Michael Kaplan, a force in New Jersey real estate, dies at 83
Michael Kaplan, a Holocaust survivor who rose to become a force in the residential real estate industry and whose landmark lawsuit led to the 1975 Mount Laurel decision requiring all New Jersey municipalities to provide their “fair share” of affordable housing, died Wednesday. He was 83.
Michael’s father, Nathan, saw the economic potential of home construction with the return of Korean War soldiers seeking affordable home ownership on the GI Bill. At that time, Michael who was attending Rutgers University, earned a graduate degree in engineering in 1961 and ultimately joined the growing family business.
Land was still cheap and plentiful in Central Jersey, and the demand for housing created opportunities for developers, many of whom had also survived the Holocaust and found their calling in New Jersey’s growing real estate business. The Kaplans steadily expanded their portfolio, building entire neighborhoods, as well as retail, grocery stores and anything else that could help the bottom line as the company acquired more and more land.
In 1966, Kaplan filed his landmark lawsuit against the Township of Madison (now Old Bridge), which had blocked his efforts to build affordable housing. Following a lawsuit that dragged for 13 years, with three appearances before the New Jersey Supreme Court, the court eventually sided with Kaplan.
The legal case became known as Oakwood v. Madison, a precedent for the state’s Mount Laurel Doctrine, a landmark case cited nationally in efforts to ensure an adequate supply of affordable housing.
In 1970, Kaplan acquired 450 acres of farmland between routes 1 and 27 in North Brunswick to create Hidden Lake, a combination of single-family homes, apartments, townhouses and retail. This was one of the first planned unit developments in the state, and went on to be duplicated across the country.
Together, until Nathan Kaplan’s death in March 1975 at age 61, the father and son duo created a company that shaped the landscape of suburban New Jersey, as farms quickly turned into subdivisions to accommodate massive population growth in central New Jersey.
Kaplan and Morris Kaplan took over the company from their father and directed groundbreaking development projects. For example, Kaplan is credited with creating the first golfing lifestyle community, built in Ocean County, which has been replicated countless times by world-class developers.
Among Kaplan’s more well-known developments is La Mer in Sayreville, a vast townhouse community that he began constructing in the 1980s on a bluff overlooking the Garden State Parkway.
Seventy years and four generations later, Kaplan Companies has constructed about 30,000 homes and several million square feet of commercial space, comprising warehouses, self-storage, retail and office buildings. Kaplan Companies has gained state and national recognition for its high level of quality and design. The company is now run by Kaplan’ son, Jason, who was named president in 2005.
Aside from his many business accomplishments, Kaplan was a strong supporter of many Jewish charities, including The Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County, Hadassah Hospital, Everyman’s University, and Solomon Schechter Day School. He traveled to Israel multiple times and was deeply proud of his heritage.
Kaplan was a long-standing member of the Highland Park Conservative Temple. When the synagogue suffered a horrible fire in August 2006, Kaplan and his wife, Helen, rebuilt the sanctuary now dedicated in memory of their parents. The couple was also supporters of The Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, donating a respite room for all the hardworking nurses.
Funeral services are set for 11 a.m. Friday at the Highland Park Conservative Temple, 201 S. 3rd Ave. Donations can be made in Kaplan’s name to the synagogue.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Michael Kaplan, prominent NJ real estate developer, dies at 83
