felsonj OP t1_j7e10ev wrote on February 6, 2023 at 2:33 AM

Reply to comment by recnilcram in Arc Tower on the agenda at tomorrow's Central Planning Board meeting on Zoom, February 6 @ 6pm by felsonj

Hello, I thought Hochul was advocating for more than this, such as lifting FAR caps and changing rules to encourage office to residential conversions. Regarding Jersey City, my understanding was that Fulop has made it much easier to build in JC. Yes prices have increased but likely would have increased that much more without all the development. Also I think it’s as much about increasing utility as reducing prices. More development has meant more people get to enjoy downtown JC.

I say this as someone who was basically priced out of much of downtown JC.

If I was priced out of downtown Newark after the place exploded with development and became that much more desirable, I would still be happy with the outcome.

recnilcram t1_j7e670d wrote on February 6, 2023 at 3:15 AM

Interesting about Hochul, I'll need to read up more. A similar law died in committee in NJ that would allow 50%+vacant office and commercial complexes to be converted to multifamily. Nevertheless, NY is decades late to the party.

I'm certainly a fan of Fulop and he's done great work over there. My understanding is that much of the development has been via redevelopment (i.e. through the Local Housing and Redevelopment Law), which is a distinct statute from the Municipal Land Use Law that typical zoning operates under. The redevelopment law gives the City much more power over what is developed in areas deemed "in need of redevelopment," and can include an affordable-housing set-aside.

That said, JC was late to the main component through which all NJ towns require affordable housing: adopting a city-wide set-aside ordinance where any new development with 5+ residential units must set aside a portion as deed-restricted affordable (often 15% or 20%). I was at an industry event 2 summers ago, and the hosts work closely with Elliot Spitzer (infamous former NYC mayor and real estate developer). He gave the key-note address and explicitly said he prefers working in JC over NYC because JC doesn't require him to allocate for affordable housing.

Regarding the pricing, it's an imperfect indicator that shows both good and bad outcomes. The blend of pandemic migrations, changing preferences, taxes and fees, construction costs, and the intended market for the housing stock all have an effect, among many other things.