By: Follow South Jersey Staff
CAMDEN, N.J — Construction of a $24 million housing and health care community called Oliver Station in the Whitman Park neighborhood of Camden began Wednesday, Nov. 1, with a groundbreaking ceremony with the Michaels Organization and Virtua Health.
The community will feature high quality affordable housing and a 6,000-square-foot Virtua medical practice, according to a press release from Camden County.
“This is a landmark project that will improve the lives of residents here in a major way,” Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr. stated in the press release. “Access to housing and healthcare are two major obstacles that too many people face. Oliver Station is removing these barriers, allowing its residents access high quality, affordable housing with healthcare services right next door. We strive to ensure our neighbors have high quality schools, public safety and public health options wherever they live.”
According to the Michaels Organization, “Oliver Station will be a three-story mixed-use community, built on a long-unused parcel in Camden’s Whitman Park neighborhood next to the PATCO Hi-Speedline’s Ferry Avenue Station. Virtua Health will operate a 5,350-square-foot medical practice on the ground floor of the development.”
The completed project will include 47 rental homes, a Virtua medical practice with 13 exam rooms, and a variety of community amenities.
“We’re ecstatic to have The Michaels Organization and Virtua Health bring affordable homes and direct access to high-quality health care within the community,” Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen stated in a press release from the Michaels Organization. “The Virtua Health facilities will literally be on residents’ doorsteps and will also be conveniently located near the PATCO Speedline, allowing easy access for other community members, as well.”
The Michaels Organization explained that “the name Oliver Station pays homage to the Reverend Thomas Clement Oliver (1818 -1900), a conductor on the Underground Railroad who briefly lived in Camden. He once presided over the Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church, Camden’s oldest African American institution and a refuge for freedom seekers, according to the State of New Jersey.” They also stated that the name took on a second meaning in August after the death of New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Sheila Y. Oliver who was not related to Thomas Clement Oliver.
Oliver Station will be the first community in South Jersey to stem from the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency’s Hospital Partnership Subsidy Program, the county stated. The program supports the construction of mixed-use communities near hospitals – creating safe, stable housing with convenient access to health care services for individuals 55 and older and their families.
The Michaels Organization is a national residential real estate company that works in development, property management, construction, and investment management. They serve over 175,000 residents in more than 550 communities across 39 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to the organization.
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