OCEAN CITY, Md. - Ocean City is being proactive about the employee housing shortage in town.
The Ocean City Development Corporation will receive a grant from the Department of Housing and Community Development for a sum of $25,000.
The grant will hopefully help incentivize people who currently own property to turn it into employee housing. If not existing properties then for new developers to build employee housing in downtown Ocean City specifically.
The scarcity of employee housing has been an ongoing issue in Ocean City and some worry it's making it hard to find employees to work in the summer or the shoulder season.
One local Ivette Soto said she sees the impact of the lack of employee has had on Ocean City.Â
"People move to other cities like Salisbury and work over there," Soto said. "So that's why up here in Ocean City they have a shortage staff because not too many employees can afford to live here or there is no housing available at all."
The OCDC said they encourage anyone who has property in downtown Ocean City to reach out if they want to redevelop even if there property doesn't fit the criteria for the grant, they have other funds to pull from.