Affordable Housing Project Breaks Ground in North Milford

Community leaders, housing advocates and elected officials gathered in Milford on May 29 to celebrate the groundbreaking of Lafayette Place, a new affordable housing development expected to create dozens of homeownership opportunities for working families in Kent County.

The project, developed by Interfaith Community Housing of Delaware (ICHDE), received a major boost through a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The funding will support critical infrastructure improvements, including roads, utilities, site clearing and grading needed before construction can begin.

“This is transforming people’s lives. This is transforming communities,” U.S. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester said during the ceremony.

Blunt Rochester joined U.S. Sen. Chris Coons and U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride in supporting the federal funding package that helped move the project forward.

Located near Interfaith’s existing Colony South and Colony West affordable housing communities, Lafayette Place could include either 36 single-family homes or as many as 95 townhomes, according to Interfaith Executive Director Darlene Sample. The homes are expected to serve families earning approximately 80 percent of the area median income. For Milford, that is an annual income of $52,300 for a one-person family and $74,700 for a family of four.

According to Sample, the infrastructure funding was essential to making the project financially feasible. Unlike many Interfaith projects that focus on renovating existing properties where infrastructure already exists, Lafayette Place is being built on a wooded tract of land the organization has owned for decades.

“It is so difficult to find funding for infrastructure,” Sample said. “We’ve owned this land for 30 years, but needed funding for the infrastructure,”

The project comes as Milford continues to experience rapid growth and increasing pressure on the housing market.

“We’ve seen a lot of growth in a short period of time, and the great migration from New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, places like that have really contributed to our economy in a good way, but also put pressure on housing prices,” Milford Mayor Todd Culotta said.

Although Colony West and Colony South are not within Milford’s city boundaries, in March, 2023, Milford City Council agreed to extend city services to the property even though it has not been annexed. The city had been providing water and sewer service to Colony West and Colony North, according to City Planner Rob Pierce.

“The agreement requires that Interfaith Housing would annex if and when they became contiguous,” Pierce said. “The property is only one parcel removed from city limits. I.G. Burton owns that property and if they decided to annex, it would allow the city to annex Interfaith.”

Culotta, who was a Ward 2 councilman at the time of the decision, agreed but stated he did not like the idea.

“I believe if you get city services, city sewer, city water, you should be in the city,” Culotta said at the time. I don’t think we’re ever going to approve a development again that we would provide services and not require them to be in the city because once we do that, there is no reason to ever join.”

Sample estimated that homes could be priced around $300,000 if the single-family option is pursued, with lower prices possible if townhomes are constructed. By covering infrastructure costs through the federal grant, Interfaith hopes to keep the final purchase price within reach of working families.

“There is a huge need in populations that you don’t even think about,” said Catherine Davis of ICHDE. “We don’t think about our seniors in that way. We don’t think about our veterans. But there is housing need everywhere.”

Davis noted that funding infrastructure projects is often one of the most difficult aspects of affordable housing development.

“This is harder because it’s roads and it’s sewer systems and it’s infrastructure, and that is very difficult,” Davis said. “So, it’s almost impossible to find funding for this.”

Project supporters emphasized that Lafayette Place is about more than building homes.

“It’s stability,” Davis said. “You have a home and that’s where things start.”

Founded in Wilmington in 1968 and expanding into Kent and Sussex counties in 1995, Interfaith Community Housing of Delaware has developed, rehabilitated or managed more than 2,000 homes and apartments while serving thousands of Delaware residents. Organization leaders said Lafayette Place continues that mission by creating new pathways to homeownership in a region where affordable housing options remain limited.

Infrastructure work is expected to begin immediately, with the first homes anticipated to become available for purchase in 2028. The project was celebrated by local, state and federal officials, including Gov. Matt Meyer, who joined housing advocates and community leaders in recognizing what many described as a significant investment in Milford’s future.