EGG HARBOR CITY - The man at the forefront of what could be a 300-unit housing development constructed over the next decade says he isn’t planning on “pounding out a development.”

Instead, developer Bradley N. Haber says, “I look at it as a community-building effort.”

Haber’s Egg Harbor City North Project faces another test 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21 when he seeks site plan approval from the Egg Harbor City Planning Board.

Haber, a 35-year veteran in the home construction field, said he envisions a development which features homes that range in size from 1,700 to 2,600 square feet. They will come in single-story, Cape Cod and two-story models.

“They will be built on 75-by-150 lots that we like to call a builder’s quarter acre,” he said.

After he receives the city’s OK, Haber says he’ll seek approvals from the county, the county soil district and the Department of Environmental Protection.

“We’ve got them all lined up,” he said, “so it should take between 45 and 60 days for the approval process to be completed.”

The project’s first big approval came in December when a Pinelands Commission committee suggested that the commission approve the project. The Commission did so at its Jan. 13 meeting. But that didn’t mean that Haber would jump out to complete as many houses as he could in his first year.

“I plan on building 12 to 18 homes in the first year,” said Haber, who has already constructed 13 developments in his building career.

However, Haber doesn’t want to go into mass production and is comfortable in taking up to 10 years to finish the project.

“That’s 30 houses a year,” he said. “I’m not looking to get out of this project. This is my reputation. I want people to drive by on Sunday and ask, ‘How was your builder?’”

And the answer he wants to hear is, “This guy is the best.”

Haber said the first part of the project is 23 lots between Irving and Humboldt streets, near Philadelphia Avenue and behind the school.

“One of the things I designed was the right size for the homes and the right size for the lots,” he said. “There is a sense of smart growth here.”

One of the advantages of the Egg Harbor City North project, Haber says, is its location around Cedar Creek High School and near Philadelphia Avenue.

“When these people leave their homes,” he said, “they are going to have to drive through the center of town. Can you imagine the positive impact this is going to have for the Egg Harbor City business community?”
Haber hopes to begin clearing the ground “literally next month. We’ll begin by cutting the trees to put the roads in. I hope to break ground sometime in late April or early May and have some homebuyers moving in before Christmas.”

A construction trailer already rests on the property at the top of the hill overlooking the back of the high school and the wooded lots that will soon become part of the city’s newest housing development.

Haber said he believes his project will attract a wide range of buyers from new families to established families to empty nesters who are looking to downsize.

“We have plans that have the master bedroom on the ground floor,” he said, “for that time when people begin to hate the stairs like we all will sooner or later.”

All of the homes will feature a basement as well, he said.

New homeowners will receive a five-year tax abatement on the improvements to the property, he says, as will any new home buyer in the city.

“Is it unfair?” Haber asked, “Well life isn’t always as fair as we would like it to be.”

But in the long run, he said, the development will help lower taxes because the costs of running the city will be spread over a greater number of taxpayers, reducing each taxpayer’s share.

Also, Haber said, the increased number of residents would entice businesses to relocate to Egg Harbor City and create new jobs and opportunities for the city’s residents.

“What happened in Egg Harbor Township is the opposite of what will happen in Egg Harbor City,” he said. “Your taxes aren’t going to go up because we already have the schools in place. And those schools were built in anticipation of future development. They are at half capacity now.”