ASBURY PARK - Taylor Carpenter looked at the abandoned third floor of the building she used to live in at Boston Way Apartments, just off Memorial Drive. The brick facade was faded, the glass on the windows chipped.

But the apartment was her childhood home. The place for kickball and hopscotch. Her mother was raised at the housing complex, and her grandmother before her lived there as well.

"I cried last night thinking about it," Carpenter, 21, said.

Demolition work has begun on the five buildings that make up the public housing apartment complex, as you can see in the video above this story. In their place will be a gleaming, $28 million, 104-unit apartment community. The Boston Way Apartments have been vacant since 2014; the new ones are expected to open in February 2019.

The Boston Way project is part of a city strategy to bring more housing and business development to the economically blighted west side of the city.

Nearby on Springwood Avenue, the Michaels Development Co. broke ground on The Renaissance housing project last week. The Renaissance is a $20.2 million affordable housing development featuring three low-rise buildings and 64 apartment units. It is scheduled to open in April 2019.

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The demolition work is expected to take two months, according to Gregory Hopson, chairman of the Asbury Park Housing Authority.

The new Boston Way apartments are being financed by $12.3 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as a $700,000 loan to the Asbury Park Housing Authority. The remaining $15 million came from the sale of Federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits.

Daniel Gibson, chief of staff for the housing authority, said the masonry in the demolished buildings will be processed and used as the cement foundation for the new project. On Wednesday, two large excavators were on site crushing through the roof of building 4. The interior walls of the former apartments were exposed, like an open doll house, with ceramic bathroom fixtures and interior doorways visible.

The project is being developed by the Alpert/Metro Group. The general contract is held by Middletown-based AJD Construction. Gibson said more than 54 local skilled laborers are expected to work on the project.

The original Boston Way complex opened in 1952.

More than 74 families were compelled to leave when it closed in 2014. They received Section 8 vouchers for relocation. Hopson said they will receive notices when the Boston Way project is near completion advising how they can apply for housing in the new complex.

Former residents will receive first preference for the new apartments, which will be priced anywhere between $50 and $1,400 per month, depending on the applicant's income. Housing applicants will have to make no more than 60 percent of the Monmouth County area median income to qualify. For a family of four, that means earning about $54,000 or less.

Leasing is expected to begin in late 2018.

"This will be among the finest new developments in the area," Gibson said.

Among those excited about the venture is Taylor Carpenter, who is hoping she might one day move back into her childhood home.

"I know it's going to be really nice," Carpenter said.

Austin Bogues 732-643-4009; abogues@gannettnj.com



