Atlantic City's municipal council has approved a resolution funding a six-unit housing development at 303 North South Carolina Avenue, awarding Foya Development Group LLC $203,709.04 in Community Development Block Grant funds to build homes meant for low- to moderate-income families. The project sits at the intersection of North South Carolina, Drexel, and Mediterranean Avenues in the city's Midtown North neighborhood, and it's designed to mirror the area's existing shore-style single-family housing.
The council's vote came at its regular meeting, according to Jersey Digs, which reported that the city intends to provide financial assistance to Foya Development Group LLC for the project as a subrecipient of the federal grant funds. The six homes will each include three bedrooms, front porches, rear decks, off-street parking, and energy-efficient appliances and fixtures, and they sit within walking distance of mass transit and community amenities. Atlantic City's Planning Board reviewed the project's subdivision proposal back in October 2024, well ahead of this month's funding vote.
The timeline stretches back further still. Mayor Marty Small Sr. and developer Adenah Bayoh held an official groundbreaking ceremony for the project in June 2025, according to Thriven Design, more than a year before the council formally approved the grant that funds it. Thriven Design provided architectural and engineering services for the South Carolina Avenue project.
A City Built on Renters
The funding decision reflects a deliberate shift in strategy for a city where the numbers on homeownership are stark. Atlantic City's homeownership rate stood at just 30.3% in 2024, according to U.S. Census Bureau data compiled by Data USA, far below the national metropolitan average of 63.9%. The same trend appears in Jersey Digs' reporting, which notes that more than 69% of Atlantic City residents currently rent, a dynamic that limits generational wealth-building for many households in the coastal city.
For fiscal year 2026, Atlantic City received $1,260,328 in federal CDBG funds and $454,957.96 in HOME funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to the city. The $203,709 earmarked for Foya Development represents a sizable slice of that pool, and it's not the city's first attempt to steer CDBG dollars toward ownership rather than rentals. The program previously funded a similar effort at 34-38 North Texas Avenue, where nonprofit developer O.C.E.A.N. Inc. received $227,850 to build and sell three affordable townhomes to moderate-income residents — a project the city says was completed and fully sold.
The Developer Behind the Project
Foya Development is described, per a June 2025 release, as a partnership among the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, Atlantic City, and CEO Enterprises. Its founder, Adenah Bayoh, is an Irvington-based real estate developer who escaped civil war in Liberia as a 13-year-old refugee before immigrating to New Jersey, according to The State of Women, which reported she later became one of the youngest IHOP franchise owners in the country at age 27. Bayoh has since built a real estate portfolio that, per her own company materials, exceeds $250 million.
The South Carolina Avenue homes aren't Bayoh's only Atlantic City project. She is leading an 85-unit development at 916 Arctic Avenue known as The Sheila, an age-restricted affordable complex for residents older than 54, consisting of studios and one- and two-bedroom units and co-developed with Charles Oliver as a tribute to the late New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Sheila Y. Oliver. Atlantic City approved a 50-year PILOT agreement for that project in April 2025.
A Footprint Stretching Beyond the Shore
Bayoh's development work extends well beyond Atlantic City. Before her shore projects, she redeveloped the blighted 7-acre former Irvington General Hospital site into 280 Park Place, a 114-unit mixed-income residential complex. In Newark, Thriven Design has worked alongside Bayoh on the Southside View and Springview housing complexes, which together encompass over 100 affordable and multifamily units, as well as a 56-unit apartment complex at 722 Chancellor Avenue in Irvington.
Most recently, Bayoh is behind a proposal to redevelop an assemblage next to New Eden Baptist Church in Newark's West Side neighborhood, Jersey Digs reported in July. Newark's Central Planning Board approved that proposal at 682-700 South 12th Street and 683-689 South 11th Street on June 29, requiring 28 variances and seven design waivers. The Newark project will consist of a new five-story residential building that is 100% affordable for residents earning up to 60% of area median income, and will include ground-floor parking, amenities, and a playground.
Several details about the South Carolina Avenue homes remain unresolved. The expected sale prices for the six units haven't been disclosed, nor has a timeline for any homebuyer lottery or application process. It's also unclear whether prospective buyers will be able to combine other assistance, such as the Atlantic County Improvement Authority's Homebuyers Assistance Program, which offers up to $30,000 in deferred down-payment and closing cost aid to eligible first-time buyers purchasing homes up to $544,000, with the financing behind this project.
