MONTVALE — The Borough Council has amended its affordable housing plan to require construction of 50 affordable units tied to the former KPMG site regardless of how the property is ultimately developed, officials said following an April 20 resolution.
The change comes as Montvale remains in a legal dispute with Fair Share Housing Center over whether the borough can allow a developer to choose between building housing or a data center on the 34-acre former KPMG campus, the largest redevelopment site in town.
Mayor Mike Ghassali said the revision reflects a condition imposed during review of the borough’s plan: that Montvale must account for the 50 affordable units in any development scenario.
“Although we disagree that this condition was appropriate, the prospective developer has agreed to fund and ensure the construction of the 50 affordable units regardless of whether the end use is a data center or inclusionary housing,” Ghassali said. “This outcome only strengthens the Borough’s plan and comes at no additional cost to the Borough.”
Under the borough’s latest framework, if the KPMG site is developed entirely as housing, Montvale’s plan would include 685 total units and 109 affordable units across the approximately 55 acres known as the Hekemian parcels. If the KPMG site is developed as a data center, the plan would include 485 total units and 109 affordable units, according to Ghassali.
No formal plans for a data center have been submitted, Ghassali said, describing what has been discussed as a developer concept. He said the borough is obligated to evaluate its options.
Fair Share Housing Center has sharply criticized Montvale’s approach, arguing the borough is attempting to use the affordable housing process to authorize a large data center in place of housing. The nonprofit says the earlier version of the settlement would have allowed the developer, SHG Montvale MB VI, LLC, to build either a 250-unit inclusionary housing project with 50 affordable units or a data center with no affordable housing on the KPMG tract.
“Calling this a housing plan stretches the term beyond recognition,” Fair Share Executive Director Adam Gordon said in a prior statement. “Montvale is asking the court to bless an illegal end-run around its own public process, allowing its largest redevelopment site to become a massive data center with no affordable housing at all.”
Fair Share has challenged the plan, arguing it violates the Mount Laurel Doctrine and state affordable housing law by making affordable housing optional at a major redevelopment site while offering redevelopment benefits, including the possibility of a payment in lieu of taxes agreement.
The dispute follows a separate legal setback for Ghassali and a coalition of municipalities he led in challenging New Jersey’s 2024 affordable housing law. In late February, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito denied the group’s emergency request to halt implementation of fourth-round affordable housing requirements, leaving the state framework and compliance deadlines in place.
Ghassali, in his recent statement, also criticized the broader state system, saying Trenton’s goal of 200,000 affordable units would require far more market-rate development under the current model. He said he recently spoke with state Sen. Troy Singleton, who is sponsoring legislation to streamline affordable housing construction on houses of worship properties, and suggested the state also look at vacant and abandoned buildings as potential housing opportunities.
The matter is now before Superior Court. Ghassali said the borough expects a decision in May, which should provide more certainty on Montvale’s final housing element and fair share plan.