Opinion ID: 2365370
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Site 5A (La Placa)

Text: Site 5A also is an undeveloped site included in the original compliance plan, under which that site and Site 1 were expected to yield a total of 120 affordable units. In the plan, Site 5A contained 10.32 acres and was zoned to allow only multi-family housing. The site subsequently was rezoned R-5B, which also permits only multifamily development restricted to garden apartments, townhouses or maisonettes. The rezoning increas[ed the site's] allowable density to fifteen units per acre conditioned upon a forty percent affordable housing setaside. An adjacent, partially developed property also was added, increasing the size of the parcel to twenty-two acres. The trial court, in rejecting defendant's claim that ninety-six affordable units could be built on Site 5A, pointed out that defendant's estimate assume[d] construction under the Low Income Tax Credit Program, which all parties agreed is extremely competitive and requires that all municipal approvals be in place. The court observed that the developer's attorney had testified at trial that neither the municipal approvals nor the tax credits had been secured, and that the developer was reluctan[t] to build a `conventional' multifamily inclusionary development. After consideration of those factors, the court held that the Special Master's twenty-nine unit yield estimate was realistic for this site, assuming there is market demand, and credited West Windsor accordingly.