LEWES, Del. - A groundbreaking was underway Wednesday morning in Lewes for a new affordable housing development. Dutchman's Harvest will sit off of Savannah Road, behind The Lodge at Historic Lewes and just three minutes away from Cape Henlopen High School.
Dutchman's Huarvest Aerial Overlay
Unlike typical affordable housing, which is based on an individual's income, this housing development is for people in the local workforce in Sussex County. The property options includes one, two and three bedroom units.
Ocean Atlantic Companies is the developer that took on the project and says it's been a long time coming. Land owner and developer Preston Schell said that Lewes has become more expensive over the years.
"The prices have gotten so inflated in the last five to 10 years that it's really pushed out the younger and kind of 'just starting out' demographic from being able to buy a home near the beach," Schell said. He talked about having cousins in college and his concern that they wouldn't be able to live in Lewes post-graduation due to how expensive it is to live in the city. "We witnessed the inflation first hand, both with my family and with our employees, and to be able to be a part of the solution in the town that your family is from is really important to me."
Tom Tipton, president and COO of Ocean Atlantic Companies, broke down the difference between Dutchman's Harvest and other housing in Lewes.
"In a typical project, the price is set on a bunch of different economics, but because we have the town and other programs involved, we're able to hold the cost down and hold that final sale price down."
Schell shared that the 140 units will be split, with 98 units to be sold closer to market rate but still $100,000 to $150,000 below market rate. He also shared that an additional 42 units are going to be sold to the Milford Housing Development Corporation. The plan is that the MHDC will further discount the units and sell them to families and households making 65 percent of the area median income or less, according to Ocean Atlantic.
Tipton said there is a condominium association that is associated with the project which will monitor the people living there. He also said there are restrictions that will require anyone living at Dutchman's Harvest to work in Sussex County.
For anyone wanting to rent a home out, the person would have to rent to someone who works in the county. Ocean Atlantic said it has those working in the service industry in mind, as well as police, firefighters, teachers and nurses when they began developing the project.
Those who buy one of these homes and want to sell it in the future will face restrictions to make sure the pricing "stays at a place where the workforce can get in," according to Tipton.
Ocean Atlantic started a reservation list for the property almost one year ago, which currently has 35 people. To get on the reservation list:
- Go to dutchmansharvest.com and fill out the contact page with your information. A sales representative will reach out with the reservation form to fill out.
- Submit a $1,000 deposit.
Following Wednesday's groundbreaking, Tipton shared that construction should begin next week. Families are expected to be moved in by January or February of 2025.