Better Blocks NJ

Any regulatory "tax" on development is going to create dead weight lose due to distortionary effects of the tax. Funded programs reduce that distortion through PILOT agreements, for example.

Funded IZOs and voluntary programs produce more housing, including affordable housing, than unfunded mandatory IZOs.

This intuitively makes sense because a funded IZO makes up for the tax that an IZO imposes on development. And a voluntary program provides incentives to builders who make the deal.

You are responding to the wrong post and missing the other post that the paper cites to about funded and voluntary IZOs.

There are policies that allow for housing to be built in adverse conditions and then there are unfunded affordable housing mandates that get very little housing build in even ideal conditions.

Policies that get more housing built are clearly better than one that doesn't.

From the NJ Monitor newsletter on March 4, 2026: "Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced Tuesday that the state is trimming its plans for a new Newark Bay Bridge, plans that had been opposed by environmentalists and residents of Newark and Hudson County. The bridge connects Newark and Bayonne and carries motorists to and from the Holland Tunnel on the Turnpike extension. Sherrill’s predecessor had proposed replacing the aging, four-lane bridge with two spans totaling eight lanes. Sherrill’s announcement says it will remain four lanes with shoulders."

No article but according to Terrence McDonald, the Newark Bay Bridge widening is ded. It'll remain 4 lanes.

cc @turnpiketrap.org

Markets that don’t have unfunded IZOs continue to build despite the same adverse conditions so it seems we know unfunded IZOs are a strategy that is not particularly good at fixing any problem unless conditions are “just right” and housing costs are so high that the cross-subsidy covers. Not ideal.

Cite: realestatecenter.wertheim.fsu.edu/sites/g/file...

Lebret et al show the opposite — that voluntary programs build more income-restricted affordable housing at lower-cost to tax payers than funded mandatory in New York.

And funded mandatory and voluntary both build more housing than unfunded.

This intuitively makes sense because unfunded is a tax.

We gave examples from other unfunded IZOs and unfunded IZOs have this problem.

It is not a robust housing policy — and should not be adopted — if it cannot stand up to dynamic market conditions like interest rate and material cost changes.

Other policies do; those are better.

We will have more on better alternatives to an unfunded IZO in the coming weeks. First looking at a funded IZO and the voluntary, incentive-based affordable housing policies.

We also specifically look at Cambridge in our analysis. Zoning does not fix all the problems. Even with this massive citywide upzoning, Cambridge hopes to produce just 4,880 units over the next 15 years. That is about 325 units per year.

That is not a successful housing policy.

We can use a rough difference-in-differences analysis in just the Jersey City market.

Downtown we implemented a 15% mandatory IZO. It has build zero affordable housing units after four years.

Another neighborhood, Journal Square, uses bonus incentives and has hundreds of units under development.

We will be talking more about funded IZOs and voluntary programs in the coming weeks.

Many of these cities had IZO policies predating the inflationary environment following COVID-19.

It seems to be a flawed policy, if it cannot respond to changes in material costs and interest rates. Places that did not have unfunded IZOs continued to build and seen rents subsequently fall.

Also, to unlock Aspire funds, you need to issue a PILOT first so Newark was particularly good at doing this to get more state aid for some of its developments.

Jersey City only has two such projects but, then again, we have not issued many PILOTs in Jersey City over the past 9 years.

We would chalk it up to a combination of factors: 1) affordable housing requirements mean project finances need to be stabilized; 2) really costly regulatory environment in the New York-Newark-Jersey City MSA; and 3) projects are financed based on comps and some places haven't built in a while.

We should probably take a a detour and do a quick primer on PILOT agreements before moving on to funded IZOs.

Jersey City builds a lot without PILOT agreements! The city only issued 7 in the past 9 years and most (save Pompidou) to support affordable housing.

What we don't do is build much affordable housing downtown anymore due to the 15% unfunded IZO. Those projects require a PILOT.

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Does Unfunded Inclusionary Zoning Produce Affordable Housing at Scale? Part IV in our Housing Policy Series

The post discusses the challenges of…

https://betterblocksnj.org/2026/03/03/does-unfunded-inclusionary-zoning-produce-affordable-housing-at-scale-part-iv-in-our-housing-policy-series/

Other jurisdictions have passed bird-safe glass ordinances that are much more narrowly tailored than what Jersey City is contemplating.

Thank you for writing a on this topic.

We would ask that other subject-matter experts in the housing development and affordable housing space reach out to the Jersey City Council to inform them of their experience around costs in a jurisdiction with a bird-safe materials ordinance.

We got the city council to recognize the bird-glass ordinance has costs.

They amended to 1) lower height to 85 ft; 2) exempt projects that don’t require a site plan; and 3) exempt 100% affordable housing.

More affordable housing builders should reach out to educate council on ordinance costs.

It's going to be a busy night at the Jersey City Council.

Support Affordable Housing at 150 Bay Street: Act Now! Support affordable housing in Jersey City! Urge council members to back the 150-156 Bay Street project for 1,000 homes near transit.

Reiterating our call to action to support more housing (including 150 income-restricted affordable units) near transit in downtown Jersey City.

It is essential the city council know the public wants more housing near transit downtown. Please help.

betterblocksnj.org/2026/02/13/c...

Jersey City Council Contact Information Jersey City Council Contact Information Can copy and paste this into an email to email the entire council and all aides: DRidley@jcnj.org, jbrooks@jcnj.org, TZuppa@jcnj.org, JEphros@jcnj.org, ELittle...

Please feel free to send your concerns about this ordinance to the Jersey City Council, especially as slower growth in Jersey City means more displacement and, eventually, greater environmental impacts elsewhere.

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

JC Birds misleads on costs, impacts of bird-safe materials Better Blocks advocates for a better bird-safe ordinance to reduce bird strikes in Jersey City without burdening new construction with higher costs

Which leads us to our latest article, summarizing the problem, pointing out the contradictions in the pro-ordinance advocates' side, and calling on you to express your concerns to the City Council.

This ordinance has real costs that must be recognized.

6/6

betterblocksnj.org/2026/02/23/j...

Op-Ed: Bird-safe development in Jersey City will not negatively impact construction - Hudson County View Op-Ed: Jersey City Birds Freeney wishes to break the narrative that bird-safe development in the city will negatively impact construction.

Our attempts at reaching a reasonable compromise were rebuffed by Lorraine Freeney from JC Birds who then repeated many of the misconceptions around housing markets and materials costs that her groups has been telling to Planning and the Council.

5/6

hudsoncountyview.com/op-ed-bird-s...

Compromise for Bird-Safe Design in Jersey City: Affordable Solutions Jersey City's new bird-safe materials ordinance must balance affordable housing and wildlife protection with suggested amendments.

Our next call was to amend the current ordinance after we met with @eleanalittle.bsky.social, @tomzuppajc.bsky.social, and others after it was unexpectedly (to all parties) put back before the council without further modification from Planning.

4/6

betterblocksnj.org/2026/02/17/c...

Jersey City Housing Crisis: Raising Costs and Limiting Supply There is a double-standard that causes municipal government to rush legislation that will increase housing costs but slow-walk new housing.

We then contrasted how housing projects are treated (subject to delays, re-workings, and endless discussion with various community groups) with how the council unanimously passed the bird ordinance with limited debate and no due diligence on costs.

3/6

betterblocksnj.org/2025/12/23/a...

Eric Conner's Op-Ed on Veto of Bird-Safe Glass Ordinance Read Eric Conner's op-ed on the veto of the bird-safe glass ordinance in Jersey City, highlighting its importance for local wildlife.

Our first article on the saga called on the City Council to rework the ordinance after then-Mayor @stevenfulop.bsky.social vetoed it.

(spoiler: they didn't and the Solomon administration rushed to reintroduce it unchanged without consulting Planning).

2/6

betterblocksnj.org/2025/12/10/t...