Developers and officials celebrate breaking ground on new affordable housing development in Felton

FELTON, Del. – A ground breaking ceremony was held Tuesday for a new affordable housing development, as officials continue their efforts to address housing shortages in The First State.

Delaware Lt. Governor Bethany Hall Long said the state has an important part to play in realizing opportunities for housing: “Government has a role to be really a shining model on how to turn dirt more quickly, you know, get rid of bureaucratic red tape.”

“It’s a long path to building any affordable housing project. It’s been almost three years since the time we identified the site.”

President and Founder of Carson Development, Danielle Smith, said working with the Delaware State Housing Authority as a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit developer has allowed them to break new ground with The Reese Apartments. “This is our first ground up construction. Prior to this, we’ve done acquisition rehab. So acquiring existing affordable housing and renovating them. So this is really exciting that we are adding new affordable housing stock,” Smith said. “To be able to partner with Delaware State Housing Authority and create new units. It’s a start. So we have a lot of work to do, but this is definitely a very exciting time.”

Officials estimate that Delaware is in need of 20,000 units of affordable housing.

Carson Development’s Vice President of Development, Max Friedman, said the work done in Felton can be used as a model to address the housing crisis on a larger scale. “These 48 units make a small impact, but it creates an example and a template of what a project would look like between construction, design, financing, so that we can replicate this and make a bigger impact to create more low income housing units in the state of Delaware.”

Smith and Friedman both spoke about improvements to local infrastructure the project will bring.

“This site is unique from other affordable housing projects, in that we’re running infrastructure over a mile between water and sewer improvements. This area doesn’t have public water and sewer, and we’re connecting to Kent County and Tidewater to bring those improvements to not just the site, but the area here in Felton, Delaware,” Friedman said.

Smith said, “It’s going to help perpetuate additional growth for commercial development so others can tap into the public water and sewer.”

Carson Development plans to have the The Reese completed in March of 2026.