A Florida-Style Affordable Housing Law Could Unlock Stagnant Transit Sites in New Jersey

Walk along MLK Drive in Newark or Main Street in East Orange, and you’ll see the same pattern repeating itself: one-story commercial strips, shallow parking lots, and vacant parcels sitting atop some of the best transit infrastructure in the country. Newark Penn Station connects directly to Amtrak, PATH, and both NJ Transit rail and light rail. East Orange has two Morris and Essex Line stations—East Orange and Brick Church—that run straight into Newark and New York. Yet despite this connectivity, the surrounding corridors remain dramatically underbuilt relative to their potential.

A Florida-style Live Local Act affordable housing law would change that. By pairing by-right approvals for mixed-income housing on commercial land with minimum development capacity, mandatory parking reductions near transit, and a uniform property-tax tool for income-restricted units, New Jersey could make these corridors viable for small and mid-sized developers—not just a handful of large players with the resources to negotiate rezonings parcel by parcel. A state law would make these requirements uniform statewide and not subject to the whims of bad-acting politicians.

Before and After: Transit Walksheds in Newark and East Orange

To visualize the impact, imagine two simple maps—each showing a 10-minute walkshed (roughly a half-mile radius) around key NJ Transit stations.

Current Conditions: Newark Penn Station (Before)
One-story commercial buildings cluster near Broad Street and McCarter Highway. Large surface parking lots dominate the station area. Many parcels are underutilized or vacant, despite direct service to Amtrak, PATH, and multiple rail and bus lines. Any serious redevelopment currently requires lengthy zoning changes or site-plan amendments.

With Reform: Newark Penn Station (After)
Mixed-use, mid-rise buildings—four to seven stories—line the streets around the station. Ground floors contain neighborhood retail and services, while upper floors combine market-rate and income-restricted housing secured for 30 years. Projects are administratively approved if they meet objective standards—no variances or rezonings required. Parking minimums are reduced or eliminated, reflecting proximity to transit.

Current Conditions: East Orange and Brick Church (Before)
Main Street and Freeway Drive are dominated by low-intensity uses, older retail pads, and excess parking. Despite strong commuter rail access, parcels remain locked in outdated commercial zoning with density caps and conventional parking mandates. Developers must seek rezonings to build mixed-use housing, creating uncertainty and expense.

With Reform: East Orange and Brick Church (After)
Shallow commercial parcels become viable for four- to seven-story mixed-use infill. Forty percent of units are income-restricted for at least 30 years, unlocking by-right status. Density and FAR minimums match the city’s highest allowed, ensuring projects can pencil without case-by-case negotiations. Parking requirements drop automatically near stations, cutting the cost of structured parking. Approvals shift from multi-year rezoning battles to straightforward administrative reviews.

How the Florida Live Local Act Works — and Why It Fits Newark and East Orange

By-right mixed use on commercial land with affordability
Florida requires cities to allow mixed-use or multifamily development by right on commercially or industrially zoned parcels if at least 40 percent of the units are income-restricted for 30 years. No separate zoning or land-use changes are required for use, density, or height when projects meet objective standards. For Newark and East Orange, this means corridors like Broad Street and Main Street could transition from strip retail to mixed-use housing quickly and predictably.

Minimum development capacity
Florida prohibits localities from capping density below the highest already allowed in their jurisdiction and sets a floor of at least 150 percent of the highest local floor area ratio. In East Orange, this could match or even exceed the scale of the Brick Church redevelopment. In Newark, it would align station-area projects with downtown densities without requiring individual negotiations.

Parking reform near transit
Florida mandates at least a 20 percent reduction in parking near major transit hubs, and full elimination of minimums inside designated transit-oriented districts. Newark Penn Station and Brick Church easily qualify. Structured parking is one of the largest cost drivers in mid-rise development; reducing or eliminating minimums can make the difference between feasible and infeasible.

A uniform property-tax tool for restricted units
Florida introduced a clear, statewide ad valorem exemption for the improvement value of newly constructed income-restricted units, certified by the housing agency. This baseline exemption reduces operating costs and complements—rather than replaces—negotiated PILOT agreements. For smaller Newark or East Orange infill projects, it would allow deals to close without complex, site-specific tax negotiations.

Immediate Impacts if New Jersey Adopted This Model

• Unlocking commercial strips near transit: Main Street in East Orange and Broad Street in Newark would become natural targets for mixed-income infill, not rezoning battles.

• Shorter timelines, lower risk: Administrative approvals for qualifying projects remove years of uncertainty and legal fees, allowing smaller firms to participate.

• More housing where infrastructure already exists: Both cities have stations, buses, and established urban grids. A Florida-style statute directs growth to these places without additional public infrastructure costs.

• Guaranteed affordability: The 40 percent requirement locks in long-term affordability while allowing market-rate units to support mixed-income development.

Why Newark and East Orange Are Ideal Test Cases

Newark and East Orange already have high-frequency rail, historic urban grids, and redevelopment momentum. Brick Church Station’s major redevelopment demonstrates what’s possible, but that project required complex negotiations and unique financing. A Florida-style law would make similar projects routine, not one-off exceptions. Newark’s TOD overlays show strong intent, but administrative approvals and parking reform would allow those overlays to scale.

In both cities, corridors like MLK Drive, Broad Street, Main Street, and Freeway Drive already have the bones for walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods. The policy change simply clears the path.

Direction From Here

Newark and East Orange do not need new infrastructure to add thousands of mixed-income homes and active ground floors near transit—they need predictable rules. Florida has shown that statewide by-right entitlements for mixed-income housing on commercial land, paired with parking reform and a simple tax tool, can unlock this potential rapidly. If New Jersey applied the same framework here, these corridors would be among the first to benefit.

All legal mechanics referenced above are drawn from Florida Statutes §§125.01055, 166.04151, 196.1978, and 196.1979 (as amended in 2024) and applied hypothetically to Newark and East Orange transit corridors.