Build Baby Build

From RENJ:

Judge: State can continue rollout of affordable housing law, pending outcome of legal challenge

A judge has denied a request by some two dozen towns to halt the rollout of New Jersey’s new affordable housing law, in a move that seemingly allows state officials to move ahead even as the court prepares for additional arguments in the litigation.

In a ruling issued Thursday morning, Superior Court Judge Robert Lougy rejected the towns’ application for an order that would stay the new program and the accompanying guidelines from the Department of Community Affairs, pending final judgment. The court is now scheduled to hear oral arguments on Jan. 31 on a pending motion by the state and affordable housing advocates that seeks to dismiss the municipalities’ lawsuit altogether.

At issue is the high-profile law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in late March and the ensuing calculations by DCA, which identified a statewide deficit of more than 150,000 low- and moderate-income homes. The calculations, along with individual obligations for New Jersey’s 564 municipalities, were the focus of the lawsuit filed by the coalition in late October, with officials in Montvale leading the charge, arguing the new law imposes excessive mandates without fully considering local conditions and resources.

The framework applies to the fourth round of requirements under state Supreme Court’s landmark Mount Laurel doctrine that has guided New Jersey’s affordable housing policy for some five decades. Importantly, towns and cities have until Jan. 31 to adopt the numbers or come up with their own, while those that devise their own plan are subject to challenges from developers, affordable housing advocates and other stakeholders through the end of February.

In explaining his decision on Thursday, Lougy wrote that the municipalities that are challenging the law “fail to demonstrate a likelihood of success” based on their legal arguments, while noting that the matter “presents issues of public importance and the public interest weighs against a stay.” He also wrote in the 68-page order that the plaintiffs “fail to establish any basis to stay the Mount Laurel doctrine pending disposition of this matter.”

This entry was posted in Demographics, Economics, Housing Bubble, New Development, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics. Bookmark the permalink.

52 Responses to Build Baby Build

  1. Very Stable Genius says:

    Ah?

  2. Very Stable Genius says:

    frist adn secodn

  3. White Trash Eddie says:

    …with officials in Montvale leading the charge, arguing the new law imposes excessive mandates without fully considering local conditions and resources.

    You won’t need to go to Paterson for your P-Funk any more. The parking lot off of Kinderkamack Road will work just fine.

  4. Juice Box says:

    Wayne is just as bad if not worse than Montvale. On of the highest in need of low income housing.

    Wayne township Present need 162 units Future need 1,746 units..

    Here is the data…search for your town.

    https://www.nj.gov/dca/dlps/pdf/FourthRoundCalculation_Methodology.pdf

  5. Juice Box says:

    I also find ones like this interesting..

    Hardyston township Sussex County….. Future need 1,622 units.

    That is the middle of nowhere, literally nowhere up Rt 23 sandwiched between 1200 ft mountain peaks and lakes…Are they going to build low income housing like Favelas up the sides of Rt 23?

  6. 3b says:

    Juice: OMG, Bergen Co is going to become just like the Bronx!! Been hearing that for years, maybe it’s happening now.

  7. grim says:

    I haven’t looked into 4th round much yet, but I imagine there is a way to pay another town to build units that would satisfy the requirements, as was the case previously.

    That’s the money I’d follow.

  8. JUice Box says:

    Grim no longer…. the towns can no longer shift away the housing obligations and pay other towns like Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark to build etc. These were know as Regional Contribution Agreements (RCA’s). Those were eliminated by legislation and court rulings. The latest requirement are for municipalities to directly address their affordable housing obligations within their own borders.

    Here is the sortable data. Wayne NJ is #1

    Wayne township Passaic 162 1,746
    Hardyston township Sussex 22 1,622
    Paramus borough Bergen 254 1,523
    Secaucus town Hudson 25 1,282

    https://www.app.com/story/marketplace/real-estate/2025/01/03/nj-judge-rejects-towns-bid-stop-new-affordable-housing-law/77403697007/

  9. Juice Box says:

    Here is the timeline… RCAs which allowed towns to pay other towns to build to fulfill their housing obligations were eliminated in 2008.

    https://www.fairsharehousing.org/about/

    You are getting low income housing whether you like it or not. It’s only fair….

  10. Grim says:

    Maybe we’ll get backyard accessory units like Canada, or ability to add an accessory apartment in the basement.

  11. BRT says:

    it is happening. My friends in Bergen County have complained that the driving has become insanely aggressive. My last trip there, I can concur. It was no different than NYC. When the natives there are complaining about it, you know it’s changed.

  12. Juice Box says:

    3B – the expensive towns where there is really no land to build are going to have to build some high rise projects…

    Ridgewood – 427 units
    Millburn – 555 units
    Summit -345 units
    Glen Ridge – 178 units

    Meanwhile the cities?

    Trenton – 0 units
    Newark – 0 units
    Jersey City – 0 units
    Paterson – 0 units

  13. Grim says:

    178 in Glen Ridge – lol.

    You’d need to assemble properties and tear down structures to accommodate this.

    At some point you are forced to start trading commercial and industrial opportunities for residential. The tax implications are going to be staggering.

  14. Juice Box says:

    re: insanely aggressive driving.

    More like insanely driving while touching glass, and no concequences. PoPo were busy …..as in No where to be found.. Attorney General now has an investigation open apparently the Police decided to stop nobody for a long time. Citations for speeding, drunken driving, cellphone use and other moving violations plummeted by 81% across the state month to month compared with the year before according to a NY Times investigation. This was after they were punished for pulling over minority drivers, and now they want to take away police courtesy cards.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/08/nyregion/new-jersey-state-police-slowdown.html

    https://www.newhopefreepress.com/2025/01/03/comptroller-nj-state-police-gave-preferential-treatment-to-those-with-courtesy-cards/

  15. Very Stable Genius says:

    We require affordable housing because everyone wants to live in NJ

    Plenty of cheap land in maga states but nobody, including NJ rightwingers, want to live under GOP control. Oklahoma, Mississippi, Dakota, Arkansas. No NJ maga ain’t never gonna move there

  16. Very Stable Genius says:

    Florida bans porn.
    Can’t control magas sexual depravity

  17. RentL0rd says:

    Didn’t Grindr app crash during the last GOP summit?

    What’s next for FL? Ask for gender and only allow hetero p0rn?

  18. Phoenix says:

    Headline today: US Natural Gas and Heating Oil Prices Jump on Cold Snap Forecast.

    And shipping it to Europe for high profit margins.

  19. Very Stable Genius says:

    “Landman” show is a bit cheesy but entertaining

    Phoenix says:
    January 3, 2025 at 12:57 pm
    Headline today: US Natural Gas and Heating Oil Prices Jump on Cold Snap Forecast.

    And shipping it to Europe for high profit margins.

  20. grim says:

    I do think we’re going to see a lot more high-density/high-rise development on the highway corridors where it’s going to be more acceptable to stack units. We’re already seeing this in a big way, but limited a bit to that 4-6 story mark. But drive around the main corridors and you’ll see plenty of these, many that are surprisingly close to the highways.

    It’s going to be much easier to get towns to accept the height variances and taller structures, than sprawling low-rise multifamily.

  21. Very Stable Genius says:

    Build a couple of skyscrapers in Bell-Nokia’s headquarters.
    Price it a $1 million per bedroom.
    It would sellout. No problem

    grim says:
    January 3, 2025 at 1:31 pm
    I do think we’re going to see a lot more high-density/high-rise development on the highway corridors where it’s going to be more acceptable to stack units. We’re already seeing this in a big way, but limited a bit to that 4-6 story mark. But drive around the main corridors and you’ll see plenty of these, many that are surprisingly close to the highways.

    It’s going to be much easier to get towns to accept the height variances and taller structures, than sprawling low-rise multifamily.

  22. Libturd says:

    About 8 years ago, a developer purchased five homes on Baldwin Street, just east of Nicolo’s (the bread baker to many of the better restaurants in the area), and built a very large styrofoam complex in it’s place. They used the builder’s remedy rule (I wonder how much political favor was purchased to get that on the books) which is a legal tool in New Jersey that allows developers to rezone properties to build high-density housing in exchange for including affordable units. In this case, in exchange for THREE units, the developer made a bloody fortune putting up an out-of-scale for the area complex where perfectly normal homes previously existed. On the bright side, the area the building was constucted in was near our Mountainside Hospital, so it didn’t look THAT out of place. On the negative side, there is nothing stopping greedy developers from buying up your block, one home at a time, and replacing the homes with a huge, ugly cardboard and styrofoam-looking rectangular 100 unit condo building.

    Here’s an interesting read on how it was done here. https://www.glenridgenj.org/pdfs/StatusOfAffordableHousingLit.pdf

  23. Libturd says:

    Here is what they built:
    https://maps.app.goo.gl/9eayijDq5fdZwk3G8

    Here is what it used to look like:
    https://maps.app.goo.gl/Sf5Mu3D9yp3fi3GNA

    Remember, it could happen across the street from you, or behind you and there is absolutely nothing you can do about the negative impact it will have on your property value. Personally, I think ADU’s are a better solution. Again, there is no will to change the laws to allow them. Why? Well who is gonna grease the local mayor’s palm?

  24. grim says:

    In NJ, the ones usually doing the mayor greasing are usually the real estate brokers that represent the listings in new development, or more commonly, are also just friends or family of the mayor directly.

  25. Fast Eddie says:

    Doesn’t senior housing or assisted living construction cover the requirements for low income housing?

  26. chicagofinance says:

    Have you seen Jersey Ave, Coles Street, Newark Ave etc on the Hoboken/Jersey City border? WTF? Who would want to even live there…. no neighborhood….. ostensibly convenient, but actually a royal PIA at most times, where you waste 15 minutes just getting over there from whereever……

    grim says:
    January 3, 2025 at 1:31 pm
    I do think we’re going to see a lot more high-density/high-rise development on the highway corridors where it’s going to be more acceptable to stack units. We’re already seeing this in a big way, but limited a bit to that 4-6 story mark. But drive around the main corridors and you’ll see plenty of these, many that are surprisingly close to the highways.

    It’s going to be much easier to get towns to accept the height variances and taller structures, than sprawling low-rise multifamily.

  27. 1987 Condo says:

    In Cedar Grove we got sued by the COAH group until we caved so they could build 400 luxury apartment units with our share of affordable units. See land below clearcut, left of Reservoir…

    https://shorturl.at/ZD9NG

    Then, by April of last year (2024) supposedly the money dried up” and we are left with foundations with rebar:

    https://shorturl.at/7XBd0

  28. 3b says:

    Juice: There are approximately 2000 new apartments being built or approved to be built in Paramus, including in the Bergen Town Mall on Rt 4, and the Paramus Park Mall. The developers will be taking part of the Macy s parking lot to build the apartments in Paramus Park. I don’t know where they will put these new affordable units.

  29. njtownhomer says:

    Though the suit is valid and has merit, it is in big parts a reflection of Montvale mayor’s political ambitions. NJ is going to flip to GOP soon in 4 years or so, and these idiot rulings that exclude Jersey City, Hoboken and such in applying rules will backfire sooner or later.

  30. OC1 says:

    Remember, it could happen across the street from you, or behind you and there is absolutely nothing you can do about the negative impact it will have on your property value.

    I believe this is called “saying the quiet part out loud”.

    The objections to new housing are all about home owners wanting to maintain their “right” to make obscene profits by hoarding a finite resource (land).

  31. Fast Eddie says:

    The objections to new housing are all about home owners wanting to maintain their “right” to make obscene profits by hoarding a finite resource (land).

    Nah, it’s to avoid a quiet suburb from turning into the Tremont section or Spring Valley.

  32. 3b says:

    OC1: They want to protect their property value, but they also don’t want to live with blue collar workers who did not got to college, single mothers and minorities. And that’s Liberals as well as Conservatives.

  33. Libturd says:

    My only issue is privacy. At $21K a year, I should not have an apartment building blocking out the sun and people looking down at me in my Intex pool from the 6th floor of a megastructure when I live in a 100 year-old tudor.

    I could care less what color or income level my neighbors are. Actually, I prefer them to be blue collar over white collar.

    But I know I am in the minority.

    If this did happen, I would move to someplace quiet and empty. Like most of the Southwest.

  34. 3b says:

    Lib: Check your entitlement. That is what many liberal or woke folks would say.

  35. Phoenix says:

    You will like this one. Pure Jersey here, ritzy Mendham NJ.

    https://youtu.be/VgsEHnZtCE0?t=107

  36. BRT says:

    BERNIE MADOFF’S PONZI SCHEME VICTIMS HAVE NOW RECOVERED 94% OF THEIR LOSSES

    Wow, the Madoff victims outperformed Cathie Wood in the end

  37. Chicago says:

    “One of my problems with the younger generation is they have no idea, no perspective. Of course, if they’ve gone to elite universities, i.e., a—h— factories, they’ve been indoctrinated into this idea that they live in the worst country in the world at the worst time in history, when actually they live in, with all our flaws, still probably the best, with definitely indisputably the best time in history.”

    Bill Maher

  38. Chicago says:

    94% of the money they gave him, not the balances they thought they had.

    Also, giving Madoff $1M in 1990 and receiving $940,000 in 2024 still kind of appears to be a serious loss to me.

    I guess it is better than -100%

    BRT says:
    January 4, 2025 at 5:11 pm
    BERNIE MADOFF’S PONZI SCHEME VICTIMS HAVE NOW RECOVERED 94% OF THEIR LOSSES

    Wow, the Madoff victims outperformed Cathie Wood in the end

  39. Chicago says:

    The Republicans, he believes, will run rings around the Democratic Party for as long as the latter fails to “unconvince itself that it is this misunderstood vehicle for what people really want. They often say, when they lose elections, ‘We didn’t get our message out.’ Yes you did. They just didn’t like it. You got it out loud and clear.”

    Bill Maher

  40. Juice Box says:

    Lol – if you need a laugh.

    Hillary Clinton receiving the Medal of Freedom

    https://x.com/DrClownPhD/status/1875628086517264693

  41. OC1 says:

    3b/Lib

    IMO, people who oppose new housing in order to preserve their neighborhoods and protect their property values are no different than those Teamsters who refuse to allow the ports to automate.

    They want to keep things as exactly as they are, no matter the cost to everybody else.

  42. Phoenix says:

    Maher. Another f’n prune that just doesn’t croak already. Old goat celebrity who hasn’t gotten his hands dirty except when he forgets to reload the toilet paper roll.

    when actually they live in, with all our flaws, still probably the best, with definitely indisputably the best time in history.”

    Bill Maher

  43. Fast Eddie says:

    CONGESTION PRICING IN MANHATTAN IS HERE! YAY!!

    $9 between the hours of 5:00 AM and 9:00 PM anywhere below 60th street, Monday through Friday. Weekend hours start at 9:00 AM No EZPass? You pay more!

  44. Juice Box says:

    Here is a solution to the affordable housing crisis.

    Costco is building apartments above its stores to address the affordable housing crisis, starting early this year.

    Walking downstairs and getting a $1.50 hot dog gives new meaning to “affordable walkability.”

    It includes free membership, a rooftop pool, fitness area, gardens/ courtyards, and a community space.

    Los Angeles is the first residential complex with 800 apartments and a built-in store.

    Would you live above a Costco?

    https://www.wsj.com/real-estate/is-living-on-top-of-a-costco-the-answer-to-the-affordable-housing-crisis-ed3e8bf3

  45. RentL0rd says:

    Welcome to Putin’s America.

    The French have more guts when it comes to cartoons.

    Washington Post cartoonist quits after drawing with Trump rejected
    https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/04/washington-post-cartoonist-quits-after-drawing-of-bezos-other-billionaires-with-trump-rejected.html?__source=iosappshare%7Ccom.google.chrome.ios.OpenExtension

  46. 3b says:

    Juice: Who knew! Bill Maher may want to reconsider his comments about this being the best time to live in, as far as the young people at least.

  47. Very Stable Genius says:

    No congestion pricing in Maga controlled states.
    Because nobody wants to live there.

    Fast Eddie says:
    January 5, 2025 at 8:17 am
    CONGESTION PRICING IN MANHATTAN IS HERE! YAY!!

    $9 between the hours of 5:00 AM and 9:00 PM anywhere below 60th street, Monday through Friday. Weekend hours start at 9:00 AM No EZPass? You pay more!

  48. Hold my beer says:

    Question for the board on hot water heater options.

    We’re going to replace both electric hot water heaters.

    Choice is $3,600 for 2 a o smith 50 gallon tanks. This is a no for us

    $4,800 for a o smith heat pump. That has a 30% tax rebate and a 6 year warranty. Would cost around 3k and is more energy efficient then tankless.

    $4,800 for essency tankless with a 20 year warranty and it does not need annual maintenance unlike a lot of tankless ones. Would cost less then half what traditional tanks to use but costs more than heat pump hot water heater. It’s also only been in the US for 2 years. It’s a French company that’s been around for 15 years.

    All costs include permit, delivery, all installation costs and hauling away old units.

    The tankless runs on 240 so no need to upgrade electrical

  49. RentL0rd says:

    Beer – I would base the decision on convenience and comfort in the long run over costs.

    Especially if you have multiple family members – assume they are spoilt and take long showers.

    It’s a home not an investment.

    2 cents.

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