year of occupancy; for the $25,000 loan, 10 percent will be forgiven for each year of occupancy.
“We are accomplishing several important objectives with this initiative,” Mayor Baraka said. “First, we are helping the extremely valued members of our Municipal family achieve their dream of home ownership, within our City. Second, we are making them stakeholders in building our City’s future. Third, we are supporting our Model Neighborhoods Initiative by strengthening the economy of these targeted communities. Most importantly, we are taking a holistic approach to transforming our City, addressing issues of neighborhood redevelopment, supporting Municipal employees and public school teachers and their families; uniting neighborhoods, our workers, and their families in these efforts. By engaging these people and communities, we are continuing to transform Newark into a City we can all believe in. I commend our Department of Economic and Housing Development team for creating this initiative.”
To qualify for the program, the purchaser must use the home as their primary residence. The purchased home must be a 1-4 family dwelling. Townhouses and Condominiums are permitted. If homes require rehabilitation beyond the $25,000 offered by the program, sums must be set aside at the loan closing to complete those renovations necessary to meet housing code requirements within 12 months.
The two areas eligible under the initiative are as follows: ·
West Ward Model Neighborhood: The 20-block grid in the West Ward, with a perimeter of South Orange Avenue, Ashland Street, 14th Avenue, South 13th Street, 16th Avenue, South 20th Street, 14th Avenue, and South 19th Street. This area includes two schools and the portion on South 20th Street is on the Irvington border. ·
South Ward Model Neighborhood: The 38-block grid in the South Ward, with a perimeter of Avon Avenue, Chadwick Avenue, Hawthorne Avenue, Clinton Place, Clinton Avenue, and South 14th Street. The grid includes two schools, and Mildred Helms Park.
For more information, contact the Department of Housing Assistance at (973) 733-8400, or visit room 402 at Newark City Hall.
