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Under the program, residents pay no more than 30% of their adjusted monthly income. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development makes up the difference between those payments and the full contract rent within certain limits.
The median household income in the 19140 ZIP code, which contains the development, is just north of $30,000, according to the U.S. Census. That’s nearly half the citywide figure.
“The term affordable is all relative based on what your income is. We really did try our best to make this affordable to the average income,” said Joshua Klaris, North10’s executive director.
Like Scott, nearby neighbors are also grateful for the project, located across the street from Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary School.
For nearly two decades, residents fought in vain to shut down the Liberty Motel, a rent-by-the-hour establishment that became a haven for drug use and prostitution at all hours of the day. Residents say the business also had its share of shootings, some of them fatal.
The city shut down the business twice for fire code violations, but each time it reopened after a few days. The motel didn’t permanently close until 2018, when North10 bought it and four adjacent properties. The sale came shortly after the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections temporarily shut down the motel for the second time in two years.
“Be a Gem Crossing is the best thing for our community in a long time,” said block captain Arletha Pickens. “Hopefully, now this area will encourage merchants to come to this area to provide the most needed services to our residents.”
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