1 Complex Provides 16 Percent Of Montclair’s Affordable Housing

MONTCLAIR, NJ — As they prepare to celebrate 40 years in Montclair, the board members who run the Matthew G. Carter Apartments are looking back at a big number: 16 percent.

That’s how much of the town’s affordable housing stock is located at the Glenridge Avenue complex, which has been an anchor for low-income residents for decades. About 20 percent of its residents have lived there for 10 or more years; another 22 percent have been there for more than 20 years.

“Matthew G. Carter Apartments plays a vital role in Montclair,” said William Seeney, board president of Union Montclair Housing Corporation (UMHC), the complex’s operating directors.

“In an area that is identified with high rental rates, people are getting priced out of quality rental apartments, especially around the train station where the area is being upgraded,” Seeney said. “Where else can people find a manicured, well-managed affordable housing community, with a strong responsibility to its residents and the community?”

According to the UMHC, the property is subsidized through funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 236 program and Rental Assistance Program. This enables residents who earn 50 percent of the area median income (AMI) or less to qualify for rental assistance. Those with gross income above the 50 percent AMI level may rent there at prevailing market rates.

As of November, 70 percent of the property’s apartments are fully rent-subsidized, the UMHC stated.

The community – which represents about 16 percent of Montclair Township’s affordable housing units – has apartments ranging from one to three-bedrooms. The complex features private walkways and a private courtyard.

Rainbow Property Management LLC in Roseland has managed the complex since 1995, and is a big contributor to residents’ loyalty, the UMHC stated.

Seeney, who has served on the board for 27 years, pointed out that the Matthew G. Carter Apartments have given back to the Montclair community in other ways.

For example, since 1998, the board and Rainbow Property Management have awarded 20 college scholarships to local students worth around $17,000. And since 2001, the partnership has awarded 11 “summer camperships” to local youth worth about $8,000.

What’s more, the complex – formerly known as the Erie Lackawanna Apartments and renamed for Montclair’s first African American mayor in 1999 – is deeply rooted in local history, Seeney said.

The other members of the board are as ardent about the importance of the complex as he is, Seeney attested. Those members include his daughter and Montclair native, Terri Seeney-Majette, Matthew Carter’s daughter Nanette Carter, an artist and art professor at Pratt Institute, the Rev. Paul Leggett, pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church, Sandra Lang, secretary/treasurer and a former Montclair Council member, and Calvin Drew, a former local funeral director.

“We provide an important, quality alternative to public housing that offers well-being to the local citizenry,” Seeney said. “All of us on the board have a vested interest in seeing this community thrive and a shared passion for what Matthew G. Carter Apartments means to our residents. It’s a true labor of love.”

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