Morris County Releases 2024 Development Activity Report
Published on April 11, 2025
Annual Report Offers Insights On Housing and Redevelopment
The annual Morris County Development Activity Report, detailing housing and commercial development in the county during 2024, has been completed and released by the Morris County Office of Planning and Preservation.
An overview of the report was provided by Joseph Barilla, Morris County’s Director of Planning and Preservation, during the Morris County Board of County Commissioners’ April 9th meeting in Morristown.
View the 2024 Development Activity Report
The Morris County Planning Board received 244 applications in 2024. Parsippany-Troy Hills Township led all municipalities with 34 submissions to the Morris County Planning Board in 2024.
The planning board reviewed 16 new multifamily housing applications in 2024, totaling 923 proposed units as towns continued working to meet affordable housing obligations mandated by the state and courts. Three developments accounted for 598 units. Approximately 11 percent of the units are designated for age-restricted or assisted living housing. Eighteen revised applications totaling 1,652 multifamily units were reviewed in 2024.
In 2024, median sales prices in Morris County remained high: $808,995 for new single-family attached homes and $993,190 for new single-family detached homes, according to data from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.
Submissions for new warehouse projects with office space dropped to 726,124 square feet in 2024, compared to 2.66 million in 2023. Parsippany-Troy Hills had the largest share, with nearly 500,000 square feet proposed. Most of that came from four warehouse redevelopment projects.
The county continued to see the trend of redevelopment of underused commercial sites in 2024, particularly in Parsippany’s Campus Drive and Sylvan Way office campuses. Construction began on several previously approved projects, while the Morris County Planning Board reviewed three new proposals, including two warehouses and a 280-unit multifamily project with a luxury fitness club. The ongoing shift to remote work has accelerated office vacancies, prompting developers to upgrade the remaining campuses with modern amenities such as lounges, coffee shops and fitness centers to reflect the convenience of working from home from home for their employees.
As noted in previous reports, the creation of single-family detached residential lots through major subdivisions continues to decrease, except for large legacy projects. This year's trend reflects a return to the downward trajectory observed in 2019 and 2020, following two consecutive 10-year highs in 2021 and 2022, primarily driven by townhomes with individual lots.
Some significant aspects of the 2024 Development Activity Report include:
- Between 2015 and 2024, approximately 16,722 units of multifamily housing underwent review. Municipalities with access to mass transit and highways experienced the most significant growth in that category. In 2024, Morristown led the county with 315 units of proposed multifamily housing.
- In 2024, there was a significant decrease from 2023 in submissions for new warehousing, with 761,124 square feet proposed for office space. However, a consistent trend persists in the proposed redevelopment of former office building sites, transitioning them into mixed-use combinations of residential, retail, office space and/or warehousing.
To view the 2024 Development Activity Report or look up past reports, visit: planning.morriscountynj.gov/publications.
###
Photo: KRE residences in East Hanover