Jacquelyn Suárez
By Joshua Burd
It didn’t take long for Jacquelyn Suárez, the head of the state’s Department of Community Affairs, to strike a chord with the crowd on hand for the New Jersey Apartment Association’s Conference & Expo in Atlantic City. That came by way of a tribute to the late Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, her predecessor at the agency, who had earned the respect of leaders within the multifamily industry during her decades of public service.
Suárez was also quick to note that, for Oliver, the feeling was mutual when it came to the NJAA.
“She was a champion for affordable housing, for the people of New Jersey and for ensuring that access to government resources is fair and equitable — something that the Department of Community Affairs is charged with,” she said Tuesday during remarks at the Atlantic City Convention Center. “During her time as the DCA commissioner, the LG often noted that NJAA members are what she called ‘the good actors’ in this space who trained their staff, worked to comply with the laws and regulations and worked to maintain their properties.”
Suárez, who was confirmed as commissioner just a day earlier, provided the opening keynote as NJAA kicked off the multiday event that will feature networking, education and a sprawling exhibitor floor. The program is slated to draw more than 1,700 apartment owners, operators and service providers, many of whom were on hand Tuesday afternoon as the DCA chief pledged to continue the agency’s strong working relationship with the influential trade association, as it looks to expand housing opportunities across New Jersey.
That includes implementing the newly signed law to establish the latest phase of affordable housing requirements for municipalities, which the state expects to release this fall. But it also means building on past successes such as the 2019 bill that created a more flexible inspection system for apartment owners, creating a cyclical or tiered schedule that becomes more or less frequent depending on how quickly a landlord addresses any violations.
“The whole intent behind that was that we wanted to reward the good property owners, the good landlords, and we wanted to make sure that we were going to provide additional oversight to those who weren’t the good actors across the state of New Jersey that thought that it was OK for their residents to live in slum-like conditions,” Suárez said. “So we endeavored to figure out what that was going to look like.”
It was a clear product of collaboration between DCA and the NJAA, said Suárez, who is a longtime member of Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration and is no stranger to the agency. A lawyer by trade, she has served as both director of the Division of Local Government Services and chair of the state’s Local Finance Board since January 2021, while she was previously a legislative liaison at the department, making her a key figure when it came to new bills and someone who spearheaded the implementation of legislation, among other jobs.
That made Suárez a well-regarded pick to succeed Oliver, who died unexpectedly last August, at the helm of an agency whose purview includes affordable housing, construction permitting and municipal budgets.
“NJAA was proud to have Commissioner Suárez at our event a day after she was confirmed by the state Senate,” said David Brogan, NJAA’s executive director. “We have always had a strong working relationship with DCA given that the department is intrinsically involved in so many facets of our industry. Commissioner Suárez has a long history of state service and her depth of knowledge on housing issues is extremely impressive. NJAA believes she is an excellent choice as DCA commissioner, and we look forward to working together on key issues that impact the multifamily housing industry in New Jersey.”
Suárez detailed other steps the department will take to “continue the upward momentum that we’ve been generating in the housing space.” That includes improvements to existing processes, such as digitalizing the work of the Bureau of Housing Inspection, as well as continued use of the state’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund. She noted that, since February 2020, DCA has allocated more than $81 million under the fund to support 32 projects that have produced or will produce 767 additional affordable housing units across the state.
“In this year alone, we’re experiencing a significant increase in the number of applications from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund dollars,” she said. She added that the agency was anticipating some 55 additional applications that are currently in process, with the potential to produce another 600 units with a combined investment of nearly $50 million.
Suárez detailed several other initiatives, programs and pending legislation that would:
- Help lower-income renters become homebuyers
- Allow lower-income residents to rehabilitate existing homes
- Create or rehab accessory dwelling units on existing residential properties
- Expand housing vouchers for low-income veteran households and homeless or at-risk veterans
- Continue assistance and financing for new development through the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Agency, which has more than 125 projects in its pipeline that would create nearly 11,000 new units
- Expand eviction and homelessness prevention
- Create an apprenticeship program for construction code inspectors
“As we continue to work together, I want to encourage the New Jersey Apartment Association to reach out as they always have,” Suárez said. “It’s the only way that we’re going to understand exactly … from the boots on the ground how our programs and projects are being implemented and how it’s really working in the real world.
“So we’re always willing to listen to suggestions, always looking to partner, and I would encourage you to all continue to help us make sure that New Jerseyans can all find a place that not only can they, but want to call home in our state.”
