In our spotlight on Business Report tonight.

It's no secret demand is outpacing the supply of affordable housing in New Jersey.

Estimates show the state needs roughly 200,000 units to close the gap.

In Irvington, one, developers combining building affordable homes alongside needed social services, including supportive housing units dedicated specifically for young women aging out of foster care.

Raven Santana was at the groundbreaking to find out why residents and leaders in Irvington believe this could change the community.

We the residents really needed this.

We've been fighting for this for a long time, so just to see it actually come to a head is actually, you know, is really important.

Janelle Giles has been a resident in the township of Irvington for 14 years.

Giles, who lives right down the block from this vacant piece of land, could not be more excited to attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the Sankofa enclave at 21st Street.

A new development project that fills the area with two family homes, affordable housing and outdoor green space.

I've seen developers come and go.

I've seen projects start, not finish.

You know what I mean?

So that's why to actually have this groundbreaking and to actually see the hope that it's like, okay, we're finally getting somewhere, we're finally going to have something there.

They're finally going to give us what they promised.

You know what I mean?

So that's kind of where I'm at.

The $100 million project, which is being funded through a mix of sponsors, equity and debt, will bring 15 two family houses, 240 units of affordable rental housing, five supportive housing units for young women aging out of foster care, and a 30,000 square foot community development center.

But this whole area is an established food desert, and that's why we consciously did that.

So everything you see that is overgrown, you know, any parcel of land that has nothing on it, we're going to put something there that has value.

Nana Duncan is the owner and founder of Thatcher Duncan Group, which is a partner of 21st Street development, the developer for this project, the Development, led by a team of black women, will offer homeownership, green space and affordable housing in the area.

Duncan says part of the project is designed to help low income families become homeowners by offering housing that is affordable and accessible.

The affordable units are the result of a previous investment funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which was allocated through the nonprofit organization Brand New Day.

The developer is also pursuing tax credits through the state's Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency and Economic Development Authority.

And we're providing mixed income homeownership.

So some of it is market rate and some of it is affordable.

And what's affordable?

It's affordable at anyone at 80% or lower area median income.

But the idea is that we don't expect anyone that is buying any of the home homes whose lower income to spend more than 28% of their income on those houses.

Well, one of the things that's most that's that's appealing to Irvington is that we're centrally located.

You can get anywhere in the state and New York from Irvington, New Jersey.

Tony Voss is the mayor of the township of Irvington.

He says Irvington is a prime location for people who want to do redevelopment projects.

What we want to do is we want to let our residents know, the ones who've been here, who've been patient, that they have first opportunity to be a part of projects like this, to be a part of their community and be a part of the transformation and have a first selection for some of these projects that we have had a chance to promote.

Duncan says the entire project will take between three and five years.

She says the thought is to begin to remove any vacancies and blight immediately.

For NJ Spotlight News.

I'm Raven Santana.