Affordable Housing Resources

Understanding Affordable Housing in Ewing Township

-- Introduction
-- Background
   -- New Jersey
   -- Ewing Township
-- Resources
-- Ewing Township
    -- Municipal Housing Liaison
    -- Affordable Housing Administrative Agent
-- Ewing Rehabilitation Program
-- Mercer County
-- State of New Jersey
-- Comprehensive Plans, Resolutions, and Ordinances
-- Housing & Community Development Assistance Programs

Municipal Housing Liaison 

Director of Community Affairs, Ted Forst, is the Municipal Housing Liaison for the Township of Ewing.  He is responsible for administering state and local laws pertaining to affordable housing within the Township, while providing support for residents of affordable units. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact him at [email protected] or (609) 883-1776 x6203.

The Municipal Housing Liaison serves as an initial point of contact for unsolicited calls to the municipality about affordable housing rentals, however the application process of affordable housing developments is overseen by the Township Administrative Agent. In order to apply for affordable housing rentals and sales applicants must contact the designated agent below.

Affordable Housing Administrative Agent

The Township engages the services of Frank Piazza of Piazza & Associates, Inc. of Princeton, NJ to assist in implementing the affordable housing program in the community. Piazza & Associates helps connect qualifying persons with low-income and moderate-income homes for sale and rent. If you need assistance, please contact him at (609) 786-1100 Ext. 301; Email

Princeton Forrestal Village
201 Rockingham Row
Princeton, NJ 08540

For more information about the Affordable Housing services available through Piazza & Associates, both for sale and rent, please go to Affordable Housing | Piazza & Associates Inc.

Piazza & Associates, Inc. of Princeton includes:

• Ewing Town Center, 1 Fischer Guide Drive. Will provide a total of 118 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments when completed.
• Green 750 at Bear Tavern, 23 Wheldon Shivers Drive
• Heritage Court Apartments, 500 Silvia Street. 12 one-, two-, and three- bedroom apartments will be set aside for very low-, low- and moderate- income households when complete.
• River Links, 2221 Scenic Drive
• The Jefferson, 111 Timberlake Dr, Ewing, NJ 08618 offering one, two, and three-bedroom affordable condominiums for purchase.  Completed. Properties available through re-sales.

Homes by TLC (sister organization to HomeFront)
To find out if there are other housing opportunities with Homes by TLC, fill out the General Preliminary Application or email [email protected].

• 208 Sullivan Way
• 57-59 New Hillcrest Ave.

Community Investment Strategies include:

• The Gardens at Birmingham 4000 Birmingham Court, Ewing, NJ 08628

Ewing Independent Living for senior or eligible disabled

• 1015 Whitehead Road Ext.

Real Estate Management Advisors LLC includes:

• Ujima Village Apartments, 1001 Pennington Road

Ewing Township established an affordable housing trust fund on May 8, 2001. (As of December 31, 2024, the trust fund maintained a balance of $1,316, 531.41)

The Township intends to use its trust fund revenues to support rehabilitations of owner-occupied and rental units and provide affordability assistance in the form of very-low-income unit subsidies to developers constructing inclusionary development.

A rehabilitation program is described as the renovation of deficient housing units occupied by low- and moderate-income households.  They have health and safety code violations that require repair or replacement of a major system such as weatherization, roof, plumbing, heating, electricity, sanitary plumbing, and/or a load-bearing structural system.

While Mercer County has such a program for income-eligible homeowners using funds from HUD (the US Dept of Housing & Urban Development), Ewing has not had much success participating in this program and has begun its own program.

In October of 2024 Ewing signed an agreement with Community Grants, Planning and Housing (CGP&H), 1249 South River Road, Suite 301, Cranbury, NJ 08512, to provide comprehensive housing rehabilitation administration services for the Township rehabilitation program. This included establishing a program for renter-occupied units in aid of landlords requiring resources from the affordable housing trust fund.

These units will: be rehabbed to code, be occupied by (certified) income-eligible households, be subject to affordability controls for at least 10 years, and CGP will operate the program.

Homeowners who qualify as low- and moderate-income households, and whose home is in need of repair or replacement of a major system may be able to get funding thru Ewing’s Rehabilitation Trust Fund.

• Provides funding to finance repairs and/or replacements of major home systems.
• Detailed work specifications are prepared by a professional inspector.

Income guidelines are provided on the CGP&H website by town along with program benefits, requirements, and the process. 

FAQ - Benefits, requirements and the process…

How to apply

• Submit a pre-application form from the link on this website OR
• Contact the case manager listed on the Homeowners Link to the program that covers your geographic area. 

Applicants will then be placed in the applicant pool/wait list.  When you are invited to apply depends on the current openings for the program that covers your geographic area.  With most programs you will be invited to apply within days. With other programs, you will be invited when an opening becomes available.  The program will invite potential applicants in the order that they contac

Mercer County Housing Programs
Offer assistance to low and moderate-income families and individuals through the programs listed (Income and property restrictions apply):

• First Time Homebuyer Program (FTHB): Down payment and closing cost assistance
• Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)/Universal Service Fund (USF): Utility cost assistance
• Residential Rehabilitation Program: Code violations and safety improvement assistance
• Veterans Residence: Veterans rental housing
• Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP): Energy conservation improvements

Mercer County Affordable Housing Veterans Residence
Provides rental units for low-income veterans. The rental property is located at 2280 Hamilton Avenue, Hamilton, NJ 08619.

More Information

For more information, contact the Mercer County Affordable Housing Program at:
640 S Broad Street
Trenton, NJ 08611
Phone: 609-989-6858
Fax 609-989-0306

Affordable Housing Directory in Mercer County Compiled by the Mercer County Office on Aging/Aging & Disability Resource Connection, Mercer County, New Jersey, September 2023.  This directory provides a listing including the (1) name & address of the property, the (2) management & leasing contacts, the (3) type of affordability, (4) Type of Units, and (5) whether units are wheelchair accessible.

• State of New Jersey Affordable Housing
• New Jersey Guide to Affordable Housing
• New Jersey Housing Resource Center

FAQs

Maximum Income Limits
Each affordable home is designated as very low, low, or moderate income.  Household income limits are based on (1) the region where the home is located, and (2) the number of persons in your household.  To qualify to rent or purchase a home, your household annual income must be less than the income limit of the home. The income limits for all regions and household sizes are summarized in the State’s income limit chart.  (Please note that the date of the most recent income limits chart is frequently earlier than the current year.)

Mandatory Set Aside Ordinance

In Chapter 81 of the Township Code, which requires all new housing 41 developments to set aside as affordable, 15% of new units developed if the units are to be rental units, and 20% of new units developed if the units are to be for-sale units.

Controls on Affordability

The Township requires that the residential developer engage an administrative agent to administer and affirmatively market the units at the development, income-qualify applicants, place minimum 30-year affordability controls on the units for-sale and 40-year for rental units, and provide long-term administration of the units in accordance with rules at N.J.A.C. 5:93-1 et seq. and N.J.A.C. 5:80-26.1 et seq.

• Energy Assistance -  https://www.nj.gov/dca/dhcr/offices/hea.shtml
• Other Housing Assistance
  Weatherization Assistance Program
  Lead-Safe Home Remediation Program
• Foreclosure Prevention Counseling - https://www.nj.gov/dca/hmfa/consumers/foreclosure/
• Find Housing - https://nj.gov/njhrc/find-housing/
• I Choose Home NJ – a federal program that works to move people out of nursing homes and developmental centers back into the community; and re-invest Medicaid dollars saved back into home and community-based services to grow the system.
• Mercer County Residential Home Improvement Project
  • Rehabilitation Application Instructions
  • Rehabilitation Program Application
  • Rehabilitation Program Brochure

Ewing’s Affordable Housing Comprehensive Plans

Comprehensive Master Plan Housing Element & Fair Share Housing Plan: Planning Period 2025 - 2035 (Draft), Ewing Township Planning Board, June 2, 2025.

2018 Housing Element and Fair Share Housing Plan, Ewing Township Planning Board, Adopted April 5, 2018.

Ewing Fair Share Amendment, Ewing Township Planning Board, Adopted September 7, 2023.

Resolutions

A Resolution of the Township of Ewing Confirming the 4th Round of Affordable Housing Obligations Pursuant to P.L. 2024, c.2 and Fair Share Housing Act N.J.S.A. 52;27D 302  Council Resolution 25R-38, January 28, 2025

A Resolution Endorsing the Second Amended 2018 Housing Element and Fair Share Housing Plan, September 12, 2023

A Resolution Endorsing The 2018 Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, March 27, 2018

A Resolution Endorsing the 2017 Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, April 11, 2017

Resolution Endorsing the Amended Housing Element and Fair Share Plan  and Authorizing The Re-Petitioning For Substantive Certification to the Council On Affordable Housing, November 25, 2008

Resolution Endorsing Amendment to The Housing Element and Fair Share Plan of The Master Plan, February 13, 2007

Ordinances

Ewing has a Mandatory Set Aside Ordinance adopted in 2017 where all new housing developments are required to set aside 15% of new units as affordable (rental units) and 20% (for-sale units).  This requirement does not apply to individual single-family homes and duplexes if not part of a larger development.