Page 18 - RE-NJ

16 JANUARY 2026
Chris Erb Stephen Santola Stephen Hoyt
Joseph DeMarco John Inglesino Jason Chmura
A CHANGING LANDSCAPE
Development leaders expect offi ce-to-residential
conversions in New Jersey to slow, be reimagined
By Rosa Cirianni
Some veteran real estate experts
are predicting “multifamily
fatigue” in the Garden State as
towns deal with the latest round of
state-mandated affordable housing
obligations, potentially reshaping
the state’s development scene and
the pipeline of residential projects.
That was a key takeaway in early
December at an event hosted by
Real Estate NJ, where a panel
discussed how local governments
are complying with a law meant
to ease the shortage of low- and
moderate-income homes. Much of
that has centered on redeveloping
vacant suburban offi ce parks: As
of August 2025, the state had 141
completed or planned offi ce-to-
residential or offi ce-to-industrial
projects, according to data from
Avison Young that was shared during
the program, including 109 that
have either fi nished or are under
construction and 32 others that are
proposed.
“It would have been a slow, painful
process but for the affordable
housing rounds that we’ve just come
through,” said Stephen Santola,
executive vice president and general
counsel for Woodmont Properties of
Fairfi eld, noting that the mandates
and the need for development sites
forced many towns to look at their
aging offi ce stock. “So the stars kind
of aligned in 141 instances — some
bigger than others.”
However, he added: “I think once
the ‘fourth round’ is over … mayors
are going to shut it down for a while.
There’s a lot of multifamily fatigue
across the state on the political
end.”
Santola, a former Livingston mayor,
and fi ve other panelists discussed
the state Department of Community
Affairs’ review that has occurred
every decade since New Jersey’s
Fair Housing Act of 1985. That
followed the state Supreme Court’s
landmark Mount Laurel case,
which constitutionally requires
every New Jersey municipality to
deliver affordable housing with the
overall aim of eliminating economic
and racial segregation through
exclusionary zoning.
In 2024, under Gov. Phil Murphy, the
state beefed up the law by requiring