Lewes planners recommend approval for workforce housing project

A revised plan for the Dutchman’s Harvest workforce housing project along Savannah Road in Lewes received unanimous support from the city’s planning commission Nov. 18.

The recommendation for approval next goes to mayor and city council for consideration.

The first site plan was granted preliminary approval in November 2019. It called for 14 two-story buildings of 10 units each. That has not changed in the new site plan, but the layout and style of buildings were changed significantly after further study of soils required more stormwater management on site.

The new building type is about two-thirds the size of the previous big-house style. The smaller buildings bring the price per unit down. The price for a one-bedroom unit is now estimated at $150,000 to $200,000, while a three-bedroom unit is expected to be in the $180,000 to $250,000 range.

Those lower prices benefit Diamond State Community Land Trust, which is slated to purchase 42 of the 140 units at direct building cost from the developer. Diamond State will then resell the units to qualified buyers who make 60 percent to 80 percent of the average median income for Sussex County. 

Helen McAdory, executive director of Diamond State, said the lower price significantly helps her organization because the original cost per unit was causing problems with funding sources.

“This brings the sales price within the right pricing parameters to work with granting organizations,” she said. “If we are able to get $20,000 per unit from [granting] organizations, we are very much in the correct affordability frame. I struggled tremendously with the pricing before.”

Developer Preston Schell said he’s also targeting the local workforce in the remaining 98 units. He plans to sell the units at 15 percent above the cost to build. If Diamond State is unable to purchase any or all of its 42 earmarked units, Schell said he will follow the same formula and sell what’s left over at direct build cost.

Part of the reason the site plan had to be revised is because the developer has to account for stormwater running off from a neighboring undeveloped parcel. Schell was asked by the planning commission if it made sense to wait for that parcel to be developed so his site wouldn’t have to take on the extra stormwater.

“If I had a better understanding and confidence in the property next door, I’d be willing to wait, but I think the stormwater issue was a blessing in disguise because that’s what triggered us to look at a new building type,” he said. “Otherwise, I probably never would’ve done that, and we wouldn’t have been able to lower prices of these units to the extent we have.”

From a workforce housing perspective, he said, the new plan is better.

Schell does not anticipate final approval within the next nine months, so the best-case scenario for breaking ground is summer 2021.

The planning commission voted on the issue Nov. 18 in order to move it forward to council; however, because the commission left the public record open until Nov. 30, it will consider any new information before certifying the vote at its December meeting.