A 300-unit apartment complex has opened its doors along the Passaic River in Livingston, New Jersey, bringing a golf simulator, three pickleball courts and a pet spa to a township where nearly 89 percent of homes are owner-occupied. Canterly Place sits on a 16-acre site off Route 10, and 60 of its units, a full 20 percent, are designated as affordable housing under New Jersey's Mount Laurel doctrine.
The project is the result of a partnership between Sterling Properties Group and Danbro Properties, according to REBusinessOnline, which reported the completion. Sterling Properties, described in that report as a regional owner-operator, already manages nearly 6,000 multi-family units across the state and has more than 2,000 additional units in the pipeline, including projects in Watchung and Greene, according to Patch. Danbro Properties is identified in the REBusinessOnline account as a New Jersey-based property company. Lessard Design served as project architect, while Mary Cook Associates handled the interior design, per the same REBusinessOnline report.
A Specialized Set-Aside Inside the Affordable Units
Among the 60 affordable units, a portion has been specifically set aside for clients of Jewish Services for the Intellectually and Developmentally Disabled, an Essex County nonprofit that supports adults with developmental disabilities, Patch reports. The arrangement folds a specialized community partnership directly into the building's affordable housing quota rather than treating those units as generic income-restricted apartments. New Jersey's Department of Community Affairs updated 10-year municipal affordable housing quotas covering 2025 through 2035 in October 2024, establishing present and prospective housing needs for towns statewide under the Mount Laurel doctrine, Patch's earlier coverage noted, and that framework underpins why a 20 percent set-aside was built into the Livingston project.
Financially, the joint venture leaned on a $126.6 million construction loan from Northwestern Mutual, which acted as the project's principal financial partner, according to Multi-Housing News. Rents for the market-rate units start at $2,765 per month for a one-bedroom apartment, per REBusinessOnline's reporting. During initial leasing over the summer, developers dangled incentives to fill the building, including up to three months of free rent on two-year leases and a $1,500 “Look & Lease” credit, according to a promotional post cited by NJMOM.
Pickleball Courts, a Zen Garden and a 40-Minute Bus Ride to Manhattan
The four-story building offers one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging from 798 square feet up to 1,434 square feet for the largest three-bedroom floor plans, Multi-Housing News reports. Beyond the standard clubroom, fitness center, pool and coworking spaces, the community features three outdoor pickleball courts, a full basketball court, a pet spa, a quarter-mile walking path, a Zen garden courtyard and community gardens, according to Patch's coverage. REBusinessOnline's account also lists a dog park, a playground, a coffee house, a golf simulator, a private dining room, a library, a game lounge, a courtyard and outdoor grilling and dining stations among the amenities.
An NJ Transit bus stop sits directly outside the property entrance, enabling what Sterling Properties describes as a 40-minute direct commute into Manhattan, a notable draw in a township that has no passenger rail station of its own. That access point positions Canterly Place squarely for New York-bound commuters even as it sits on a 16-acre parcel bordering the Passaic River, a physical setting confirmed by both Patch and Multi-Housing News.
A Luxury Rental Landing in an Overwhelmingly Owner-Occupied Town
The complex arrives in a township where the median household income is $229,806 and owner-occupied housing accounts for 88.9 percent of all residential units, according to U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-year data cited by Census Reporter. That backdrop underscores how much of a shift a 300-unit rental building, nearly a fifth of it income-restricted, represents for a community historically built around single-family homes. Canterly Place now stands as one of the more visible test cases for how a suburban town balances that character against state-mandated density and affordability requirements.
