Morris County Releases 2025 Development Activity Report
The annual Morris County Development Activity Report, detailing housing trends, costs and commercial development across the county in 2025, has been released by the Morris County Office of Planning and Preservation.
Joseph Barilla, director of the Office of Planning and Preservation, provided an overview of the report during yesterday’s public meeting of the Morris County Board of County Commissioners in Morristown.
View The 2025 Development Activity Report
The Morris County Planning Board received 235 building-related applications in 2025, a slight decrease from 244 in 2024. Parsippany-Troy Hills again led all municipalities with 26 submissions, followed by Randolph Township with 18 and Hanover Township with 17.
The county planning board reviewed 26 applications for multi-family and mixed-use developments totaling 2,028 proposed units in 2025 — more than double the 923 units proposed in 2024. Four projects alone accounted for more than 60 percent of the total units and approximately 14 percent of the units were designated for age-restricted or assisted living housing.
Housing affordability remains a significant concern. In 2024, the median sales price for new single-family attached homes was $773,858, while detached homes reached a median sales price of $1,012,840. Rental costs also remain high, with the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment at $2,216 per month, and nearly half of renters spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
Submissions for new non-residential development totaled approximately 1.8 million square feet in 2025, an increase from 726,124 square feet in 2024. A significant portion of this growth was driven by the Riverdale Quarry redevelopment in the Borough of Riverdale, which alone accounted for nearly 1.2 million square feet of proposed warehouse space.
The county continues to experience a shift toward redevelopment of underutilized office campuses and commercial properties into mixed-use developments that combine residential, retail, office and industrial uses. This trend reflects ongoing changes in workplace patterns and market demand. As noted in previous reports, the creation of single-family residential lots through major subdivisions continues to decline. Only 23 new lots were proposed in 2025, maintaining a downward trend observed prior to temporary increases in 2021 and 2022.
Other highlights of the report include:
- Between 2016 and 2025, the Morris County Planning Board reviewed 17,497 multi-family housing units, with the highest concentrations in municipalities with access to highways and commuter rail. In 2025, Hanover Township led the county with 405 proposed units.
- While the total number of applications declined, the scale of development increased significantly, with notable rises in both multi-family housing and large-scale non-residential projects driven by a small number of major developments.
To view the 2025 Development Activity Report or explore past reports, visit: planning.morriscountynj.gov/publications.