ASBURY PARK - Valerie Echols, a retired colonel in the Army Reserve, has come a long way since she grew up poor in Building 4 Apartment 3 of the Boston Way housing complex as a child.

"I can now pay for a lot of things, but this moment is priceless to me," Echols, 54, said. "This is my childhood, this is my life."

Where her childhood home once stood is now the site of a new Boston Way Village, which opens this month.

The 104-unit $28 million townhouse-style complex off Springwood Avenue in the heart of Asbury Park's west side is heralded as the biggest residential construction on that side of the city in more than half a century.

"This is a project that's been long overdue," said the Rev. Lyddale Akins at a ribbon-cutting ceremony held Friday.

The new Boston Way apartments were 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.

The new townhouses 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.

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. You can view a video of the demolition at the top of this story.

They will receive preference for the new units. Asbury Park Housing Authority Chairman Gregory Hopson Sr. said so far 15 of the families have applied to return to the newly constructed Boston Way Village.

Providing more affordable housing has been a top priority in the city that was dubbed "Coolest Small Town in America" by Budget Travel magazine in 2017.

While the cost of housing has soared in the city, the median household income has lagged at around $39,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. It's estimated that 30.4 percent of the population is in poverty.

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