Councilman Ramos Celebrates Court Victory for Affordable Housing in Hoboken, Calls on Developers to Drop Appeals and Comply

Ramos: “Enough is Enough, Hoboken Needs This Affordable Housing Now!”

HOBOKEN, NJ — Fourth Ward Councilman and Mayoral candidate Ruben Ramos is calling on a group of city developers to comply with a new ruling in Hoboken’s long-running legal battle over affordable housing and drop any plans to appeal. The New Jersey State Superior Court ruled in the city’s favor last week, saying that four uptown properties that had challenged the city’s Inclusionary Zoning law must now finally set aside 10% of their units as affordable housing. The ruling also bars the landlords from leasing any additional market rate units after September 1 until the affordable housing units are occupied. This will mean 56 new affordable housing units will be made available to lower income residents, a major win for affordable housing in Hoboken.

“With rents and housing prices continuing to rise, the middle class is being hollowed out in Hoboken and the only way to stop that is to provide more affordable housing,” said Councilman Ramos. “This legal battle has gone on for over ten years, and enough is enough — it’s time for the developers to respect Hoboken’s inclusionary zoning ordinance and provide these affordable housing units now, with no more delays or legal games. I want to thank Fair Share Housing Center for their tremendous work in winning this case and  our local housing advocates led by Cheryl Fallick and the Hoboken Fair Housing Association for staying on top of this case and always fighting to make Hoboken more affordable for middle- and lower-income residents. “

The court ruling concerns three properties of the four that were originally fighting to avoid providing the required 10% affordable housing in uptown Hoboken. The one property that previously offered an accepted settlement with the City is Advance at Hoboken LLC. The remaining three properties that continue to fight to avoid providing the required affordable units are:  Artisan Hoboken Apartments LLC, 1415 Park Ave, LLC and BIT Investment Sixty-One, LLC, 9th Monroe LLC and New Jersey Casket Company, Inc. The property owners had challenged the city’s Inclusionary Zoning ordinance, which requires that 10% of units be designated as affordable housing, and had refused to comply with earlier court rulings that upheld the city ordinance. Fair Share Housing Center, along with the City of Hoboken  have been fighting this case in the courts for years and have now won a major victory that will mean more much-needed affordable housing in Hoboken.

“Hoboken residents have been waiting for over 13 years for these much-needed affordable units. It’s a tremendous and welcome win for renters and working families who will have an opportunity to secure an affordable home which may mean the difference between staying in Hoboken or being displaced.”  said Cheryl Fallick.  “Councilman Ramos and I both want to see these affordable housing units opened without further delay, and I echo his call for developers to stop using legal tactics to stall progress.”