BY KEVIN C. DILWORTH
Star-Ledger Staff

Construction of five single-family homes to be designated as affordable housing is expected to begin soon in Orange.

The three-story, three-bedroom residences, each averaging 1,900 square feet, are going up at 29 Oakwood Ave., 376 Hawthorne St., 504 Jefferson St., 133 N. Day St., and at a still-to-be-determined site.

One of the first buyers will be Lavonne Burke-Douse of South Orange, who was selected to purchase the home on Jefferson Street after completing a six-month home buyer's course.

"I'm real excited and looking forward to construction to begin on the property," Burke-Douse, a patient representative at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, said yesterday. She added that her husband, their 16 year-old son, and daughters, ages 3 and 6, are anxious as well.

"These are (going to be) the first single-family, detached houses to be built in Orange in a little more than 20 years," said E. Michael Taylor, acting director of the Essex County Division of Housing and Community Development, as he and other county and city officials joined with Burke-Douse at the North Day Street construction site.

"This is going to help increase the property values of every other property owner," Taylor said of the homes -- valued at $250,000 -- that will be sold for $165,000.

The nonprofit Housing and Neighborhood Services Inc. (HANDS) paid a nominal fee to gain ownership of the sites, which the city had obtained through foreclosure.

City Planning Director Marty Mayes said it has been at least 15 years since the last detached, single-family residences were constructed in the city. Most of the new construction has been attached residences, he said.

"The project that HANDS is doing is filling in vacant lots, on neighborhood streets where surrounding housing already exists," said Mayes. "HANDS is helping solidify entire blocks in the city. And all of this is being done in the spirit of working together."

The project, called Cornerstone Homes, is being built thanks to $240,000 in U.S. Housing and Urban Development money that Essex County is providing through its division of housing and community development, plus another $464,000 from the Local Initiatives Support Corp., a nonprofit organization in Newark.

"This is the crowning achievement of a partnership that began many years ago between Essex County, the city of Orange, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and HANDS," said Patrick Morrissey, HANDS' executive director. "It began with our combined efforts to rid the neighborhoods of Orange of eyesore properties.

Essex County Executive Joseph Di Vincenzo Jr. praised the revitalization effort.

"What we're doing today, we need to do more of," Di Vincenzo said. "This what we're here for, to be supportive, helpful. It's a good day for Essex County. It's a good day for Orange."

The other four buyers will be selected from among low- to moderate-income people who are first- time home buyers and complete the six-month course. For information on the Cornerstone Homes project, contact HANDS Inc. at (973) 678-3110.

Kevin C. Dilworth covers Orange. He may be reached at kdil worth@starledger.com or (973) 392-4143.