LEWES, Del.- A ribbon cutting in Lewes Tuesday morning marked the grand opening of Dutchman’s Harvest, the city’s first affordable workforce housing project.
Located on Savannah Road, the development will eventually feature 140 multi-family units. Fourteen of those units are income-based and already sold out.
The remaining homes are reserved for people who work at least 30 hours a week in Sussex County. Developers say the properties cannot be sold at market value for at least 10 years, preventing quick resales.
“We have the high end. We have some of the other apartments, but it’s this middle that would be for the next generations,” Lewes Mayor Amy Marasco said. “I’m a grandmother, and how will my grandchildren enter the housing market unless communities provide this kind of housing?”
Ocean Atlantic President Tom Tipton said the goal is to give local workers — including service industry employees, teachers and nurses — the ability to live near their jobs.
The homes range in price from $239,000 for a one-bedroom to $364,000 for a three-bedroom.
Developers expect Dutchman’s Harvest to be completed in about a year.