The proposal would replace a vacant JCP&L office complex with 94 market-rate and 24 affordable homes on a site Morris Township already included in its state-mandated housing plan.
MORRIS TOWNSHIP, NJ – Toll Brothers is seeking approval to build 118 for-sale townhomes at 300 Madison Avenue, replacing a vacant office building and parking garage on the roughly eight-acre JCP&L property.
The application calls for 94 market-rate homes and 24 affordable homes in 16 traditional and stacked-townhome buildings. Toll Brothers is applying through Toll NJ I LLC, while the May 2026 application identifies Jersey Central Power & Light as the property owner.
The project’s housing count and affordability requirement were established before Toll Brothers filed its site plan. Morris Township placed the property in its amended fourth-round affordable-housing plan and adopted new zoning allowing up to 118 homes, with at least 24 reserved for low- and moderate-income households.
The township calendar lists a Planning Board meeting for 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, in the municipal building at 50 Woodland Avenue. The board is scheduled to review the Toll Brothers application that night, although the formal meeting agenda had not been posted as of Sept. 4.
The township’s meeting notice says residents must attend in person to ask questions, comment or state support or opposition. The Zoom stream is view-only.
The application would replace an approximately 186,000-square-foot office complex.
According to the developer’s letter of intent, the site contains an approximately 186,000-square-foot, multistory office building and a two-story parking garage. Both would be demolished.
The proposed development would include:
- 118 townhomes in 16 buildings
- 94 market-rate homes
- 24 affordable homes, consisting of four one-bedroom, 12 two-bedroom and eight three-bedroom units
- A clubhouse, swimming pool and shade structure
- 324 physical parking spaces
- Two driveways on Old Turnpike Road and one on Punch Bowl Road
- No vehicle entrance from Madison Avenue
The township’s zoning ordinance requires the affordable homes to be integrated into the development rather than placed in separate affordable-only buildings.
The project includes both conventional three-story townhomes and stacked units, in which separate homes occupy the lower and upper portions of a building. The site plan requests preliminary and final major site-plan approval and, according to the applicant, requires no zoning variances, design exceptions or waivers.
That means the Planning Board’s review will focus on whether the plan complies with the zoning already adopted for the property, along with traffic circulation, stormwater management, landscaping, lighting, emergency access and other site-design questions.
The traffic comparison is based on a fully occupied office, not the currently vacant building.
A traffic study submitted by the developer projects that the townhomes would generate 54 vehicle trips during the weekday morning peak hour and 59 during the evening peak hour.
For comparison, the study modeled the existing building as an occupied 186,000-square-foot general office. That use was estimated to generate 228 morning peak-hour trips and 215 evening peak-hour trips.
The township’s traffic consultant agreed that those estimates were consistent with standard Institute of Transportation Engineers data. The consultant also requested additional testimony about the direction of the trips because residential traffic tends to leave during the morning commute and return in the evening, the reverse of a typical office.
The comparison also requires context: the office is vacant today. The lower trip totals compare the proposed homes with a theoretical fully occupied office, rather than with the property’s current level of activity.
The site would contain 324 actual parking spaces. Three credits associated with electric-vehicle spaces raise the zoning calculation to 327 spaces, well above the 251 spaces the consultant calculated as required. The review asks the applicant to explain the amount of parking and address pedestrian connections, deliveries, rideshare vehicles, emergency access and access to nearby transit.
The township selected 300 Madison as part of its housing strategy.
New Jersey’s Mount Laurel doctrine requires municipalities to provide a realistic opportunity for the development of housing affordable to low- and moderate-income households. Morris Township’s fourth-round obligation covers 2025 through 2035.
State officials initially calculated a prospective need of 571 affordable homes for the township. After objections, mediation and settlements, the figure was set at 375. A Superior Court judge approved the settlements and endorsed the amended housing plan in February, and the Planning Board adopted the amended plan on March 2.
The Township Committee then adopted Ordinance 06-26 on March 9, creating the residential affordable-housing zone for 300 Madison Avenue. The measure passed 3-1, according to the official meeting minutes.
The ordinance permits no more than 118 homes and requires at least 24 affordable homes. It also establishes limits on building height, coverage and setbacks, including a maximum height of three stories or 46.5 feet.
Residents who spoke during the March hearing raised concerns about cumulative traffic, school enrollment, tree removal, density and infrastructure. Township officials said the more detailed traffic, environmental and design questions would be evaluated during the Planning Board process.
Twenty-four affordable homes could count as 36 credits.
The township’s amended Housing Element and Fair Share Plan assigns 300 Madison Avenue 24 actual affordable homes and as many as 12 bonus credits.
Under New Jersey’s 2024 affordable-housing law, an eligible affordable home receives one basic credit. Certain homes may receive an additional half-credit, including homes built on previously developed office property or within a half-mile of a New Jersey Transit station.
The 300 Madison site qualifies under those categories because it would redevelop an office property and lies approximately half a mile from Convent Station. State law permits only one bonus category to be applied to each home.
As a result, the 24 affordable homes could count as as many as 36 credits toward the township’s 375-home obligation. The bonus is a compliance credit. It does not increase the number of affordable homes physically constructed at the site.
The projected $1.7 million tax bill has not been independently confirmed.
During a Sept. 1 public presentation, Toll Brothers said the property’s annual tax bill could rise from approximately $400,000 to $1.7 million after construction, according to Morristown Green.
A property-record listing derived from Morris County data places the current assessment at $21.4 million and the annual property tax bill at $417,942. That supports the developer’s rounded description of the existing bill.
The proposed $1.7 million figure remains a developer projection. No published calculation from the Morris Township tax assessor supporting that estimate was located.
The township’s assessor information says new construction is inspected after work is completed so assessments can be updated. The eventual tax bill would depend on the completed homes’ assessments and the municipal, school and county tax rates then in effect.
A second Toll Brothers site is zoned for 104 homes at 100 Southgate Parkway.
Morris Township also rezoned the vacant office property at 100 Southgate Parkway for as many as 104 townhomes, including at least 21 affordable homes.
Ordinance 07-26, adopted alongside the 300 Madison ordinance, created a new residential affordable-housing zone for the approximately 19.2-acre property. The zoning allows buildings of up to three stories and establishes a 50-foot setback from Laura Lane.
Toll Brothers has said it intends to pursue a similar project at Southgate and plans to hold a separate informational meeting. The township’s online Planning Board records, however, did not list a site-plan application for the property as of Sept. 4.
The 104-home figure therefore represents the maximum allowed by the new zoning and the development assumption used in the housing plan. A detailed site plan would still require a formal application and Planning Board review.
The affordable-housing plan assigns the property 21 actual affordable homes and up to 10 bonus credits, allowing the site to count for as many as 31 credits.
Great Brook runs along the western side of the property, and portions of the parcel fall within mapped flood-hazard areas. The township’s plan states that the contemplated development can be placed outside the floodway, floodplain and required buffers. Residents raised traffic, flooding, environmental and Laura Lane safety concerns when the zoning was adopted.
Together, the two Toll Brothers sites are planned for up to 222 homes, including 45 actual affordable homes. With the potential office-redevelopment bonuses, those 45 homes could provide as many as 67 credits toward the township’s obligation.
Aging office properties are becoming a central part of the housing plan.
The two Toll Brothers properties are part of a broader township strategy centered on underused office sites.
Morris Township’s housing plan also designates the office property at 60 Columbia Road for as many as 382 homes, including 84 affordable homes. If all three sites are developed as contemplated, they would produce up to 604 homes, including 129 affordable homes.
The state’s half-credit incentive for affordable housing on former office, retail and commercial properties gives municipalities a reason to direct development toward existing commercial sites. Such projects may reuse a building, but the Morris Township proposals generally contemplate demolishing the offices and constructing new housing.
The local strategy reflects a wider shift in New Jersey’s office market. An Avison Young analysis published by Real Estate NJ identified 141 completed, active or proposed office-conversion projects statewide as of August 2025. Multifamily housing accounted for 49% of the conversions, and Morris County led the state with 47 projects.
At the same time, JLL Research reported a 25% office vacancy rate across Northern and Central New Jersey during the second quarter of 2026. Demand was concentrated in newer or recently renovated buildings, leaving many older suburban properties facing pressure to renovate or find another use.
At 300 Madison Avenue, the township has already made the zoning decision to allow housing. The Planning Board’s review will determine whether Toll Brothers’ specific design satisfies the ordinance and the township’s site-plan standards.