Page 20 - RE-NJ

18 MARCH 2026
growing segment of home
improvement contractors that,
following new legislation, are
now required to register with the
Division of Consumer Affairs and
complete continuing education
requirements.
“Using any kind of new technology
to create those efficiencies from the
permitting side
of things and
just noticing
all that is a
tremendous
help to our
entire industry
and reducing
the cost of
Christopher Amato
housing,” said
Amato, CEO and president of Wall-
based CMM Custom Homes.
In the meantime, homebuilders
and their professionals are
benefiting from the rollout of
A4, the affordable housing law
signed by Murphy in March 2024.
The measure, which had the
backing of NJBA and other major
business groups, required the state
Department of Community Affairs
to calculate new obligations for
municipalities and set deadlines for
them to reach zoning agreements
with developers and advocates,
while creating a streamlined
mediation process overseen by the
state.
“What we advocated strongly for
— and I think the policymakers
heard us — is that we needed an
efficient process so we didn’t spend
five years in litigation like we did
during the third round,” Kolakowski
said, referring to the previous phase
under the state’s Fair Housing Act.
“And I think, from that perspective,
the law is an overwhelming
success.”
He added that “it probably exceeded
everybody’s expectations” by
the fact that more than 400
municipalities are poised to have
affordable housing plans in place
by the statutory deadline, having
opted to participate in the dispute
resolution process.
“Is it perfect? No, there are some
things that we don’t like as an
industry,” Kolakowski said. “But
from a process standpoint, it was
well structured and it’s going
to materialize in units being
constructed rather than spending
time in court.”
A FAMILIAR FACE
Deb Tantleff’s newest role in the
housing industry is anything but
new.
Fresh off two terms as chair
of the New Jersey Builders
Association, the highly respected
developer has taken the reins of
the influential Builders Political
Action Committee. And while
the organizations are distinct
and functionally different,
it’s undoubtedly a natural
transition to a role that hinges
on relationships in Trenton and
on raising funds to support pro-
housing candidates.
Consider that Tantleff, having
built for-sale and rental
properties throughout the state,
has worked with lawmakers
in many of New Jersey’s 40
legislative districts. Those
relationships became even more
vital during her years as an NJBA
officer and as the first person
to chair the organization for
two years, roles that centered
There is more work to do, he
conceded, citing estimates that
New Jersey still has an unmet need
of some 200,000 deed-restricted
units for low- and moderate-
income residents. Filling that gap
will largely hinge on constructing
inclusionary projects with market-
rate units, he said, meaning the
state needs hundreds of thousands
of new homes “if we’re going
to correct our supply-demand
imbalance that is really the primary
driver of the high price points that
you see here in New Jersey.”
“So we’ve got to figure out a plan,
and I think that’s identified in the
governor’s transition report to
come up in a ‘whole government
approach,’ because we need to
figure out where those units are
going to go, we’re going to need
to have infrastructure in place to
support those units.”
The road ahead for another key
policy issue is not nearly as clear.
Not as of early March, when NJBA
and the New Jersey Business
& Industry Association filed an
appeal to block adoption of the so-
called Resilient Environments and
Landscapes or REAL rules. NJBA
on advocacy and raising the
industry’s profile.
“Part of that was the brand
recognition of the association,
part of that was my … approach
as a developer and understanding
the importance of those
legislative relationships,” said
Tantleff, founding principal of
Jersey City-based TANTUM. “So
understanding those political
nuances is
something
that I’ve been
intimately
involved with
through my
work as chair
of NJBA.”
Deb Tantleff
Tantleff, who
succeeds Iron Ore Properties’
Josh Mann as BPAC’s chair,
has already logged years of
service as a trustee with the
political fundraising arm and
recently served as its vice chair.
Importantly, she spearheaded
the launch a decade ago of
BPAC’s Summer Soiree, now the
has spent years lobbying against
the program — which would vastly
expand flood-risk areas and raise
the required elevations for new
development and major renovations
in those regions — arguing it would
stifle development throughout much
of the state, devalue property and
compound the affordability crisis.
The regulation is “still our top
concern here in the state (and) has
been for years,” Kolakowski said.
He noted that the Department of
Environmental Protection adopted
the rules on Murphy’s last day
in office, on Jan. 20, providing a
six-month grace period that NJBA
suggested is all but useless in a state
with so many jurisdictions.
“The uncertainty across the board
in the industry and in the towns is
sending a lot of people in circles,”
Amato said. Interpretation of the
rule varies from municipality to
municipality, he added, while many
towns and developers are in a
holding pattern.
The coalition opposing REAL also
includes NAIOP New Jersey, New
Jersey Realtors, organized labor and
mayors from many coastal towns
and other impacted municipalities.
organization’s top fundraiser
and a can’t-miss annual event for
lawmakers from both parties.
“We’re still recovering from the
Great Recession, but we’ve been
on a growth trajectory for the
last 10 years,” NJBA CEO Jeff
Kolakowski said. “And that’s
largely due to Deb’s leadership
and influence — and her ability
to bring new people into the
fold, expand the profile of the
PAC and make people appreciate
how important it is to make sure
the industry has pro-housing
advocates in office.”
All of which has allowed the
builders association and its
affiliates to “be more on offense,
as opposed to defense when it
comes to policy,” Tantleff said,
adding: “We are being sought out
for our opinion and engagement
on housing issues, as opposed to
always having to be reactionary
to a pending bill that might have
very detrimental impacts on the
industry.”
Kolakowski also pointed to a new
bipartisan resolution sponsored
and introduced by state Senate
President Nick Scutari, which
threatens to invalidate the rule
proposal for being inconsistent with
legislative intent.
“There has been a large outcry of
opposition to this over-the-top rule
proposal,” Kolakowski said. NJBA
has also urged Sherrill to put a
pause on REAL as she did with all
other regulations under Executive
Order 7, “so that there could be a
more detailed analysis about the
true impacts of this rule proposal,
not only on housing production here
in the state, but the state’s overall
economic growth.”
Those issues and many others will
be front and center when thousands
descend on Atlantic City for this
year’s ABC, the largest of its kind in
the Northeast. And the response to
this year’s convention reflects both
the strength of the industry and the
urgency of the moment, NJBA said,
noting that it expects significant
growth in attendance and that the
expanded exhibit floor sold out in
record time, with more than 230
exhibits confirmed. RE