Government & Public Policy
Murphy signs landmark affordable housing bill, creating new framework for development

Gov. Phil Murphy has signed a landmark bill to revamp how New Jersey calculates and enforces each town’s obligations for affordable housing, setting a path for a new phase of residential development across the state under the Mount Laurel doctrine.

Government & Public Policy
Bill to create new affordable housing framework clears state Senate, heads to Murphy’s desk

The next chapter of affordable housing in New Jersey is now in Gov. Phil Murphy’s hands, following the state Senate’s passage of a bill to revamp how officials calculate and enforce each town’s obligations under the landmark Mount Laurel doctrine.

Government & Public Policy
Assembly passes bill to disband COAH, recast blueprint for affordable housing obligations

The state Assembly has passed a bill that would revamp how New Jersey calculates each town’s affordable housing obligations, seeking to streamline a process that had languished in recent decades before being taken over by the state judiciary.

Guest Columns
Addressing affordable housing: Government leaders must adapt

After multiple Supreme Court decisions over 50 years, the creation of the Council on Affordable Housing and its subsequent power stripping by the Supreme Court in 2015, over 60,000 units of affordable housing have been created. So, does that mean that the battle over affordable housing in New Jersey is over? Nothing could be further from the truth.

Guest Columns
The next chapter in affordable housing in New Jersey

Since 2015, more than 280 towns in New Jersey have signed settlement agreements for their affordable housing obligations, while a judge has determined the statewide need to be about 155,000 units and experts project that about 50,000 of those will be created by 2025. Frankly, the court process is way too far down the road to try and move it back to the Council on Affordable Housing or another state agency. But that is not to say there are not some issues worth discussing as we move forward.

Government & Public Policy
Progress, with continued uncertainty: Questions remain as affordable housing moves forward in New Jersey, stakeholders say

The state’s long-running battle over affordable housing policy is still rife with uncertainty and unanswered questions, stakeholders say, even for the roughly 200 towns that have reached settlements on how they will zone for new development.

Editor’s Note
Life after COAH

Covering real estate had never crossed my mind when I came out of school and started as a metro reporter in Middlesex County. But it wasn’t long before I found myself at council meetings and planning board hearings, listening to developers make their pitch to a town.

Government & Public Policy
Experts dissect, gauge impact of affordable housing ruling

A ruling by the state Supreme Court on Wednesday is being hailed as a victory for affordable housing advocates and developers, but reaction from other experts and stakeholders was mixed, as they worked to understand what the decision would mean going forward.

Government & Public Policy
Rutgers conference to shine a light on affordable housing stalemate — and solutions

As the state Supreme Court weighs the issue of affordable housing, stakeholders will gather later this month to shed light on the issue and tackle one of New Jersey’s most divisive and seemingly unsolvable public policy questions of the past three decades.