JERSEY CITY | Projects & Construction [Archive]

macmini

September 19th, 2005, 03:37 AM

A Course With a View Is Built on Major Hopes

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/08/08/sports/08course.xlg.jpg

By DAMON HACK
Published: August 8, 2005

A thousand yards from the Statue of Liberty and steps from the Hudson River is a strip of land that once lay dying on the shores of Jersey City. Petroleum and waste snaked through its underbelly, rendering the land an eyesore.

"Awful," the professional golfer Tom Kite said recently, seated where ruin and decay once reigned. "It was a terrible piece of property. Flat as a table, ugly, abused and mistreated. But what it had was location, location, location."From that cavity, the lush and very private Liberty National Golf Club has sprouted across from the Manhattan skyline. This $150 million project by Paul B. Fireman, the property's owner and the chief executive of Reebok; his son Dan; and the golf-design tandem of Kite and Bob Cupp is creating a buzz less than a year before the first players tee off.

The club is set to open July 4, 2006, with a founding membership that includes the former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and the New England Patriots' owner, Robert K. Kraft. And already the course is anticipated to be a one-of-a-kind experience that may one day challenge courses like Shinnecock Hills on Long Island and Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, N.J., site of this week's P.G.A. Championship, as a host for golf's most prestigious tournaments.

Built on 160 acres and covering 4,000 feet of waterfront, the course stretches 7,400 yards from the back tees, with small rivers running through it and a $1 million cart path built with Belgian stones.

The clubhouse will feature a menu from the restaurateur Tom Colicchio of Gramercy Tavern and Craft. The course will offer a 15-minute luxury yacht service from Manhattan and, for those with quicker needs, a helipad.

Each member will have a custom-made set of clubs that will always be available at the course, a kind of thank-you gift for joining a club with an initiation fee of around $500,000.

But what separates it, members say, is the view from the ground, a vista that no parkland course or ocean links can claim.

"There is nothing more dramatic than lower New York Harbor, the Empire State Building and the shape of the Verrazano Bridge," said the founding member Kenneth G. Langone, the chief executive of the securities firm Invemed Associates and former director of the New York Stock Exchange. "Can you imagine having that view as the last shot you see on the last hole of a major tournament?"

Kite, when asked if he felt the course could stand up to the demands of a major championship, said Liberty National qualified on several fronts.

"It has plenty of teeth," he said. "It's all you want. It also lends itself to do great things on it, like the blimp shots you see at a major championship, the pan-in, pan-out shots at Pebble Beach."

But Kite, the 1992 United States Open champion and former Ryder Cup captain, said it could take time.

"There is no way you can shortcut history," he said. "You have to build it. Obviously, we feel we can make it happen."

The New York area has been awarded several major golf events in recent years, including the 2002 United States Open at Bethpage Black, the 2004 United States Open at Shinnecock Hills and this year's P.G.A. Championship at Baltusrol. Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., will play host to the United States Open in 2006, and Bethpage Black will welcome it again in 2009.

The competition is fierce for these events, as it is for the international Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup competitions.

The United States Golf Association, for example, which has its United States Open sites scheduled through 2012, receives invitations from courses from around the country. The association chooses several to examine and considers space for grandstands, concessions and merchandise tents, as well as a city's hotel space, parking and security.

The Presidents Cup, which will be contested in September at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Lake Manassas, Va., evaluates similar factors as well as others, including the weather, the amount of daylight, the roads and the city's infrastructure, said George Burger, the general chairman of the Presidents Cup.

"It's very similar to getting a political convention in your city, or a Super Bowl, and it's a distant cousin to an Olympic bid," he said.

But the golf course itself is crucial. And while Liberty National has yet to open, it has built-in qualities that may already make it a contender for golf's marquee events, Burger said.

"It's the credibility of the architects, the credibility of the membership and the credibility of the site itself," Burger said. "When you get that good of a design, a great property and good members, those are the new courses that will be contenders for majors. The only thing it lacks is history. But given the site, that may be something that will get it over the hump."

Billy Getty, a founding member who has started his own company specializing in golf course development, said of Liberty National: "There are only so many golf courses that if you walk to the middle of it blindfolded you'd immediately know where you are. Being able to use the Statue of Liberty as alignment is incredible, but also, since 9/11, things resonate emotionally more than they did. I don't think anyone will escape the butterflies in their belly seeing the Statue of Liberty and the replacement for the towers being erected."

Fireman, who opened the private course Willowbend on Cape Cod in 1993, has been involved in the Liberty National project for more than five years, from the property's filthiest state to its shiniest.

"We cleaned it up spotless, and it required a lot of money," Fireman said. "I'm sure everybody who builds a golf course and spends a lot of money thinks something special will happen to it. I'm looking to have a good experience for the membership and the people that visit. With New York City, you can't get a more dramatic picture. I think history will find its way."

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

macmini

September 19th, 2005, 03:44 AM

Being Renovated

The J.C medical center first phase of construction is set to start in September and will consist of two buildings containing 314 units, commercial and retail space, and a 1,200-car parking facility.

When complete the $350 million project - will include 2,243 market-rate condominium units, screening rooms, a pool, roof-top restaurants, and 65,000 square feet of retail

http://image07.webshots.com/7/2/29/57/90722957yMlJNw_ph.jpg

http://image07.webshots.com/7/7/39/88/85873988sBytfm_ph.jpg

http://image08.webshots.com/8/8/64/17/156086417SZgkQW_ph.jpg

macmini

September 19th, 2005, 03:47 AM

New Projects Under construction

LIBERTY TERRACE
started: 2005
finished: 2006
nine-story, 128-unit
95 1-BR
20 2-BR

Units went on sale three weeks ago 45% of the units have been sold.unobstructed views of Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, not to mention Downtown NYC. The building entrance will set back from Hudson Street on the eastern side of the building an on Essex Street, right along the Light Rail line. Some units are going for 1 million+.

http://image52.webshots.com/52/2/29/5/445922905DgbsZn_ph.jpg

http://image62.webshots.com/162/2/22/71/445922271aJYEsG_ph.jpg

http://image57.webshots.com/57/2/20/94/445922094soEKDx_ph.jpg

http://image58.webshots.com/58/2/28/14/445922814wgKtnK_ph.jpg

macmini

September 19th, 2005, 06:43 AM

Being Renovated

150 Bay Street
started: 2005
finished: 2006

150 Bay Street is a former warehouse that has been redesigned to give artists the space to let their talents flourish in music, dance, written word and the visual arts. Located minutes from Manhattan by PATH train, the loft rentals feature 14’ ceilings, oversized windows, work sinks, freight elevators, and extra wide doors to make the work portion of life easier. For the living experience, 150 Bay Street has been fitted with fully equipped kitchens, high-speed Internet wiring, a 24-hour attended lobby, and on-site fitness center.

http://www.150baystreet.com/

http://image57.webshots.com/57/2/55/88/445925588CSkqWG_ph.jpg

http://image56.webshots.com/56/2/61/52/445926152eWitss_ph.jpg

TalB

September 19th, 2005, 09:30 PM

Is that the only project?
Not too long ago one of its biggest projects included its new tallest, the Goldman Sachs Tower, which was also the tallest in the state of NJ.

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/8/84/DSCN2966_exchangeplace_e.JPG

macmini

September 20th, 2005, 12:34 AM

The Goldman Sachs Tower will soon be the 3rd tallest once Trump two buildings are complete.

Effer

September 20th, 2005, 05:03 AM

VERY NICE! :)

spyguy

September 20th, 2005, 05:10 AM

http://www.lera.com/pimg/residencesliberty/1433679_large.jpg

I like these the most.

DonQui

September 20th, 2005, 06:46 AM

I say it is about time that NYC pulls an Ellis Island or a Staten Island and annexes Jersey City. :yes:

macmini

September 20th, 2005, 11:21 PM

http://www.jcedc.org/new/lhn/currentaeriala.jpg

The site, along the Tidewater Basin just a half-mile west of the Hudson River, is bounded by Grand Street, Luis Muñoz Marin Boulevard and Jersey Avenue. Former North Bergen Mayor and Jersey City-based businessmen Peter Mocco is the developer.

The Liberty Harbor North Redevelopment is ready to leap from the drawing board into reality!

Peter Mocco and Jeff Zak are the principal developers of the $2 billion project. Andres Duany, chief architect of Liberty Harbor North, is known for the famed "New Urbanism" city planning concept, as exemplified by the Seaside development in Florida.

The 80-acre mixed-use development will have more than 6,000 units in housing; 775,000 square-feet for retail; 175,000 square-feet for school facilties; 1.1 million square-feet for a hotel; and 4.6 million square-feet for offices.

The first phase of the project has already started

www.libertyharbor.com

macmini

September 20th, 2005, 11:37 PM

http://www.metrohomesllc.com/images/liberty_harbor.jpg

Liberty Harbor North by Metro Homes

Metro Homes bought 10 acres From the Developer of Liberty Harbor North. In all, phase one will include 432 condominium units, 17 units of commercial retail space and 460 parking spaces. 3 buildings incorporating 432 condominium units construction has started.

macmini

September 20th, 2005, 11:59 PM

A couple of pics of Jersey City

http://meccapixel.com/images/large/0306/03062405.jpg

http://meccapixel.com/images/large/0306/03062501.jpg

http://www.viewsof.com/usa/newjersey/newport/nynj9812newportview.jpg

http://www-users.aston.ac.uk/~mukherjs/pictures/newyork2005/slides/Jersey%20City%20in%20Sunset.JPG

The Light Rail
http://www.city-data.com/cpicv/vfiles2033.jpg

Jersey City to the right
http://www-users.aston.ac.uk/~mukherjs/pictures/newyork2005/slides/Downtown%20Manhatten%20from%20ESB.JPG

http://www.city-data.com/cpicv/vfiles2034.jpg

Bond James Bond

September 21st, 2005, 08:15 AM

Wow, thanks for the update! I hadn't heard of the Liberty Harbor project.

TalB

September 21st, 2005, 07:53 PM

The Goldman Sachs Tower will soon be the 3rd tallest once Trump two buildings are complete.
I was expecting the Goldman Sachs Tower to have a title for a a some time until it will be surpassed. :(

macmini

September 26th, 2005, 12:05 AM

Project Update

COLUMBUS PLAZA

Designed by world renowned architect Costas Kondylis
They designed 200 Chambers Street (http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=224797)

38-story building featuring 392 rental residences
24-hour doorman with full-time professional concierge
Double height lobby, and a 6,000 square-foot, two-story
recreation center
on-site access to the Grove Street PATH Station
36,000 square feet of ground floor retail space
30,000 square feet of office space
a multi-level 1,120-car parking garag

Pics are from JCVibe their about two or three months old I just past the site last week and the foundation is complete they were up to 3rd floor.

http://image58.webshots.com/58/5/40/59/456954059FyjqSf_ph.jpg

Columbus Plaza construction site, mid-block
http://image52.webshots.com/152/5/58/88/456955888ZcDwoj_ph.jpg

Columbus Plaza construction site, facing southeast
http://image52.webshots.com/152/5/58/88/456955888ZcDwoj_ph.jpg

macmini

September 26th, 2005, 12:14 AM

I was expecting the Goldman Sachs Tower to have a title for a a some time until it will be surpassed. :(

TalB I was wrong Goldman Sachs Tower will keep it's title until Harborside Plaza 7 is build Trump Plaza will be 2nd and 3rd tallest building but tallest residential development in the state Trump Plaza will be 560 feet.

asohn

September 26th, 2005, 12:29 AM

Welcome macmini - I've always enjoyed your posts and WiredNewYork

keep up the great work!

waynelorentz

September 26th, 2005, 04:26 AM

It's nice to see all these projects in Jersey City. It's location on the water could really make it a star. When I was growing up, it was something of a joke to the rest of the state, but who's laughing now? If it hasn't happened yet, I wouldn't be surprised to see its skyline eclipse Newark.

I haven't lived in New Jersey in about 15 years, but I'm excited to visit and see all the changes.

On a related note -- a lot of the projects listed in this thread are proposals. What are the chances of them actually being completed? What's the track record?

supermankind

November 7th, 2005, 12:42 PM

"I say it is about time that NYC pulls an Ellis Island or a Staten Island and annexes Jersey City."

I say it's about time New York City and Long Island secede from New York State. maybe even take Yonkers and Mount Vernon with them as borough#6, and then add on most of Hudson County New Jersey as borough #7. the city of Newark perhaps could annex Kearny, Harrison and East Newark, the rest of Hudson would go to NYC.

anyhow, i hope these projects are completed in JC. i don't see how a city located across the Hudson river could really fail.

TalB

November 7th, 2005, 09:26 PM

As much as I like those ideas, that isn't likely to happen.

supermankind

November 8th, 2005, 12:19 AM

yea, it would never happen realistically. would be awesome tho.

fcarvall

November 8th, 2005, 05:51 AM

The problem with Jersey City is the Path. It is so utterly unreliable, and it's the only urban link to the city. When you go to Brooklyn, even though you cross a body of water, you always know psychologically that you can go back to the city, over any bridge, but in Jersey City, I, and many of the people I know (that go visit friends that have moved there and make parties and then we have to suffer through a half hour wait in that hell hole path stations), we feel like outsiders.

Something must be done. There should be a footbridge over Jersey City to Manhattan.

Save Jersey City!

Creating the State of the City of New York, including Newark and Westchester isn't a bad a idea. We could call it Hudson State, or Upper Bay State, so taht Jersey doesn't feel bad.

fcarvall

November 8th, 2005, 05:53 AM

Why can't it happen. This country is only 200 years old, please things can change. nothing is written in stone. plus it would be good to give nyc more electoral votes, so that the rednecks dont keep putting their inbreds in office.

Ellatur

November 8th, 2005, 06:06 AM

i personally think that the trump project is ugly. trump can do so much better...

Mosaic

November 8th, 2005, 09:53 AM

Wow!!!!!! there are a lot of new projects springing up in this town. That's really awesome.

kazpmk

November 8th, 2005, 07:29 PM

has athena begun construction yet?

supermankind

November 10th, 2005, 12:32 PM

i think municipal annexation could hold a great future for New Jersey too, without New York in the picture. look at Paterson (8 miles), Jersey City (14 miles) and Newark (25 miles). those cities have the highest per-capita population anywhere, other than New York that is, and are far smaller than other major cities. more people are packed in those cities than in Miami, Chicago, LA, Boston, etc. if you were to incorporate Newark's suburbs, you'd create a city of over 600,000 people. Jersey City would not be far behind, and Paterson would be about 300,000 people. historically, Newark, Paterson, Hackensack, Fort Lee , Elizabeth, Englewood were much larger than today, taking up larger pieces of land. eventually neighborhoods kept breaking off into their own. deconsolidating local services, creating more state jobs, etc. people in New Jersey complain about high taxes, well if you like having to run a densely populated small town or borough, you gotta pay for it, and all those pensions don't pay for themselves. i think municipal incorporation could be a possible step to some tax breaks in New Jersey, as well as creating much more diverse and noticeable cities.

i always thought Edison would be a good experiment for this. the township is over 100,000 people so far, and Metuchen and Highland Park were both part of the township until the turn of the century, and fit it nicely with the rest of the township. perhaps it could be attempted, see how it turns out, and then try applying it to a much larger city if the results are positive.

jzquince69

November 10th, 2005, 06:20 PM

that Goldman Sachs tower rocks.

macmini

December 12th, 2005, 06:53 PM

December 2005
In New Jersey, a boom focuses eastward

Lower sales prices and Manhattan views dot the Hudson River with new condo projects

By Alison Gregor

http://www.therealdeal.net//issues/DECEMBER_2005/images/1133404553.jpg

Development heats up across the Hudson: Jamie LeFrak at the site of the Shore Club Condominiums in Jersey City, across from Lower Manhattan.

Residential real estate developers are mining profits from New Jersey's "Gold Coast," where a building boom has conferred new cachet on a handful of Hudson River towns that have sometimes been overlooked. From Jersey City to Fort Lee, the riverfront communities across the Hudson from Manhattan are seeing new luxury development that competes with New York City projects loaded with amenities, but at half the price.

Developers say both condominiums and rental apartments are being snapped up. The Hudson Club at Port Imperial, a 344-unit condominium conversion in West New York, sold 50 apartments in its first week on the market in early November, said Beth Fisher, senior managing director at the Corcoran Group.

South of there, the Shore Club, being developed by the LeFrak Organization in Jersey City, moved 196 of 214 units in just over two months. The Beacon, a $350 million historical redevelopment project also located in Jersey City, slightly further inland, sold almost half of its 315 available units in five weeks, developer George Filopoulos, president of Metrovest Equities, said.

Buyers are responding to bargain-basement prices that are a subway stop away – at least in the Jersey City area, which is accessible by PATH trains that run all day.

"Jersey City got into the condo game a little later than the surrounding areas," Filopoulos said. "But you still have an opportunity to purchase an apartment at half of what it costs right across the river. As long as that remains the price point, I think all these projects slated for development will do very well."

The units being created in Jersey City and other Hudson County cities are mostly one- and two-bedroom apartments, along with a handful of studios, though the latter are typically more popular in Manhattan. There are fewer apartments with three bedrooms or more, though towns in formerly industrial parts of Bergen County are seeing the development of many townhouses as suburbanization spreads.

Besides The Beacon, which is pricing studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments from $300,000 to $700,000, there are several other projects in Jersey City, an urban area with a multitude of mass transit options and a commercial downtown viewed as an extension of Manhattan.

At the Zephyr Lofts in Jersey City, studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms are asking about $500 a square foot, around half the price of new development in Manhattan. Similarly, at the waterfront project Port Liberté, also in Jersey City, 766-square-foot condos start at $345,000.

A loft rental conversion called 150 Bay Street recently opened in the Powerhouse Warehouse Arts District, a formerly commercial area being marketed to artists as Jersey City's Soho. Developer Jeff Gural, chairman at Newmark, said he's testing the market for rentals among the new wave of condominiums. "It's tough to do a rental, because Jersey City really doesn't give you much of an incentive tax-wise," he said. "New York City gives you much bigger real estate tax incentives to do rentals."

Condominiums are a different story. A partnership of the Athena Group and GoldenTree InSite Partners is doing a $110 million, 33-story condo project called "A" condominiums with about 250 units.

Louis Dubin, Athena Group's president and CEO, said cheap land costs make condo development lucrative. "The land cost is considerably lower across the river in New Jersey, by a factor of anywhere from two to four," said the New York-based developer. "And although the projects on the Jersey waterfront tend to be union, like in Manhattan, construction costs tend to be a little less.

"Our opening prices are going to be a little bit less than half of the median for a new condominium in Manhattan," Dubin added. "The median is about $1,100 a square foot, and we're opening at between $525 and $550 a foot. It's a great deal."

About half of the developers working on New Jersey's Gold Coast are from New York, and half are from New Jersey or elsewhere, said developer Jamie LeFrak of the LeFrak Organization, one of the coastal area's largest developers. There are some advantages to developing property in New Jersey.

"Because of the difference in the way zoning is handled, our zoning is per dwelling unit in Jersey City, not per floor-area ratio, so apartments tend to be quite large and very liveable," LeFrak said. "A one-bedroom apartment is more like 800 square feet, unlike New York, where you'd see 650 square feet."

Even so, New York City has a much better scheme for tax abatements, LeFrak said, not to mention that publicity for new projects is well above that seen on New Jersey's coast.

"Somebody puts up eight units in Brooklyn, and suddenly, Brooklyn is Versailles," he said. "In Jersey City, there's been luxury high-rise development since we started there in 1985, but it still typically gets passed over by the New York-centric media. In a funny way, the same thing tends to be true of New Jersey media, which view the state's own waterfront as an extension of Manhattan."

The media may not overlook New Jersey's Gold Coast for long. The quantity of new residential development is catching attention – and may be inflating prices.

"The big thing with the whole Jersey City market right now is new construction, which is, of course, driving up all the other prices," said Michael Miller, a broker with New Jersey Gold Coast Real Estate. But the upper end of the market is still a struggle, he says. "Our hardest sale, especially in Jersey City, is $1 million and above. If a client comes here looking for that, they've probably already looked in Manhattan and determined they like the Jersey City lifestyle."

That lifestyle still may be lacking in retail services, though developers are providing a lot of commercial as part of their residential developments. For instance, more retail of is needed in Paulus Hook, Jersey City's answer to Greenwich Village, Filopoulos said.

But buyers are still flooding into the area. They include not only young professionals and growing families priced out of the New York market. Many buyers are "empty nesters" from inland New Jersey and even other parts of the country, Filopoulos said.

Developers build for a view

The market for New Jersey waterfront development appears to be bottomless as long as a project can offer views of Manhattan's skyscrapers.

Whether residents are commuting to Downtown Manhattan from Hoboken or to Midtown from north of Weehawken, they all have unparalleled views of a world-renowned skyline. Now there's enough growth in the area that builders can design projects to attract specific groups of potential buyers, rather than putting up a riverview building and seeing who wants to look east.

"The focus of every building we've done is views, views and more views, because that's really what developers are selling," said Michael Gelfand, partner and head of residential design at architects Gruzen Samton LLP.

The firm, which has an office in New York, is working on a project in just about every town along the Gold Coast of New Jersey, Gelfand said. Among them are the Watermark, WCI Communities' 206-unit condominium on River Road in North Bergen, and Tarragon Corporation's 168-unit development One Hudson Park – the first new construction high-rise condominium to be built in Edgewater, just across the water from the Upper West Side and Harlem.

The latter is completely feng shui-inspired and intended to appeal to Edgewater's Asian community, which may indicate how much the Gold Coast market has matured, Gelfand said.

"Because the market has gotten bigger, these don't have to be generic buildings that appeal to anybody and everybody because these are pioneering neighborhoods," he said. "Now that demand has increased, you're going to see these buildings geared more toward specific demographics."

Along those lines, Florida's WCI Communities, which bills itself as the largest publicly-held developer of luxury residential towers, will be offering a resort-style development in the Watermark that appeals to the company's typical buyer – one located outside of the New York City metropolitan area, Gelfand said.

Michael Miller, a broker with New Jersey Gold Coast Real Estate, said that the large amount of residential development coming to the market on the Gold Coast has led him to caution investors.

"I tell them, especially those looking [in Bergen County], to look at things that have unique properties to them," he said. "I think it may become a difficult market if you buy a condominium that doesn't have anything unique to it, like a view of Manhattan or larger square footage."

macmini

December 12th, 2005, 06:55 PM

This was posted on JClist from Will who was at the Paulus Hook meeting last week.

My notes from the HPHA meeting a week ago:

**77 Hudson – Khovnanian
48 stories, 39 above a 9 story parking garage
Two towers, 896 units; 500 foot height requirement met
½ rental: $1800 – 3700/mo
½ condo: $700k - $1M+
21k sf commercial on ground level – primarily Grand Street
Street entrances on Greene and Hudson
Garage entrance and services on Morris
Foundation work starts mid-2006
28-30 months to complete – 2009
1 parking space per unit met

77 Hudson (http://www.77hudson.com)

macmini

December 12th, 2005, 07:00 PM

LOOKS LIKE A SHORE THING
http://www.nypost.com/photos/re11052005044a.jpg
November 5, 2005 -- A flurry of buyers has descended on the Shore Club Condominiums at Newport, the latest addition to Jersey City's Newport community.

Since opening for sales in late September, 184 of the building's 214 units have sold, despite the fact that developer LeFrak Organization did not advertise the condos.

So what drew buyers? Jamie LeFrak, general manager at LeFrak Organization, believes that buyers, the majority of whom were already renters at Newport, simply saw the Web site address posted on the construction lot of Shore Club.

A sprawling, 600-acre mixed-use community along the Hudson, Newport is also likely to attract Manhattanites looking for more space, according to LeFrak. Prices start at $395,000 for 780-square-foot one-bedrooms, $548,000 for 1,100-square-foot two-bedrooms, and $795,000 for 1,420-square-foot three-bedrooms (all sizes are approximates). All but four units come with terraces, while the top floor of the building includes a Wellness Center (with a steam room and sauna), a spa with whirlpool, gym and playroom.

www.shoreclubatnewport.com

http://64.209.119.249/hugesize.jpg

macmini

December 12th, 2005, 07:03 PM

Old Hospital Yields Quirky Apartments

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/10/30/realestate/30njzo.xl.jpg
Keith Meyers/The New York Times

The sales center at the Beacon, at Montgomery Street and Baldwin Avenue, Jersey City, is to open this week, offering the first 315 condos.

By ANTOINETTE MARTIN
Published: October 30, 2005

JERSEY CITY

THE first apartments resulting from the transformation of the historic Art Deco buildings that served for seven decades as this city's medical center are about to go on the market.

Eventually, eight massive structures will be renovated into a complex called the Beacon, with 1,200 condominium and rental apartments, ground-floor shops, restaurants and a huge fitness/lifestyle center.

Right now, the first two buildings - 22 and 21 stories tall - are in mid-makeover, being scrubbed clean of the residue of 60-plus years.

Thanks to workers in rain gear wielding power-washing equipment on moving scaffolds, the buildings' facade of blond brick and cast-concrete decorative panels is emerging with classic good looks.

Inside the 22-story tower, renamed the Rialto, there is a sleek model apartment with stone countertops, marble bath and a view of New York Harbor. And this week, a new sales and marketing center is to open.

The first 315 condos - studios, lofts, one- and two-bedroom units - in the Rialto and the adjacent Capitol will become available for occupancy late next year. But 113 are already spoken for. In the last three weeks, the 1,500 people who had put their names on a waiting list were notified they could start shopping early.

"So far, 4 of every 10 lookers has signed a contract," said the developer, George Filopoulos, president of Metrovest Equities Inc., the New York firm that is behind the project. "That's phenomenal, and just shows how high excitement is running."

Adrienne Albert, president of Marketing Directors Inc., the sales agent for the Beacon, added that "one of the most exciting aspects of the Beacon is that it's being priced well below already established levels for new condominium construction in Jersey City's waterfront district."

The price range for condos in the first two buildings is $250,000 to $650,000, Mr. Filopoulos said. It is not yet certain how many of the 1,200 total units will be condos and how many will be rental units, he said.

But the plan for the new community has already been expanded since being announced last winter. Several weeks ago, Metrovest was named by city officials to redevelop another parcel immediately south of the medical center property.

On that site, the company will construct a 150,000-square-foot supermarket and shopping plaza and 220 new residential units, clustered in three-story buildings. These will not be tall enough to interfere with the views of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge from apartments at the Beacon, which is on Palisades Ridge, at the corner of Montgomery Street and Baldwin Avenue, a high point in Jersey City.

Mr. Filopoulos said that the apartments and condos at the second site will not offer the kinds of unusual features available at the Beacon, where the hospital buildings had grand and capacious halls that are the legacy of lavish government-subsidized construction.

The eight structures were built during the 1930's and 40's, contemporary with Rockefeller Center, the Chrysler Building, the Waldorf-Astoria and the Empire State Building. They cannot be destroyed or significantly altered because they were placed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places about 20 years ago. The last building was vacated in 2004.

"We're stuck with a lot of these things," said Mr. Filopoulos as strode through the restored grand lobby - two stories tall, with a terrazzo floor, brass Deco moldings, elaborate light fixtures and hand-painted elevator door mirrors - "so we figured we might as well have fun with them."
Architects have designed the apartments to take advantage of the buildings' quirks of layout and special features like period molding. There are 130 different floor plans for the first 315 units, Mr. Filopoulos said. They range in size from 600 square feet to 3,200.

The condos all have at least 10-foot ceilings, stone countertops in the kitchens, lighted glass backsplashes, pantries, stainless steel appliances, marble baths, hardwood floors, high-tech wiring and washers and dryers.
Meanwhile, developers have piled on the amenities. The Rialto and Capitol share a grand lobby and an area that holds the Aqua, "a lifestyle and fitness center." It will offer an indoor pool, a large "social sauna," private steam and sauna rooms, a lounge with hot tubs, a yoga room, a workout room, a film screening room, a children's playroom and a juice bar lounge.

Above the two-story lobby, on what is being called the terrace floor - where a longtime mayor of Jersey City, Frank Hague, kept his apartment for many years - there will be a community billiards room, poker room, theater or event space, catering kitchen, large dining room and a reading gallery.

In addition, the terrace will have an outdoor lounge and sun deck with a grill, and a spectacular view of Midtown Manhattan. The terrace and other common spaces can be rented for private parties, the developer said.
Among other features that are being planned for the development are a "town center," to be installed in an adjacent building, which will have a large market, a restaurant with a rooftop terrace and stores.

Future plans include an on-site day-care center and a two-acre "great lawn." Valet parking and a shuttle bus to Exchange Place, PATH trains and ferries to Manhattan are also planned.
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macmini

December 12th, 2005, 07:04 PM

Condos With Views of Lady Liberty, Skylines and Greens
By ANTOINETTE MARTIN

Published: November 27, 2005

JERSEY CITY

MAYBE you've already heard this one: There is an upscale condominium development under construction beside the Hudson River on New Jersey's Gold Coast, promising "Manhattan-style elegance," skyline views, a quick commute and resort-quality amenities.

But Port Liberté is something a little different. Really.

While it is indisputable that a slew of such developments have gone up in the last 10 to 15 years on to the west bank of the Hudson, transforming the riverfront areas in one town after another from seamy industrial sites to hip new residential havens, this particular one stands out in several respects - not the least of which is size.

When complete, the development opposite the Statue of Liberty, near Liberty State Park, will have 1,813 residential units, ranging from three-story town-house-style condos, to units in midrise buildings, to homes in structures 15 stories and taller.

Close by, but in another development, 932 more condos are planned for three high-rise towers - 35, 43 and 50 stories - to be built around a highly exclusive golf course opening next summer on adjacent property.

"There will be close to 3,000 homes in the neighborhood eventually," said David Barry, president of the Applied Companies, which owns Port Liberté and is a partner in developing the Liberty National Golf Course and the Condominiums at Liberty National - the high-rise development. "It's almost like a separate town within Jersey City."

Entering Port Liberté, driving in through a Gothic brick and stone arch just off the New Jersey Turnpike, is already like entering a small world of its own. The complex's only current neighbor on what was once gritty industrial turf is a small Army Reserve base, which sold much of its property to Applied for Port Liberté's slow-but-steady assemblage over the past decade.

The $130 million golf course, which is being built on 155 acres of former Standard Oil property that had to be decontaminated, will not open until July 4. The course, which is said to be the most expensive ever built, is already drawing worldwide attention as a potential future site for the United States Open and as an icon of exclusivity.

Individual club memberships are for sale at $500,000, which may be a record-setting number too. But the course, designed by Tom Kite and Bob Cupp, as a project for the chief executive of Reebok, Paul Fireman, has one-of-a-kind features like an 18th hole less than 1,000 yards from the statue of Lady Liberty and 12-minute ferry service from Manhattan.

Port Liberté, where 805 condos are occupied, is marketing 155 units in a 15-story tower, where site work is under way, that will have views of the course - and also the statue and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

One-bedroom units in the new tower start at $420,000, two-bedroom units at $635,000 and three-bedroom units at $1.395 million.

Each condo in the tower will have its own parking space, and there is a ferry station on the site for commuters. The units will feature high ceilings, oversized windows and balconies to maximize the views. And both inside and out, they will offer the sort of amenities that Port Liberté has helped establish as almost required luxuries at high-end Gold Coast communities.

Kitchens will be equipped with granite countertops, "European ash wood-grain pillowed-edge" cabinetry and stainless steel appliances, including an LG French Door refrigerator over a pull-out freezer, a Thermador gas cooktop and a Bosch wall oven, dishwasher and microwave.

The marble baths will have custom-designed vanities, large soaking tubs, frameless glass-enclosed showers and Kohler fixtures.

All Port Liberté residents have access to a clubhouse with a social lounge and catering kitchen, a riverfront "infinity edge" swimming pool with cabanas, a second pool with lap lanes, a spa area, a children's wading pool and a children's play area, a fitness club with massage room and saunas, tennis courts, basketball courts, a riverfront promenade and a private marina with individual boat slips.

The complex was envisioned as a grand venture from the first, when the developer Paul Bucha broke ground in 1989 on a project that was to include 8.5 miles of canals winding past European-style town homes under arched Venetian-style bridges.

A recession hit when only about half the buildings in the first phase of 363 units had taken shape, and Mr. Bucha's crew abruptly stopped work. Applied bought the project out of a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation bankruptcy, taking control in 1994 and finishing the first phase as planned.

The Applied Companies, founded by Mr. Barry's father, Joseph Barry, was also building the Shipyard, a very large riverfront development in Hoboken, at that time. More recently, it has been at work on the residential and retail redevelopment of the shoreline much farther south in Long Branch.

The part of Port Liberté that is a decade old is now a well-established neighborhood, set around a canal with walking paths; it already has a reputation as one of the nicest places to live in Jersey City.

In 1997, Mr. Barry said, the rest of the project was "replanned" without the canals, which were judged to be infeasible for both financial and environmental reasons, and expanded, through the acquisition of additional industrial property and part of the Army base that once served as a munitions station and later served as a debris-sifting site after the Sept. 11 attacks at the World Trade Center.

"Since then, we've always been in one phase or another," Mr. Barry said.

Construction of the three high-rise towers is not scheduled to start until after the golf course is up and running, he said. Applied is a partner with Mr. Fireman's development firm, the Willowbend Development Company, on that project. The three towers are designed to be sail-shaped and are to wrap around the edge of the golf course and behind part of Port Liberté.

Construction of 28,000 square feet to house convenience stores is also planned, but not yet under way, according to Mr. Barry. Currently, there is only one restaurant on the site, at the ferry station.

Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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macmini

December 12th, 2005, 07:08 PM

BEACON OF HOPE

Condo project 'most important development in 10 years'

Wednesday, October 19, 2005
By CARLY BALDWIN

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

With champagne toasts and surrounded by ice sculptures, Jersey City officials and others gathered yesterday to celebrate the ribbon-cutting for the Beacon condominium complex, the 1,200-unit luxury development being built at the site of the old Jersey City Medical Center.

The ceremony marked the beginning of renovations to the 14-acre, 10-building site at Baldwin Avenue and Montgomery Street. The ambitious, $350 million project will boast apartments with sweeping views of Lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.

"This is the most important development in Jersey City in the last 10 years," said Mayor Jerramiah Healy at the luncheon reception. "Not to discount waterfront development, but that is already up and running. This is an area right in the center of Jersey City that badly needs a little boost."

The Beacon is being developed by Metrovest Equities, whose principal is George Filopolous.

The first phase of construction, the renovation of the Rialto and the Capitol - the two buildings closest to the intersection of Baldwin and Montgomery - will have 315 condos and will be available in 2007. Studios are expected to go for $275,000, but Filopolous would not comment on the other anticipated sale prices.

There is a waiting list of 1,500 for studios and one-and two-bedroom units.
The old Medical Center, first constructed in 1936 and closed in 2004, was purchased by Metrovest in 2002 for $6.5 million from the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency.

"I decided to build here because it's a growing area and I want to continue and add to that growth," said Filopolous.

Beacon plans something for everyone

Move over, Trump Plaza.
While Donald Trump may be planning to construct the largest residential towers in New Jersey, George Filopoulos' 1,200-unit condominium complex, the Beacon, may just be the swankiest.
Some of the amenities will include:

Two theaters, one for film and TV screenings and one for plays and events.

A gym, yoga studio and private and public saunas.

A juice bar

A rooftop sundeck, equipped for grilling

Poker rooms and a billiards hall

A daycare center

Shuttle buses to the PATH and Manhattan ferries.

Filopoulos also announced yesterday that he has purchased the 26-acre Grand Plaza, at Grand and State streets, and plans to renovate the aging shopping center.

Method101

December 13th, 2005, 05:06 AM

dang yo, jersey city has really changed from the days when i was there

macmini

January 20th, 2006, 09:57 AM

700 Grove

macmini

January 20th, 2006, 09:58 AM

Liberty harbor
http://www.libertyharbor.com/index.php

The Liberty Harbor North Redevelopment is ready to leap from the drawing board into reality!

Peter Mocco and Jeff Zak are the principal developers of the $2 billion project. Andres Duany, chief architect of Liberty Harbor North, is known for the famed "New Urbanism" city planning concept, as exemplified by the Seaside development in Florida.

The 86-acre mixed-use development will have more than 6,000 units in housing; 775,000 square-feet for retail; 175,000 square-feet for school facilties; 1.1 million square-feet for a hotel; and 4.6 million square-feet for offices.

http://www.libertyharbor.com/images/405.jpg
During the Spring months of 2005, we’ve been working hard developing Liberty Harbor. And as we survey the grounds in April, we see five brand new City roads, seven blocks worth of new basement and garage construction, and the foundations and footings for our beautiful homes in Section 1.

http://www.libertyharbor.com/images/505.jpg
Should you find yourself winding through Grand Street and Liberty View Drive in May, you’ll see our masons preparing the grounds for the pouring of townhouse and brownstone foundations. Meanwhile, we continue our work shaping and developing the seven new City blocks on our site.

http://www.libertyharbor.com/images/605ii.jpg
June 2005

http://www.libertyharbor.com/images/705.jpg
Summer is in full swing, and so is construction throughout Liberty Harbor. Our roads are growing, utilities are being connected, and no fewer than three new City blocks of townhouses and brownstones are rising from their construction sites. Perhaps most exciting of all, the largest structure in our community, the Condominium, has its foundation in place as we prepare for its framing to begin.

http://www.libertyharbor.com/images/805ii.jpg
Construction is now in full view, the lumber has arrived. The townhouses and brownstones are being framed; the first floors are just taking shape. All other construction is moving forward on schedule.

http://www.libertyharbor.com/images/905.jpg
The townhouses and brownstones we began in the Spring have come into their own. These luxury homes in sections 4 and 1 have transformed the landscape of Grand Street from a site of great potential to a warm, welcoming neighborhood.

http://www.libertyharbor.com/images/1005.jpg
Standing at our newly constructed intersection between Liberty View Drive and Grand Street, you’ll greet the epically beautiful Statue of Liberty in unobstructed sight. Our luxury townhouses and brownstones are completely framed. Soon their structures will be complete when the roofers arrive to cap these beautiful homes.

http://www.libertyharbor.com/images/1105ii.jpg
November 2005

http://www.libertyharbor.com/images/1205i.jpg
December 2005

http://www.libertyharbor.com/images/0106i.jpg
January 2006

http://www.libertyharbor.com/images/0206i.jpg
February 2006

macmini

January 20th, 2006, 10:06 AM

700 Grove
700 Grove Street
www.700grove.com
Developer: Toll Brothers
Condo's
started: 2005
finished: 2006
Stories: 12
230-unit

http://static.flickr.com/41/88329955_bee057146f_o.jpg

macmini

January 20th, 2006, 10:07 AM

GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Trump Partner Gets $171M Loan
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: January 18, 2006 08:20am

JERSEY CITY-Corus Bank has closed on a $171-million loan to Vector Urban Renewal Associates I, an affiliate of the Hoboken-based Metro Homes and its head, Dean Geibel. The financing is for Trump, Jersey City, a massive residential/retail complex that Metro Homes and Geibel are developing in partnership with Donald J. Trump.

As GlobeSt.com reported at the time, the project was unveiled back in late September with a price tag estimated at $415 million. When completed, it will be operated under the Trump umbrella of properties and managed by the Trump Organization.

“Despite the large loan size, the bank was able to close the transaction without participants,” says Keith Gibbons, first vice president of Corus Bank, a subsidiary of the Chicago-based Corus Bankshares Inc. Rising on a two-acre parcel at Washington and Bay streets in this city’s Exchange Place neighborhood, the complex’s two towers, when completed, will be the tallest buildings in the State of New Jersey. The project will include a 531,500-sf tower topping out at 55 stories and containing 445 condo homes. The second tower, reaching 50 floors, will total more than 480,000 sf and have 417 homes.

Work will start on the larger of the two towers first, and both will be linked by a 330,000-sf, seven-story base that will include a parking structure with a capacity of nearly 700 cars. The base unit will also house 23,000 sf of retail space, a business center, a private 8,000-sf fitness and a rooftop plaza with an outdoor heated pool, among other things.

Construction is being done by Bovis Lend Lease on a design produced by DeWitt Tishman Architects. The development partners are targeting the end of 2007 for initial occupancy.

Audiomuse

January 20th, 2006, 06:53 PM

I am in love with goldman sachs tower. Wow all these projects are so modern and unique! Like somebody said, trump could be more creative. But Trump is a stubborn man and loves box buildings. Who could blame him?

macmini

January 23rd, 2006, 10:07 AM

This was posted by Historyrules on JC List great article in The Sunday Star-Ledger about the PowerHouse located at First Street and Washington Boulevard on the Jersey City waterfront.

http://www.jerseycityhistory.net/Scan10012_1.jpg

http://www.jerseycityhistory.net/Scan10013.jpg

macmini

January 27th, 2006, 11:14 PM

St. Francis Hospital Redevelopment

St. Francis Hospital has been a major anchor on Jersey City's Hamilton Park for nearly 150 years. The Franciscan Sisters of the Pooe founded the hospital originally as a three-story brick house on Hamilton Square in 1863.The hospital expanded several times turning the east side of Hamilton Park into a jumble of building styles on a non conforming footprint.The building contained approximately 400,000 square feet of floor area.

Proposed Phases of Development

Transform the existing hospital structure located on the east side of Hamilton Park and two nearby parcels - the parking garage on Erie street and the vacant lot located at 210 Ninth Street - into residences, commercial/retail space, and enclosed parking.

The first phase of development should take place in the spring of 2006 on McWilliams Place and will take approximately one year to complete.This phase will include the facad replacement of the brown brick tower, the restoration of the circa 1920's building on the corner of Erie and Ninth Streets, and the construction of a new six story infill building on the corner of McWilliams Place and Ninth Street. In addition, the main building immediately to the south will be razed at this time. When completed, this block will contain approximately 125 residences.

The second phase of the project will be the new construction of approximately 75 and the adaptive reuse of the Nursing School on Eighth Street into appromimately 35 residences. All of the building will contain ground floor commercial space and underground parking. The commercial space contemplated to be located within the project include boutiques and cafes, The Garden Pre-School, a gym/health club and doctors/professional offices.

The Third phase of the project will be the dismantling of the parking garage on Erie Street, and replacing it with a new aesthetically pleasing brick and glass structure that will include indoor parking and approximately 65 residences with ground floor retail. The vacant lot at 210 Ninth Street will see the new construction of a five story residential building compatible with the adjacent structures.

Exeter is also committed to contributing to the rehabilitation and preservation of Hamilton Park, and has begun to refurbish the existing chain link fence that surrounds the Park.

You can find more renderings at http://www.saintfrancisjerseycity.com/

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b89/dojomojo/stfrancis.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/14/91819604_896db3f4fb_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/41/91819608_80218d173c_o.jpg

macmini

January 31st, 2006, 01:13 AM

99 Montgomery a small project but one of my favorite projects under construction in Jersey City. On the corner of Montgomery and Warren it has Curved Glass structure with the Historic Facade still in place.

you can see construction pics @ 99 Montgomery (http://www.emporis.com/en/il/pc/?id=244335&aid=19&sro=1&yr=2005&mt=9")

http://www.libertyrealestate.com/dynamic/images/lf157487_99mont2.jpg

macmini

January 31st, 2006, 01:14 AM

GROVE POINTE

Grove Ponite now has a website their is not much information on the site the full site is still under construction. www.grovepointecondos.com

29 stories
525 residential units and 535 parking spots
* 67 condominiums
* 458 rental apartments

Besides the residential building, the project also calls for developers to re-design the one-block section of Newark Avenue (borders are Grove and Marin) as well as the triangular park area that includes the entrance to the Grove Street PATH station.

The ground floor facade will host 20,000 sq.ft. of retail space. The plans envision streetside cafes with outside tables, trees, planters, bike racks, and decorative lights. The functional backside of the building (on Morgan) will also be landscaped and decoratively lit.

http://image60.webshots.com/60/7/63/31/452276331XWqksk_ph.jpg

http://community.webshots.com/photo/452272734/1452276048077916761vkXnqZ#

macmini

February 3rd, 2006, 08:44 PM

Jersey City makes the short list for Jets home office site

http://www.chrisbernardo.info/images/jets.jpgBy JANET FRANKSTON
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
NEWARK - The New York Jets are considering five northern New Jersey sites - including Jersey City - for the team's new corporate headquarters and practice facility, including a former Exxon headquarters in Florham Park.

Also in the running: Wood-Ridge, Berkeley Heights and Millburn.

As part of the deal to jointly build a new stadium at the Meadowlands with the New York Giants, the Jets agreed to move their headquarters to the Garden State from Hofstra University on Long Island.

A final decision, made by the team with the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, is expected by March 1.

The authority plans to either purchase 20 acres or enter into a long-term lease for the site, to include a 110,000-square-foot building and one indoor and three outdoor football fields.

The Jets sought land that would be easy to develop within 20 miles of the Meadowlands and Newark Liberty International Airport, yet accessible to Manhattan and near a range of housing, hotels and medical facilities.

Jets president Jay Cross said the team considered more than 40 properties.

The move from Hempstead is expected to generate more than $10 million each year in new taxes, according to the Jets.

George Zoffinger, president and CEO of the sports authority, said his agency will make sure the site makes the most economic sense for New Jersey.

A law approved last month expanded the sports authority's role to buy or lease land for the training facility away from the East Rutherford sports complex where the Giants will continue to practice on a new 20-acre site.

"I'm happy about the Jets possibly coming here," Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said in a statement. "Jersey City, with its proximity to New York and all the amenities we can offer, is a great fit for the Jets."

Marissa Shorenstein, a spokeswoman for the Jets, said the team hasn't yet determined if it will also develop land surrounding the practice facility.

© 2006 The Jersey Journal

macmini

February 14th, 2006, 11:50 PM

Just Approved

The Jersey City planning board on February 7, 2006 approved K. Hovnanian at 77 Hudson Street.

896 units in two towers
22,000 sf of retail space
901 parking space

http://www.cityofjerseycity.com/cale...7_2006_min.pdf

old plan for the site77 Hudson (http://www.77hudson.com)

Middle-Island

February 15th, 2006, 06:26 AM

These buildings are so needed to balance out all that Lego proposed and UC.

http://www.lera.com/pimg/residencesliberty/9928431_large.jpg

February 15th, 2006, 09:22 PM

hm, dunno...looks more like something from dubai or las vegas. lego-style is quite appropriate for the area.

macmini

February 20th, 2006, 03:04 AM

These building are apart of Liberty National Golf Course (http://www.libertynationalgc.com/) which is set to open July 4, 2006. Membership cost 1/2 million Trump & Bloomberg are members.The club house is to start construction this spring. They have not given a date on when they will start constrution on the buildings.

These buildings are so needed to balance out all that Lego proposed and UC.

http://www.lera.com/pimg/residencesliberty/9928431_large.jpg

macmini

February 20th, 2006, 03:06 AM

This is what I read about the 77 Hudson project from people who said that they have talked to the khov sales consultant. 45 stories each tower the west tower will be rental the east will be condos. The condo tower will be wider like a triangle then the rental tower. The condo will be directly in front of the rental blocking most of the views.

Here is a pic for you the construction at the bottom is A Condos project and the one next to the Power House is Trump project. It's hard to tell because of the snow but the A Condos project is way ahead of Trump.

http://static.flickr.com/37/100997154_4a30d20547_o.jpg

macmini

February 25th, 2006, 08:37 PM

Journal Square: Harwoods see towers in place of Tawil blights

A family with deep roots in Jersey City has signed a contract to purchase most of the properties on a key block in Journal Square, and is likely to be named the site's designated developer, city officials said yesterday.http://www.chrisbernardo.info/images/22_jsq_demo.jpg

The family-owned firm, led by Scott Harwood, is purchasing all Journal Square properties owned by Ralph Tawil Jr., an investor who owns roughly 80 percent of the block next to the PATH Transportation Center, including the defunct Hotel on the Square.

Having racked up nearly $4 million in building and fire code fines - and in the process of demolishing several of these properties - the New York City-based Tawil is apparently ready to leave town.

Harwood, whose roots in Jersey City stretch back three generations, signed a contract to purchase the Tawil properties in January, the developer and city officials said yesterday.

Harwood's vision for the site: Two mixed-use high-rise towers, which would include apartments, retail stores, parking and, possibly, a hotel.

"There is no reason that Journal Square, which arrived much earlier (in economic importance to the city) than the waterfront, cannot be renewed," said Harwood, who with his son, Scott, and nephew, Brett, owns two Journal Square parking lots, is part-owner of the recently opened State Theater apartment complex.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy is pleased a hometown developer is taking on the job.

In the past few weeks, Harwood, who wants to start construction next January, has presented his plans for the Square to Healy and commissioners at the city's redevelopment agency.

Chris Fiore, acting interim director of the redevelopment agency, said the Harwoods would likely be named the "designated developer" for the site at the agency's next meeting on March 21.

macmini

February 28th, 2006, 11:15 PM

Trump Upgrades facade

Item #10 changes to building
http://www.cityofjerseycity.com/cale...ry_28_2006.pdf

February 28,2006 Jersey City planning board approved changes to Trump Building.

From: Real Estate Weekly
Title: DeWitt Tishman gets the job at Trump Towers in Jersey.
Publication: Real Estate Weekly
Issue: Sept 28, 2005

With Donald Trump on board, the new owners retained DeWitt Tishman, asking the New York City-based firm to make the design changes necessary to transform the project into a development that reflects the high standards of the Trump Organization.

"This is a very high profile assignment for us," said Peter DeWitt, a company principal. In a few short months, the firm, working with the Trump Organization and Metro Homes, made some design modifications that they believe will make the property unique to the Jersey City waterfront area.

Some of the changes from the original plan include a cast stone facade in place of brick. DeWitt noted that cast stone was used with great success at Trump Place Riverside in Manhattan. In addition, cast stone spandrels with distinctive Art Deco detailing will decorate the space above and below the apartment windows. The windows themselves were changed from double hung to sliders.

In addition, a number of alterations were made to the interior finishes at the Trump Plaza: Jersey City. A key design element retained from the original plan, DeWitt said, was the stepped floor plan of the towers, which provides expansive corner views of Manhattan from most of the nine apartments on each floor. Apartments in the upper reaches of the buildings benefit from panoramic views of the entire region, with premium three-bedroom residences on the top floors utilizing building setbacks as private terraces.

Some of the other noteworthy design elements to be featured at Trump Plaza: Jersey City include: monumental stone piers that define the lobby entrance, a stately seven-story base that mediates between street level and the tower above and rusticated piers that soar the full height of the building to a distinctive crown defined by setbacks and deeply set windows.

macmini

February 28th, 2006, 11:25 PM

HARBORSIDE'S NEW TENANT - Financial firm to bring 300 jobs

Citco Fund Services, a leading investment management company, is leaving Manhattan for Jersey City.
http://www.chrisbernardo.info/images/normal_maccali2.jpeg
Citco executives say they will move as many as 300 employees from their offices on Madison Avenue to Harborside Plaza 10 on the Jersey City waterfront by the end of the year.

"We got an offer for a Grade A building in a great location that is near where all our clients are based," said Jay Peller, managing director for Citco Fund Services. "We'll be moving our back- and middle-office operations there, and some of our technology services. Jersey City is a very good location for us."

The deal continues the growth of the financial industry in Jersey City, which has been holding its own in the battle with downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn for attracting companies looking for relief from skyrocketing rents in Midtown.

In the current buyer's market, the deal is a major coup for American Financial Realty Trust, the Pennsylvania-based real estate investment trust that controls the 70,000 square feet at Harborside Plaza where Citco will move.

"This was a deal for continuous space that we were able to negotiate in two and a half weeks where we could give them one of the best locations on the waterfront," said Michael Weil, vice president of sales at American Financial, which controls 1,100 buildings, totaling roughly 40 million square feet, in the United States.

Citco Fund Services handles the administrative work for more than 1,700 hedge funds. Among its varied services, the company settles trades and sends investors portfolio updates.

Peller said most of Citco's clients in the region are in New York or southern Connecticut. Citco was located across from the World Trade Center until September 2001, then moved to Midtown three months later.

Moving to Jersey City will give the company significant savings on rent. Rents on the Jersey City waterfront are in the $30-to-$35-per-square-foot range, compared with $75 and up in Midtown Manhattan.

"The economics factor into it, but this is the right building in the right location close to the city," Peller said.

© 2006 The Jersey Journal
© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved

kazpmk

March 1st, 2006, 05:54 AM

macmini, can you confirm construction began on trump towers NJ???

StevenW

March 1st, 2006, 11:57 AM

I love the Residences at Liberty! Very nice! :)

macmini

March 8th, 2006, 12:31 AM

Jersey City grows, but not everywhere

By JANET FRANKSTON
Associated Press Writer

March 4, 2006, 9:08 AM ES

JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- Every morning and afternoon, Rachel Schunkewitz prepares four varieties of hummus in her new cafe in downtown Jersey City.

One of the more popular items on the menu is the "Rachel" salad, made with smoked trout, endive and sliced almonds.

Her gourmet menu illustrates how a part of Jersey City has changed in the 30 years since her parents left New Jersey's second largest city for a safer place to raise their children.

"This place used to be an undesirable place to live. It was a place were people went to buy drugs," Schunkewitz, 43, said in the cafe, decorated with exposed brick and flower pedals in the bathroom. "I see a big difference. It's an up and coming area."

Abandoned rail yards, decaying industrial buildings and drug-infested streets are being replaced by high-rise office towers, trendy restaurants, boutiques and even million dollar condos with the name Trump attached to them.

Over the last decade, building permits for new housing have soared while crime rates have dropped. Areas of the city across the Hudson River from New York have emerged as hotspots for expensive housing. The draw continues to be more affordable prices than Manhattan and easy access to transportation.

But as these areas prosper with new retail space and transplants, some longtime Jersey City residents ask why developers aren't investing in their part of town, west of the waterfront and the New Jersey Turnpike.

The development will eventually spread to other neighborhoods as builders seek less expensive land, said Ben Jogodnik, senior vice president for Toll Brothers. The national builder, known mostly for suburban subdivisions, is shifting attention to the urban market and building a 12-story condo project in Jersey City, where he expects some units to sell for $1 million.

For now, most of the new construction remains near the areas with the views and the historical downtown district. Residential building permits climbed to 2,156 in 2004, up from only 305 a decade ago .

Bob Cotter, the city's planning director, said builders selected the most fertile area of Jersey City first. Much of the waterfront land was vacant railroad yards.

"It was easier to develop because there was not a lot of relocation involved," he said.

Large, national builders continue to join smaller developers in the market. The 20-year-old Newport project on the river _ with its own PATH stop and 600 acres for office space, housing and a shopping mall _ is expected to grow for another decade.

Growth is also visible on Grove Street near city hall, where Schunkewitz and a partner opened their seven-table cafe. Down the street is a boutique called Tia's Place and the Bar Majestic, part of a project around the Majestic theater, which has been redeveloped after sitting abandoned for three decades.

That's where four women who work in one of the high-rise towers gathered for drinks one evening. Nicole Campbell, 30, said she didn't expect to see a boutique in the area.

"I want to go in there and spend some money," she said. "I'm also surprised at all the new construction."

But one PATH stop away at Journal Square, once a vital hub of commerce, the retail scene is different: 99-cent and check-cashing stores and fast-food restaurants.

At a barber shop a few blocks from the square, Odett Andreou, 47, pines for a new grocery store or hotel.

"The changes are coming here by donkey," said Andreou, who runs the salon with her husband, Louis. "It seems like here it's moving slow. Down there, it's coming by express."

She and her neighbors, some of whom have lived for decades on Cottage Street, say that Jersey City is developing into two distinct cities. Longtime residents are being replaced "by a whole generation of people, the ones who can afford the rent," she said.

John McIlwain, a senior fellow for housing at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C., agrees.

"Wealth is spreading to every homeowner in the city because the housing values are rising, some of them dramatically," he said. "There's a cost to that, higher taxes to the older homeowners and higher rents."

Besides housing prices, Nick Damato, 84, a lifelong Jersey City resident and Cottage Street neighbor, said he worries about crime. He said he was mugged in his own house 1{ years ago.

Crime has decreased over the last decade: Robberies have dropped by 35.7 percent and murders by 37.8 percent. Mayor Jerramiah Healy said that's helped the city's image improve.

"There were neighborhoods where people didn't want to walk through, never mind invest in or buy," he said. "I think that has changed."

Now, parts of Jersey city have drawn Target, yoga studios and a Basic, a coffee shop so charming it's been mentioned in National Geographic Traveler magazine.

Franklin Militello, 65, a neighbor of the Andreous, said two different worlds exist in the city.

"Now it's like being in Manhattan," he said. "There are a lot of nice restaurants. The people are a little different."

One of the newcomers is James Sigman, who moved from Staten Island into a second-floor walk up near downtown in 2003.

"It was close enough to city where it's convenient but still have your own private space," said Sigman, 29.

He pays monthly rent of $1,000 for a one-bedroom apartment with a fire place, tons of closet space and enough room to accommodate 7-foot-tall bookshelves.

Housing value also attracted Alla Zilberman, a physician who commutes to Manhattan. She paid $540,000 for a 1,385-square-foot duplex that is part of the Majestic redevelopment.

She's seen changes since moving into her condo, with a view of the Statue of Liberty, in May 2004. She watched a parking lot on Washington Boulevard become a Chili's restaurant.

"It will be interesting to see how it plays out over five years," said Zilberman, 32. "I've already noticed congestion on the PATH train."

The same developers who are building high-rise towers near the waterfront say the growth will spread as land values creep up and the lower-priced areas become more desirable. Jogodnik, of Toll Brothers, said development has revolved around transportation hubs and the waterfront.

"I would expect it to travel from there to other areas," he said. "I think there's plenty of good urban development and redevelopment that can occur in Jersey City for years to come."
Reply With Quote

macmini

March 8th, 2006, 01:02 AM

macmini, can you confirm construction began on trump towers NJ???

I already post a pic where you can see Trump and A Condos under construction I will post it again. Trump is the one on the side of the Power House.
http://static.flickr.com/37/100997154_4a30d20547_o.jpg

macmini

March 8th, 2006, 01:08 AM

The new design for the Trump Project

New Design vs. Old Design
http://www.metrohomesllc.com/images/trump_pr2.jpghttp://www.metrohomesllc.com/images/trump_pr.jpg

nygirl

March 8th, 2006, 04:39 AM

It's a small improvement, they are both rather bland. Though I am excited for Jersey Cities new developments, plenty of lots.

Mosaic

March 8th, 2006, 09:44 AM

It's better.

Phobos

March 8th, 2006, 09:53 PM

Both designs were great IMO :)

macmini

March 9th, 2006, 03:31 AM

Another giant on Hudson Street

Apartment complex of 901 units to be constructed on same block as state's tallest building

http://images.zwire.com/local/Z/ZWIRE1291/zwire/images/2006/03/story/20060307_234140_1_story.jpg
77 HUDSON ST. – Construction on the 500-foot building
near the Jersey City waterfront is expected to start in
late spring or early summer this year

Number 77 Hudson St. will soon be another new destination on the Jersey City waterfront. The address once designated for a 32-story office building instead will be occupied by a 48-story, 901-unit luxury twin-tower building.

The Planning Board approved the building for construction at a meeting on Feb. 7.

One tower will contain approximately 420 condominium units with 420 parking spaces and 10,914 square feet of retail space. The tower will be built by nationally known homebuilders K. Hovnanian Companies of Edison.

The other tower will contain 481 rental units with the same number of parking spaces and 10,181 square feet of retail space. That tower will be built by EQR-Urban Renewal of Vienna, Va.

All parking spaces will be in a garage.

The building is being considered for a 20-year tax abatement by the City Council, with the final approval to be granted at their next meeting this Wednesday.

At 500 feet, the building will be the second-largest building on the block - after 30 Hudson St., the state's tallest building at 791 feet.

Construction is expected to start in late spring or early summer this year, with K. Hovnanian and EQR building simultaneously.

Growing up six years later

In April 2000, the Jersey City Planning Board approved a 32-story office tower with 646 parking spaces for 77 Hudson St. The developers were to have been Secaucus-based commercial real estate developers Hartz Mountain Industries, also owners of the property.

But a Hartz Mountain representative said recently that the office market boom that occurred in the late 1990s in Jersey City began to slow down by 2003, and the decision was made not to go ahead with building a new office space.

Architectural renderings of 77 Hudson St. show that entrances for the building will be on Hudson Street for the east tower and Greene Street for the west tower, with the parking garage entrance on Sussex Street.

Doug Fenichel, spokesperson for K. Hovnanian, commented last week on the uniqueness of the project for the firm.

"It's certainly our first skyscraper, so we are very excited," Fenichel said. "Usually we are known for our portfolio of single-family homes, but this project shows our diversity in urban building."

Fenichel did not give details of how much K. Hovnanian's part of the project will cost and could not give the prices because those amounts, as well as the square footage for the condos, are still being determined. K. Hovnanian plans to build 42 studio, 232 one-bedroom, 110 two-bedroom, and 36 three-bedroom condos.

Using the pricing figures of the condos at the near-completed K. Hovnanian at Exchange Place in Paulus Hook, one-bedroom condos could average $450,000 and up, while two-bedroom units could go for at least $650,000.

K. Hovnanian was also the developer of the Droyers Point community, located on Kellogg Street near Route 440.

EQR did not return a call for comment. They are planning to construct 113 studio, 238 one-bedroom and 130 two-bedroom apartments.

EQR is the developer of several luxury apartment complexes in Downtown Jersey City, including Portside Towers on Washington Street, Hudson Pointe on Dudley Street, and The Pier.

Based on their other Jersey City developments, pricing for the EQR apartments could range from $1,775 for a studio apartment at Portside Towers to $6,000 for a three-bedroom, also at Portside.

Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.

©The Hudson Reporter 2006

macmini

March 9th, 2006, 07:32 PM

SQUARE ZEAL! Plan calls for towers to rise from the rubble

http://www.chrisbernardo.info/images/square_towers.jpg

HIGH HOPES FOR SQUARE EYESORE

By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Two glassy high-rise towers with apartments, retail stores, three levels of underground parking, and possibly a hotel.

It's all coming to Journal Square and Harwood Properties, a company with deep roots in Jersey City, is going to make it happen, city officials announced last week.

Last month, Harwood Properties signed a contract to purchase almost every property on the block next to the Journal Square Transportation Center, including the defunct Hotel-on-the-Square building, the hopeful developer and city officials said.

The third-generation family-run firm - which already owns the Ramp Garage behind the Loew's Jersey Theater, another parking lot on Sip Avenue and is part-owner of the recently opened State Theater apartment complex - is buying out Ralph Tawil Jr., a New York City investor who has racked up nearly $4 million in fines on his Journal Square holdings. All of Tawil's buildings are slated for demolition.

City officials hailed the purchase contract and the proposed plans as the biggest step forward to date toward the rebirth of the once storied square.

"This comes after two decades of eyesore and waste," Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said. "Obviously the Harwoods have a long history in the city and in Journal Square in particular."

Lowell Harwood - a Lincoln High graduate and managing partner of the company - declined to say how much his firm is paying for the properties, citing a confidentiality agreement with Tawil.

However, he said he's already spent a hefty sum on the first phase of an environmental study, drillings to find out how much rock is on site, and renderings of the finished product.

Chris Fiore, interim director of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, said the limited partnership entity formed by the Harwoods to develop the site, Journal Square Development LLC, is likely to be named "designated developer" for the site at the agency's meeting on March 21.

Once that is accomplished, city officials and Harwood would negotiate the details of the plan, including the height of the towers, and how many apartments they will contain, Fiore said. A market study would help determine the feasibility of a hotel, Harwood said.

It's official: Vote names Square developer
Thursday, March 09, 2006
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

In a unanimous vote on Tuesday night, the seven-member Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, as expected, named a company controlled by the Harwood family of Jersey City to be the designated developer for a key block of Journal Square.

The Journal Square Development LLC, a creation of Harwood Properties, proposes to build two high-rise towers with apartments, retail stores, underground parking, and possibly a hotel on the block next to the PATH Transportation Center.

"I feel as though people do care," said Lowell Harwood, managing partner of Harwood Properties. "Now I'm looking forward to keeping the timetable going and accelerating the redevelopment and plan, which is our next step."

Harwood hopes to deal with zoning changes needed for the proposed development and have a site plan drawn up in the next 30 days, and wants to begin construction by January, he said.

Mayor Jerramiah Healy attended Tuesday night's meeting to emphasize the city's commitment to the redevelopment of the once storied square.

Phobos

March 10th, 2006, 12:52 AM

Two new good projects for Jersey City :okay:

macmini

March 11th, 2006, 08:53 PM

Jersey City woos Jets over lunch

Saturday, March 11, 2006
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Local officials yesterday put on the last-minute rush to attract the New York Jets to Jersey City during a posh luncheon stocked with wine, fresh salmon, and plenty of political cheerleading.

"This is a great opportunity for Jersey City, and I can't think of another city in this state that can offer what we can offer," Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy told a crowd of nearly 50 politicians, developers and others gathered at the Liberty House restaurant in Liberty State Park.

Bart Oates, a former New York Giants lineman who represents the Jets in their real estate transactions, showed the city's push is paying off because "Jersey City is in the top half of the five cities" still vying for the deal.

Jersey City has proposed the Jets build the training camp on a 28-acre site along Caven Point Avenue - on the waterfront in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. A conceptual site plan calls for four practice fields, a 150,000-square-foot main building, an auditorium and parking for more than 300 cars.

If the Jets choose the site, they would displace fields now used for soccer, softball and baseball, but the Jets would help to replace them with fields elsewhere in the city, city officials have said. Cochrane Stadium would remain in the city's possession.

"If the city is not greener, then the deal is not going to be done," said Carl Czaplicki, Healy's chief of staff and the city's lead negotiator in the deal.

Oates said that a decision is coming within two weeks, and the Jets hope to put shovels in the ground by the summer, with an expected opening date of August 2007.

The luncheon featured a six-minute video presentation that highlighted Jersey City's transformation from a blue-collar industrial city into "New York's sixth borough." The video included snippets from a number of high-profile politicians and developers, including Gov. Jon Corzine, Donald Trump and former President Bill Clinton.

"Mayor Healy, I am proud to be in Jersey City," Clinton announced on the video, pulled from the former president's visit during last year's gubernatorial election campaign.

Jamie LeFrak, one of a number of developers present, said the proposed deal's biggest perks would be the marketing and promotion it would bring to the city.

"It would attract a lot of media attention, and it will help break some people's old views of Jersey City," said LeFrak.

macmini

March 24th, 2006, 08:12 AM

AvalonBay Communities Announces Land Sale

ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 23, 2006--AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE/PCX:AVB) announced today the sale of a 0.87-acre land parcel located in Jersey City, New Jersey for a gross sales price of $15.0 million. The Company purchased the parcel in 1997 in connection with the development of The Tower at Avalon Cove, a 269-apartment home community completed by the Company in 1999 and sold in December 2005. The buyer of the land parcel intends to pursue condominium development on the site, although it is not currently entitled for this use.

The sale of this land parcel is expected to result in a gain in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles of approximately $13.2 million. The gain on land sale will add $0.175 to the Company's first quarter 2006 Earnings per Share ("EPS") and Funds from Operations ("FFO") per share. The Company generally does not project land sales when providing its financial outlook; accordingly, the Company's first quarter 2006 financial outlook for EPS of $1.25 to $1.30 and FFO per share of $0.93 to $0.97, provided on January 26, 2006, did not include the gain on sale from this land parcel.

macmini

March 24th, 2006, 08:37 AM

New Renderings for 77 Hudson

Architect Dennis Allain
http://www.dennisallain.com/node/17

http://www.dennisallain.com/files/77hudson-2006.jpg

Phobos

March 25th, 2006, 01:25 AM

^^Is this the new design for the tower showed in post 67?

colemonkee

March 25th, 2006, 02:48 AM

Looks like post 66.

streetscapeer

March 26th, 2006, 03:38 AM

cool

macmini

March 26th, 2006, 08:31 PM

^^Is this the new design for the tower showed in post 67?

No this is the new rendering for post 66 and post 67 is a different project.

macmini

March 27th, 2006, 04:53 PM

PICK 6

By Dakota Smith

March 25, 2006 -- FROM AFFORDABLE TO ULTRA-LUXE, WE GIVE YOU THE NEW HOTNESS
The blitz of new development in the city continues, with developers adding even more outlandish perks to buildings - Austrian pine trees, anyone? - or heading to up-and-coming neighborhoods.

Our guide to the latest crop of buildings includes pads that are distinctive either for location, price or amenities.

Happy home hunting in 2006.

101 WARREN TriBeCa

Buyers at 101 Warren, a 228-unit luxury residence opening in TriBeCa, can choose from five different residential designs: loft-style, townhouse, sky home, rooftop home and duplex penthouse. All apartments will have 10- to 12-foot ceilings, and floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

The building will also house a fifth-floor elevated atrium - a forest of 101 imported Austrian pines trees. Additionally, the complex - which is being marketed as the Time Warner Center for the downtown set - will be attached to 170,000 square feet of retail space, with a Whole Foods already planned for the building.

Prices range from $1.2 million for a 923-square-foot one-bedroom to $13 million for a 4,145-square-foot penthouse. The sales office opened earlier this month. www.101warren.com

WALDO LOFTS Jersey City

The expansion of Jersey City's Powerhouse Arts Center continues with the opening of Waldo Lofts, a conversion of a 12-story brick warehouse building at 159 Second St. The building's 82 units range from 700-square-feet studios to 2,400-square-feet duplex penthouses with spiral staircases; 10-foot ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows give units a loft-like feel. Our favorite perk: washer/ dryers in every unit.

Prices at Waldo Lofts range from $390,000 to $1.5 million, not counting a handful of units being sold at below market price for artists who meet income qualifications. The sales office opened last month.

www.waldolofts.com

999 Bushwick

Yup, Bushwick is the new Harlem. Or the new Red Hook. Whatever - it's cheap! The first of five new developments planned for this 'hood, 999 - a six-story, 18-unit building at 999 Willoughby St. - will offer units priced from $289,000 for a 690-square-foot one-bedroom to $500,000 for a 1,000-square-foot two-bedroom with a 500-square-foot terrace. The prices are about $100 less a square foot than similar new units in East Williamsburg, according to Corcoran Group vice president Tom Le. Amenities include indoor parking and a gym. Sales begin in November.

www.corcoran.com

SKY HOUSE Madison Square

Want to live in the clouds? Purchase the 2,817-square-foot penthouse on the top floor of the Sky House, a 55-story condo building opening at 11 E. 29th St., near Madison Square Park. One of the tallest new buildings to open for sales this year, the 139-unit Sky House will offer just three units per floor, giving buyers memorable views of both the East and Hudson Rivers.

Prices are expected to start at $1,250 a square foot, according to David Perry, director of sales at the Clarrett Group, developer of the Sky House. Concierge service, gym, and a playroom are among the building's amenities. The sales office opens in April.

www.skyhouse condo.com

101 WEST END AVE. Upper West Side

Targeting the upscale stroller set, 10 West End Ave., a 33-story, 173-unit condominium located between West 59th and West 60th streets, opens for sales in May. More than half of the units in the development, being billed as a family-friendly building with a children's activity center, are two-, three- and four-bedrooms.

All residences have floor-to-ceiling windows (some as high as 11 feet), ensuring buyers views of either the Hudson River or Midtown.

Designer Nick Dine's interior finishes include Siberian marble countertops and walnut cabinetry in the bathrooms, and granite countertops with white-oak and etched-glass cabinets in the stainless-steel kitchens. Lucky residents at 10 West End Ave. also get valet parking, as well as concierge service, a playroom and a gym, complete with a glass-enclosed 50-foot pool.

Prices are expected to start at $750,000 for a 750-square-foot one-bedroom and top out at $4.5 million for a 2,600-square-foot four-bedroom. www.10wea.com

THE CALEDONIA Meatpacking District

Indulgent services can certainly be found at the Caledonia, a 190-unit building opening at 450 W. 17th St. Set at the tip of the glam Meatpacking District (steps from Del Posto and Morimoto) and near the new High Line Park, the Caledonia will offer an Equinox gym and spa, indoor parking, a library, a meditation garden, a sun deck and outdoor terrace, a pet spa and a children's playroom.

Interior finishes by designer Clodagh (pictured) include bamboo wood flooring throughout the units, while bathrooms come with quartzite slab countertops and stone-tile flooring. The lobby will have a cascading water feature and a bamboo garden.

Prices, as well as unit sizes, are still being determined for the Caledonia, a development from the Related Companies (whose properties include the Time Warner Center and who recently purchased Equinox). The building opens for sales in April.

www.thecaledonia.com

macmini

April 20th, 2006, 10:13 PM

Project Updates

Columbus Tower
http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/ColumbusTower/viewsize/coltower.rend.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/ColumbusTower/coltower.01.06.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/ColumbusTower/coltower.11.05_02.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/ColumbusTower/coltower.02.06.1.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/ColumbusTower/coltower.02.06.3.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/ColumbusTower/coltower.02.06.4.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/ColumbusTower/coltower.02.06.6.jpg

700 Grove

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/700_Grove/viewsize/700grove_art.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/700_Grove/700grove.jpg

Grove Pointe

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/GrovePointe/artisticsouthwest.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/GrovePointe/grovep.12.05.1.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/GrovePointe/grovepo.02.06.4.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/GrovePointe/grovepo.02.06.7.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/GrovePointe/grovep.12.05.2.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/GrovePointe/grovepo.02.06.2.jpg

Gulls Cove

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/JCGPWH/gullscoveart.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/JCGPWH/gullscove.02.06.1.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/JCGPWH/gullscove.02.06.2.jpg

Liberty Harbor North

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/ISXCRM/lhn.12.05.3.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/ISXCRM/lbh.02.06.1.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/ISXCRM/lbh.02.06.2.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/ISXCRM/lhn.12.05.1.jpg

Liberty Terrace

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/LibertyTerrace/libter.11.05_1.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/LibertyTerrace/libter.11.05_2.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/LibertyTerrace/libterr.02.06.1.jpg

Montgomery Greene

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/Montgomery-Greene/montgr.artist.1.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/Montgomery-Greene/montgre.11.05_1.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/Montgomery-Greene/montgreen.11.05_2.jpg

Shore Club

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/OFJYPY/shoreclub.art.1.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/OFJYPY/shoreclub.12.05.2.jpg

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/OFJYPY/shorclub.01.06.1.jpg

Trump Plaza

http://www.bt-tech.com/jerseycityvibe/images/zoom/NQYGNY/trump.02.06.1.jpg

TroyBoy

April 20th, 2006, 10:56 PM

Im liking Grove Pointe.

macmini

April 20th, 2006, 11:16 PM

Residential projects dominate landscape

Monday, April 17, 2006

By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City's office market boom has hit a wall, making way for a surging housing market that will change the face of the city's Downtown for decades to come, city officials and experts say.

While the 1980s and 1990s saw financial companies such as Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan Chase transform Jersey City's shores into the Gold Coast, today's market is dominated by housing giants like Toll Brothers, K. Hovnanian and Donald Trump.

More than 15,000 residential units are expected to flood the Downtown area over the next several years, putting pressure on municipal services, according to the city's Division of Planning. Though more than seven million square feet of office space was developed from 2000 to 2005, planning officials say the current office market is very sluggish and will remain so for the foreseeable future.

"There are currently no office projects under construction, and none planned," says a planning report authored by Planning Director Robert Cotter earlier this year. Those two opposite trends have prompted at least one expert to declare that "the job growth era is over in Jersey City."

From 1992 to 2000, the state created 243,000 high-paying office jobs, driven by Jersey City's growth on the waterfront, says James Hughes, dean of Rutgers University's Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.

But since 2000, there has been a net loss across the state, thanks to increases in the state income tax and other business taxes, said Hughes.

"New Jersey has become an unfriendly place to do business," Hughes said.

The most recent sign of this trend is 77 Hudson St., where Hartz Mountain Industries just scrapped plans to build a 32-story office tower because the

company believed that Jersey City cannot absorb the new space.

The company sold the land for $65 million to K. Hovnanian, which now plans to build two 48-story towers, with more than 1,300 condo and rental units combined.

City officials and experts say Manhattan is driving the housing trend, as it previously did with the growth of the office space market in Jersey City.

The high costs of buying a home and living in Manhattan, combined with the market demand for luxury condos in the region, has created such high demand for housing in less costly Jersey City.

"If everything that is being constructed were built tomorrow, we still would still not satisfy the housing demand," said Downtown city Councilman Steven Fulop, who also works in the financial industry.

Mega mogul Donald Trump summed up the city's housing surge when he visited the waterfront last year to announce his $415 million project that will feature the Garden State's two largest residential towers, at 55 and 50 stories - Trump Plaza Jersey City

"I am the largest developer in Manhattan, and I am coming to Jersey City. So a lot of people come the other way, and I am coming this way, and I am pretty good at predicting trends, so let's hope that's a trend," Trump said.

And when the Athena Group and Golden Tree InSite Partners announced a $110 million condo project on the Hudson waterfront in October of last year, the president and CEO of the Athena Group said "Jersey City is in the midst of a phenomenal housing boom."

With the boom in residents come issues that need to be addressed, says Fulop.

"We need to continue to hire more police officers, but we need to make sure we're hiring more than we are retiring," said Fulop.

macmini

April 26th, 2006, 07:23 PM

32-story 'Aqua' approved

Planning Board also OKs affordable housing, other major projects
The Planning Board gave early approval Tuesday for several site plans for large-scale projects, but the developers will have to return to the board later for the final go-ahead. The projects include the 32-story "Aqua" residential tower, part of the Newport section of town.

There will also be a 16-story building on Luis Marin Boulevard, a 12-story building encompassing Oakland and Hoboken avenues and Washburn Street, and a five-story affordable housing complex on Martin Luther King Drive

The Aqua

The 32-story Aqua will have 363 residential units, 15,348 square feet of retail, and 291 parking spaces. There will be 20 studio apartments, 169 one-bedrooms, 161 two-bedrooms, and 13 three-bedrooms. The entire space will be 490,063 square feet.

The project will be built by Newport Associates Development Company as part of Newport's commitment to building on the Northeast Quadrant near the Jersey City-Hoboken border.

Liberty Harbor North

A 16-story building will be built within the massive Liberty Harbor North Redevelopment Area on Luis Marin Boulevard, near Grand Street and Jersey Avenue.

The project includes transforming 80 acres of vacant land into an estimated 6,500 units of market-rate housing, one million square feet of hotel space, 750,000 square feet of retail space, and 4.5 million square feet of office space.

Former North Bergen Mayor and Jersey City-based businessman Peter Mocco is the developer of the entire area. Construction has already begun and will be completed by next year.

The building will encompass a total of over 891,000 square feet. There will be 498 residential units with 321 one-bedroom, 163 two-bedroom, and 14 three-bedroom apartments.

There will also be over 26,000 square feet of retail and a garage with 454 parking spaces.

The partners in the venture are Hoboken-based developers Michael and David Barry along with developer Murray Kushner.

Oakland and Washburn avenues project

A 12-story residential building, to be built next year, will include 150 units and 161 parking spaces. It will be a short walking distance from the Hudson County Administration Building and Courthouse.

This is one of two projects being developed by local developer Tony Deluco; the other is a 92-unit building located across the street from the 12-story project.

Ten studio, 60 one-bedroom, and 80 two-bedroom apartments and a two-level parking garage were proposed.

Among those endorsing the project at the Planning Board meeting was Ward C City Councilman Steve Lipski, who said that this project would spur the "renaissance" of the Journal Square and surrounding areas.

After presenting the project, Deluco said he would not pursue any abatements. A tax abatement is an agreement to exempt a developer from regular, fluctuating property taxes. There is usually a separate revenue deal for the developer to pay money to the city over 20 or 30 years.

The city benefits from abatements because the resulting Payment in Lieu of Tax (PILOT) money goes straight to the city rather than being split among the city, the county, and the schools.

Webb Apartments - Affordable housing

A five-story housing complex to be built on Martin Luther King Drive, called the Webb Apartments, will include 40 units of affordable housing.

The project will have no parking because it will be located near the Martin Luther King Drive Light Rail Station.

The project is the brainchild of local resident Lavern Webb Washington, who teamed up with the New York-based architectural firm Genesis Partners. Washington said the project is "sorely needed" in a time of too many luxury apartments.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com

©The Hudson Reporter 2006

macmini

May 2nd, 2006, 04:31 AM

http://www.hunterrobertscg.com/images/77hudson_projects1.jpg

77 Hudson Street
Jersey City, New Jersey

DESCRIPTION
Providing Preconstruction services for the planned construction of two 50-story residential buildings with retail space, totaling 25,000 s.f. on the waterfront in Jersey City, New Jersey. One of the buildings will house condominium units and the second will house rental units. Both buildings will contain retail and parking accommodations. Both condominium and rental units will contain high-end finishes with floor to ceiling glass, wood flooring or wall to wall carpeting, cultured marble vanity tops, contemporary appliances and wood cabinetry. The complex will contain a 2,500 s.f. state of the art fitness center, theater room and business center. The condominium building will allow for a 420-car parking garage with a car wash, the rental building will include a 360-car garage and an additional 13 spaces for retail. The shared amenity space at the terrace level will contain a grilling area, outdoor bar and pool, jogging path, putting green and volley ball and bocce ball courts.

VOLUME
$280,000,000 Construction

COMPLETION DATE
July, 2009 Anticipated Construction Date

OWNER
Equity Residential
c/o Prospect Towers
300 Prospect Avenue
Hackensack, New Jersey 07601

K. Hovnanian
110 Filedcrest Avenue
CN 7825
Edison, New Jersey 08818

ARCHITECT
Cetra/Ruddy Incorporated
584 Broadway
Suite 401
New York, New York 10012

macmini

May 2nd, 2006, 04:33 AM

Downtown Construction Boom

Tris Mccall (Originally published in Discover Your Neighborhood)
April 19, 2006

The rough song of the bulldozers, pile-drivers, and cranes – that’s the soundtrack for life in Downtown Jersey City. Wherever you go, out by the glass towers of the waterfront, behind the new entrance to the Grove Street PATH Station, in the warehouse district, across the street from Victory Hall, you’ll encounter construction. On the closed stretches of Washington Avenue by the Powerhouse, the trucks of the work crews line halfway to Christopher Columbus; across Marin, teams of hard-hatted construction workers lay the foundation for the western most of two new towers that will soon flank the Boulevard.

There will be retail space available on the ground floor of these buildings. But like almost all of the recent construction in Jersey City, these are primarily residential projects. Over the next few years, the largest municipality in Hudson County is poised to grow considerably larger. Thousands of new condominium and rental units are scheduled to become available for sale or lease. The Downtown Ward – already the largest in the city – will likely welcome an entire small suburb’s worth of growth. Many of these new homes and apartments are in luxury hi-rises and developments priced at more than $600 per square foot. We all know that Jersey City is in the midst of an unprecedented real estate boom. But is interest in our town really this fevered?

“Don’t look at it from a Jersey City perspective,” suggests Jamie LeFrak, co-developer of Newport. “We’re part of the greater New York City market. And if you look at the housing stock in that market – the overall housing stock – you’d compare it to the amount of new development you’re seeing here, and you’d pretty much shrug. A couple thousand new units? Add that to the other twenty million on the other side of the river.”

The LeFrak organization is unafraid to keep adding. The Shore Club (580 Washington Blvd.), a luxury condominium crown atop the mostly-rental 600-acre Newport development, is a multi-staged project that has already drawn intense interest from potential buyers. Since opening its sales office in September, 211 of the 214 available units have already sold – many of them for more than half a million dollars. What’s perhaps surprising is that LeFrak was able to move these high-priced condominiums without bothering to advertise them. The interest in Left Coast property is so heated that word-of-mouth and internet discussion groups are generally enough to fill waterfront towers with new tenants and owners.

“What people don’t necessarily realize,” continues LeFrak, “is that New York City has a housing shortage, and that’s probably been true since the 1940s. Any housing that gets added to the area helps with catching up with the demand created by the shortage. It’s more than likely that Jersey City has been springing up to relieve that demand for NYC housing. After all, people keep showing up in New York City, and they all need roofs over their heads.”

It was once believed that the Jersey City housing market was entirely skyline-driven, and thus it was mandatory to locate all new towers at the lip of the Hudson River, or with unobstructed views of the Statue of Liberty. But Manhattan builders have begun to grasp the advantages and conveniences of life in Jersey City, or perhaps they’ve just discovered faith in Hudson County as an emerging market in its own right. With almost all of the Downtown waterfront currently occupied, developers have stepped back a few blocks from the eastern edge of New Jersey and purchased lots on Washington Avenue, Greene Street, and Marin Boulevard. These towers will be tall enough to offer panoramic views of New York City – at least from the higher floors – as their press releases make clear. But they’ve been just as keen on marketing their proximity to quick public transit and the renascent Downtown commercial district.

The Athena Group, a real estate developer headquartered in Manhattan, is co-developing the lot at Washington and First bordered on its south and west sides by the Hudson-Bergen light rail tracks. While there’s nothing but rubble on the site now, soon the gleaming-glass and terraced complex called “A” (sales office at 97 Hudson in Hoboken) will rise from the abandoned lot. Closer to completion is Montgomery-Greene (sales office at 66 York Street), a partnership between Wall Township’s KOR Companies and Manhattan-based Time Equities. The concrete-and-steel frame that now looms over the Exchange Place PATH Station will shortly become a nineteen-story tower featuring 113 elaborately-appointed condominiums. Perhaps most famously, business-mogul-turned-TV-star Donald Trump has committed to bringing Trump Plaza Jersey City (Washington and First) to the vacant lot south of the Powerhouse. This mammoth two-tower 862-unit project is also a partnership between a New York financier and Jersey developer Metro Homes LLC.

Like most other waterfront towers, these will bear the hallmark of New York architectural style: slimness, verticality, plate glass frontage, hi-rise elegance, a certain corporate feel. But the waterfront is zoned for skyscraping projects. Once all the parcels of land east of Marin Boulevard are occupied, developers will have to turn further inland, where most neighborhoods have protected their block grid through historical preservation ordinances. The future of Downtown development may not be the Shore Club, but instead LeFrak’s small-scale projects west of Marin Boulevard and the Newport shopping mall.

In picturesque Hamilton Park, noted for its array of well-preserved nineteenth-century brownstones, the LeFrak Organization has erected two smaller rental properties meant to echo the architectural scale of the neighborhood. The Roosevelt (10th and Manila), the second and smaller of the buildings, filled almost immediately once units were made available. “As we did during the construction of the Abraham Lincoln – the rental property right next to The Roosevelt – we tried to evoke colonial 1910 apartment-building style”, offers LeFrak. “I’m glad we got a second shot at it, because I think we got it right to a greater extent this time.”

Although it may not appear so to a casual visitor or to a New Yorker scanning our skyline from the West Side Highway, hi-rise waterfront development in Jersey City has always been accompanied by a parallel interest in the refurbishment and preservation of our pre-existing housing stock. Many of the city’s most notable homegrown developers – Liberty Harbor’s Jeff Zak and Peter Mocco, for instance – began their real estate ventures with restoration projects. Brothers Paul and Eric Silverman of Exeter Properties – best known for their breathtaking restoration and adaptive re-use of the Majestic Theatre (228 Montgomery Street) – are extending their track record of historically sensitive development with two ambitious developments elsewhere in Hamilton Park. Exeter has taken pains to give the residences at The Schroeder Lofts (234 Tenth Street) an eco-friendly design. Closer to the park, the nascent development at the old St. Francis Medical Center (25 McWilliams) promises to bring a pedestrian-friendly strip of boutique retail to the historic neighborhood.

“We’ll be restoring the park facing on the west side of the building,” explains Eric Silverman, “There’ll be a market and a dry cleaner, and we envision a health club and a nursery school. We’re going to remove the bricks in the windows, and create a new façade. As always, the plan will be to create a structure that’s a destination, a visual focal point – one that blends in with neighboring buildings and encourages and enriches the pedestrian experience for everybody in the area.”

“We haven’t always done small-scale stuff, but we have always done good stuff”, continues brother Paul. “We generally have picked projects that nobody else wanted, but where we’ve seen possibilities for restoration and the productive expansion of a neighborhood.” Exeter’s immediate future plans include a further extension of their transformation of Grove and Montgomery Streets. Sketches of their mixed-use development at the southeast corner of the intersection – which will take the place of the disused Sim’s Carpet Building – suggest that the building will echo architectural features of both the Majestic Theatre and City Hall. Exeter’s work on Grove Street demonstrates how property developers can alter the feel of a streetscape, knit together city blocks, and augment the visual coherence and ambient pleasure of an urban Downtown. The Silverman brothers’ long experience restoring property in Jersey City and their investment in the community has deepened their understanding of the city’s needs. “We spend a lot of time getting to know these neighborhoods. We attend the organization meetings – Van Vorst Park Association, Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association – and we listen to what gets said. We do business here, too.”

As residential development expands westward, away from the waterfront, dialogue between neighborhood groups and builders will become increasingly vital. Schenkman-Kushner, creator of the Grove Pointe (100 Newark Avenue) mixed-use complex, altered the design of their structure after a protracted negotiation with Jersey City smart-growth activists. “We needed some additional density to make the numbers add up”, states Jeff Persky, a principal at Schenkman-Kushner and one of the project’s co-developers. “We got together with neighborhood leaders, and agreed to put a park by the PATH station. In return, they agreed to the density changes.”

The Harsimus Cove Association and the Downtown Coalition of Neighborhood Associations recommended that Grove Point be stepped back from the street to create a more human scale for pedestrians. They also requested that the builders use materials compatible with the brick-and-mortar Harsimus aesthetic. Rather than resenting these suggestions, Persky and Schenkman-Kushner incorporated them into the redesign of Grove Pointe. “I actually appreciated their input,” says the developer, “and I believe the final project was better than what we originally proposed. We were able to take their ideas and implement them in a way that was mutually satisfactory. I was very appreciative of the time they spent, their knowledge of the neighborhood, and their passion for Jersey City. It ended up being a great team effort.”

If Grove Pointe and the redevelopment of the PATH station was a cordial negotiation, the foundation of the Powerhouse Arts District was a full-bore diplomatic struggle. The debate over whether or not the municipal government should dedicate the Warehouse District to arts-related enterprise lasted for more than a decade, and drew in activists, politicians, journalists, developers, historians, builders, and rubberneckers attracted to an acrimonious argument. When Acting Mayor L. Harvey Smith signed the PAD ordinance last autumn, the battle reached a tenuous equilibrium. Under that ordinance, all new development in the district must conform to the regulations specified in the city law; residential loft space must accommodate the needs of working artists, and a small percentage of all units must be set aside for moderate-income arts professionals.

So far, those who’d predicted that these restrictions would stay the hand of developers have been proven resoundingly incorrect. The PAD is redeveloping at a healthy pace – and arts-related businesses are moving in. Waldo Lofts (159 Second Street), slated to open in the winter of 2006, will feature huge hallways, hoist beams on the ceilings, and copious natural light in its 82 condominium units. Two blocks south, the Caulfield Brothers will be bringing a 13,000 square foot black box theater to its development at 126 Morgan Street. Rental lofts at 150 Bay Street and condominiums at 311 Washington Street are currently under construction and, like other developments in the district, both have reserved lofts that will be distributed by lottery to artists that have registered with the municipal government. Greentree Construction, co-developer of the Schroeder Lofts, is working on two buildings in the PAD – and 140 Bay Street has become the first of the former warehouses to open appropriate ground-floor art space.

“We’ve just had the first opening at our brand new art gallery,” boasts Greentree developer Vince Wilt. “Right now, it’s open by appointment. But we have brought in a local artist to take charge of it. There’s always reason to worry when you’re developing property, especially in something like an arts district. But I like where we are at the moment.”

Ten blocks south, in Paulus Hook, a quieter negotiation between activists, preservationists, and the high priests of the profit motive has been taking place. There, among the historic townhouses and riverfront walkways, residential construction has been unceasing ever since the commercial property boom of the late Nineties threw up majestic office towers east of Hudson Street. A few of the condominium developments along the northern edge of the Morris and Essex basin, such as the deluxe Liberty Terrace (25 Hudson Street), do attempt to capture some of the grandeur of the waterfront office towers. But most projects in Paulus Hook attempt to blend into the neighborhood, mimicking the rhythms and characteristics of the three-story nineteenth-century Italianate and Greek Revival architecture with wrought-iron, brickface, and antique fenestrations. Essex Commons (66 Essex Street) and the Grandview (93 Greene Street) aren’t brownstones, but they do their best to disguise that; the multi-unit buildings seem like natural extensions of these elegant blocks.

Developer Jeff Zak is a Paulus Hook native, and he’s brought some of the qualities of his historic neighborhood to an elaborate plan for an 80-acre parcel of land on the south side of Grand Street. Liberty Harbor North (333 Grand Street) is easily the most audacious project under development in Jersey City, and possibly one of the most remarkable in the entire country. Rather than developing a single building or an enclave, Zak and partner Peter Mocco are aiming to create an entire neighborhood – a seven-street, tightly constructed mixed-income and mixed-use community modeled on the historic districts that provide Downtown with so much of its unique character.

Liberty Harbor North will be developed in accordance with the principles of New Urbanism, a planning doctrine emphasizing walkability, architectural variety, interconnectivity, and human scale. “What it really is, is anti-suburbanism,” explains Zak. “New urbanists copy traditional urban patterns – ones that are proven facilitators of community.” The dimensions of the seven new city blocks planned for Liberty Harbor North are equivalent to those in Paulus Hook and Van Vorst Park. As befits a development founded on a belief in the efficacy of mass transit, the light rail will run down the middle of a central boulevard.

Never ones to cut corners, Zak and Mocco have brought in urban planner Andres Duany to oversee the development. Duany, one of the founders of the New Urbanism movement, is perhaps the most theoretically rigorous and conceptually sophisticated urban designer in the world. “(JC Planning chief) Bob Cotter recommended him to us in a fit of genius. We’d had the site for several years. The initial proposal featured large towers surrounded by car parks. It was cold and bleak. Everybody was stalled during the recession, and during that time, we saw how outdated the older plan had become.”

The new plan, according to Zak, involves targeting as many demographics as possible. Development will intensify and become denser toward the Morris and Essex basin; to the north, Liberty Harbor promises something for everybody. “We have plans for spaces for students, lofts for artists, for empty-nesters. We’re doing retail. When the market is there for office space, we’ll have room for that, too.” And when will this ambitious plan be realized? “At best, it’s a ten-year project”, confesses Zak, “and at the worst, it takes us twenty years.” But the developer goes on to explain how such flexibility is actually an asset. “We can react to the market absorption. If we’d built a gigantic tower, and it didn’t fill up, we’d be sitting on stories of unused space. But this way, we can build a hundred units at a time, and take a series of small bites. Eventually, we’re going to get there – to that total New Urbanist dream”.

While the Liberty Harbor North project might be the most elaborate local expression of that vision, elements of smart growth theory are apparent throughout Jersey City. Infill and adaptive reuse – the retrofitting of disused buildings to accommodate new projects – have become widely adopted techniques for jump-starting the rehabilitation of neighborhoods. On the crest of the palisade, The Beacon (50 Baldwin Avenue) is a 315-unit retooling of the former Jersey City Medical Center on Montgomery Street. The art deco design of the massive structure and the quirky dimensions of many of the apartments might bother some who demand uniformity and contemporary style, but the structure is bound to radiate personality to anybody with a little imagination.

In Lafayette, the rapidly redeveloping neighborhood just southwest of the Downtown (and one short stop away from Jersey Avenue on the light rail), adaptive reuse projects are transforming Communipaw Avenue and Monitor Street. At The Foundry at Liberty State Park (300 Communipaw), developers are rapidly converting a typesetting factory constructed in 1904 into a modern condominium complex. Around the corner, The Independent (125 Monitor Street) renovation will contribute another 163 units to the region’s sudden growth, and the spectacular, disused Whitlock Mills cordage factory will soon be reborn as a residence and retail center. Still further south, a world-class golf course and a massive condominium tower will eventually fill the open space between the southern terminus of Liberty State Park and the still-growing Port Liberté enclave.

And what of that perennial bugaboo: the property-price bubble? Many of the developers we spoke to confessed to some mild trepidation, and almost all expected the Hudson County property boom to slow. But even those who had their doubts about the stability of the national real estate market were still bullish about Jersey City. “The average income along the waterfront is now just as high as it is in Short Hills,” testifies Dan Frohwirth, chief of the city Economic Development Corporation. “And Governor Corzine is now saying that he wants development fast-tracking in the cities. With gasoline prices as high as they now are, we’ll probably see more and more people from the suburbs thinking about returning to urban centers. Remember that New Jersey is virtually built out, and the cache of Jersey City continues to increase. We haven’t seen the end of this yet.”

coquito

May 7th, 2006, 03:06 PM

It's amazing how the JC downtown/watefront area has changed, is changing, and will continue to change - WOW! So many projects in the way!

macmini

May 16th, 2006, 12:03 AM

In the Region | New Jersey
Desperately Seeking Artists

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Dith Pran/The New York Times

The Waldo Lofts building in Jersey City includes warehouselike amenities. James F. Caulfield Jr., left, one of the developers, says the building appeals to artists and people who like to live near them.

By ANTOINETTE MARTIN
Published: May 7, 2006

JERSEY CITY
WHAT comes first — the artists, or the funky warehouse-type buildings with big open spaces and lots of light? It is the buildings, of course. Everybody knows that artists find good buildings; buildings do not come looking for them.

In Orange, though, where the city and a nonprofit developer want to create an arts district, they are starting with industrial buildings and hoping draw artists. About 30 big old empty factories and warehouses straddling the city border are ripe for conversion into lofts and studios.

And here in Jersey City, the footprint of the old warehouse district is the site of the Powerhouse Arts District, an eight-block area being redeveloped as a live-work community for artists that has about 140 structures available for conversion.

A few smaller buildings in the Powerhouse district have already been rehabbed and are starting to open for occupancy or creative pursuits. A handful of others are being worked on, and developers are fighting over the rights to renovate dozens more. The builders are promising city planners and arts agencies that they will try their best to instill new life into old structures without denuding them of their vintage industrial charm.

And in one case, a developer is instilling classic industrial features into a brand-new building in order to cater to artists. "Maybe sometimes a building does come looking for them," said James F. Caulfield Jr., one of two brothers who run Fields Development Group, which is constructing the complex.

The project, called Waldo Lofts, is a 12-story, 82-unit condominium building at 159 Second Street scheduled to open in September. Mr. Caulfield said he takes it as a compliment that people walking by comment on the lovely restoration.

The Waldo is specifically designed with the industrial amenities that artists prize — tall ceilings, tall windows, hoist beams for lifting large artwork or heavy materials, shop sinks for washing paintbrushes — and it includes cutting-edge kitchen appliances and free wireless hookup.

The combination has already proved attractive, Mr. Caulfield noted, not just to artists, but also to people who like to live alongside them.

"There is a niche of people who can afford the market rate, and who want this type of lifestyle," he said.

In addition to the amenities tailored to artists, a patio will be set up on a loading dock that will extend out to the sidewalk, Mr. Caulfield said. He said that he and his brother, Robert, envision it as a place for residents to "sit, read a book, play the guitar and soak up street activity."

Regulations require that a certain number of the units in every arts district building be made available at below-market prices — in this case $250,000 to $350,000 — to artists certified by the city's Arts Commission. All seven such units at Waldo Lofts have been sold; about half of the other 75 units have been sold for $300,000 to $700,000, all to people who are not certified by the Arts Commission.

Gary W. Heinz, 33, is among the buyers who are not artists. He recently quit his job on Wall Street to start GWH Ventures, which he describes as a "preservation-oriented real estate development company." He plans to set up a home office in his Waldo Lofts apartment.

"Waldo Lofts is new construction," he said, "but it still retains character. That's very appealing to me." Mr. Heinz said the idea of buying in the Jersey City arts district as it begins to flower was also appealing.

"It's like buying into TriBeCa when it was starting to happen as a place for artists, and getting in on the excitement of that," said Mr. Heinz, who currently rents an apartment in Jersey City.

Jersey City already has the greatest concentration of artists living within its boundaries of any municipality in New Jersey, according to a study by the Urban Land Institute. The Powerhouse neighborhood, named for a gorgeous but decrepit turn-of-the-century power plant building that is a candidate for restoration, has a particular history with artists and their admirers.

Even before the idea of a formal arts district surfaced about a decade ago, many artists found havens in the gritty warehouse district at the edge of Jersey City's downtown. A group called ProArts has held an annual tour there for years, putting works on display in vacant buildings.

In Orange, the development has centered on the old industrial area too. The Valley Arts District is planned for the neighborhood straddling the city's border with West Orange. Though that area has no history with artists, developers and city officials are certain that they will flock to a neighborhood of converted factory buildings — and that people who are "birds of a feather" with the artists will, too.

Patrick Morrissy of Hands, a nonprofit development company that has been working to revitalize neighborhoods in Orange and East Orange for a dozen years, said plans call for creating 80 to 100 live-work spaces for artists that will remain moderately priced. Hands plans to create a total of about 700 loft condominiums in a number of old hat factory structures for the Valley Arts District.

The ratio of affordable arts space to market-rate lofts may seem a little low, Mr. Morrissy said. "But the truth is you don't have to have too many artists to make other people want to be there," he said.

Mr. Morrissy said he believed that creating an arts district could accomplish many goals for the economically depressed city: "revive businesses, beautify a neighborhood, expand recreational opportunities, create careers and attract people back into Orange."

He added that it could improve academic achievement, too. "We know that for kids who are really into the arts, their academic achievement is generally higher. If little Johnny plays violin, he does better at math. So, we are really looking to reach those goals, not just to bring in people to sip chardonnay and look at some paintings."

Mr. Morrissy said that a recent grant from the Wachovia Regional Foundation was being used to finance community arts programs — artists working with schoolchildren, for example — but that work had not yet begun on the buildings.

^^Meanwhile, in Jersey City, the Fields Group is already planning a second major project on Morgan Street, to be called the Hudson. An existing packing warehouse will be renovated to create a 400-seat theater, and a new 260-unit condominium building will be adjacent to it, with shop space at street level and a pool and sundeck on the roof.

macmini

May 16th, 2006, 12:06 AM

THE HUDSON

http://www.jerseycityvibe.com/images/zoom/GRCPCB/hudson_rendering.jpg

Overview
The Hudson (formerly called 126-142 Morgan Street) is a massive full-block artist-centric building that is being developed in the P.A.D on the lots bordered by Warren, Bay, Morgan, and Provost Streets.

Like many of its neighbors, The Hudson will be a mixed-used building that will rise as high as 17-stories - consistent with the roof lines already established by the 140 and 150 Bay. From the artist renderings it appears that the buildings are three separate structures of varying heights with interlocking entrances and presumably common walkways. The entire building is envisioned to include:

-263 residential units.
-9.5% of the residential units will be set aside for artist work/live areas.
-A 400-seat arts theatre and gallery, encompassing over 13,000 square feet (corner of Morgan and Warren)
-A school for arts instruction
-Over 6,000 square foot designed to house a restaurant or café (corner of Warren and Bay)
-217 parking spaces (though this number may have fallen with the latest plan amendment)
-Common rooftop courtyard.

At the time the plan was approved, the residential units were broken as follows:

IBR – 150 ranging from 700 – 900 sq/ft)
2BR/3BR – 78 (ranging from 925 – 1,300 sq/ft)
Duplexes – 11
1 – 1020 sq/ft
2 – 1150 sq/ft
7 – 1400 sq/ft
1 – 1410 sq/ft

24 artist live/work units. According to the plans the entire 3rd floor ringing Provost, Bay and Morgan Streets, including an interior courtyard, will be dedicated to the artist/work units.

The artist/work units will be broken down as follows:

2 – 1,000 sq/ft
10 – 1,100 sq/ft
3 – 1,200 sq/ft
2 – 1,250 sq/ft
1 – 1,300 sq/ft
3 – 1,400 sq/ft
2 – 1,600 sq/ft
1 – 1,640 sq/ft

The JC Planning Board approved the initial building plans back in May 2004 with a more recent amendment passing in September of 2005. In April 2006, another one-year extension was granted the developer due to delays in getting the NJDEP to perform additional testing.

macmini

May 16th, 2006, 12:11 AM

Citigroup May Move 1,500 To Jersey City

By RUSSELL BERMAN - Staff Reporter of the Sun
May 8, 2006

Even as the city tries to lure businesses to Lower Manhattan, one major company may be taking 1,500 of its downtown employees to Jersey City.

Citigroup Incorporated is selling the 363,000-square-foot building it owns at 250 West St. and may be moving its Smith Barney investment banking division across the Hudson River, Crain's New York Business is reporting in today's edition. The company is negotiating to sublease 370,000 square feet from the Union Bank of Switzerland in a 32-story building at 480 Washington Blvd. in Jersey City, Crain's reported.

Officials from Citigroup and UBS could not be reached for comment last night. Crain's quoted a Citigroup spokeswoman as saying the company was "considering its options."

Cushman & Wakefield is brokering the sale of Citigroup's 11-story building at 250 West St., sources said. A spokesman for the real estate agency, Philip Russo, declined comment when reached by phone last night.

The move would be a blow to efforts to attract economic development to Lower Manhattan, which have recently been focused at ground zero. State and city officials last month struck a deal with the developer, Larry Silverstein, regarding constructions plans for the Freedom Tower and other buildings at the site; government agencies are expected to fill a large portion of the office space. The only tower near completion at the site, 7 World Trade Center, has slowly been enlisting private tenants.

The area's biggest boost has come from Goldman Sachs, which broke ground last November on a $2.4 billion world headquarters next door to ground zero. The company has committed to keeping 9,000 jobs in the city and may expand the work force by as many as 4,000 additional employees.

With lower rents and more flexible office space, Jersey City - sometimes called New York City's sixth borough - has long been enticing to major businesses. The attraction is likely to increase as the cost of prime office space in Manhattan rises. The average asking price for downtown is $35 a square foot, according to Cushman & Wakefield's first-quarter market report. That represents a $4 a square foot increase - or a rise of nearly 13% - from the end of 2005. By comparison, the average asking rent in northern New Jersey is $26 a square foot.

Despite the potential loss of 1,500 employees to New Jersey, Citigroup's possible move across the river is no cause for panic, a former head of the Regional Plan Association, Claude Shostal, said. "It's not a symptom of distress. It's a symptom of success," Mr. Shostal said, adding that the high rents in Manhattan are an indicator of economic strength. Although elected officials focus on bringing jobs to their individual states and districts, economic factors are regional, Mr. Shostal said. "The pluses and minuses of New York versus New Jersey pale by comparison to whether the regional economy is thriving," he said.

Still, a sale of 250 West St. could mean a direct hit to some TriBeCa restaurants that rely on Citigroup customers. At Dylan Prime, a steakhouse on nearby Laight Street, Citigroup workers make up a significant portion of the restaurant's lunchtime and happy hour crowds, its manager, David Anastasio, said. "We would definitely feel the effects in the short-term," Mr. Anastasio said. "Citigroup employees have been part of our loyal customer base, and it would be sad to see them go."

The company often holds parties at Capsouto Freres, a French bistro on Washington Street, its owner, Samuel Capsouto, said. "If they move, we're going to lose business, just like after the World Trade Center," he said.

Mr. Capsouto said he was confident that the possible loss of Citigroup's business would not force the 25-year-old restaurant to close. "We'll deal with the situation as it comes," he said.

macmini

May 16th, 2006, 02:45 AM

It's nice to see more projects going on in the Bergen/Lafayette section of Jersey City. This is the first I've heard about this project called Library Hall.

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Library Hall
704 Grand Street
Jersey City, New Jersey

Overview
With all the developer’s attention seemingly focused on Downtown, its easy to overlook another part of town beginning it’s own renaissance – Bergen Hill. With the Webb Park revitalization complete and The Beacon and the Whitlock Cordage Mills restoration and construction well underway, this neighborhood is coming alive with activity. Now another new and interesting redevelopment project is materializing – Library Hall.

You wouldn’t know by looking at the white/red painted brick building sitting at 704-712 Grand St., but there is a lot of history gathering dust on this lot. With approval from the Planning Board last August, the developer has started to kick the dust clear. This project wil feature a unique blend of new and old architecture that should give folks looking to live in a historical building without forgoing the conveniences of modern design something to savor.

Library Hall, a five-story building with roots dating back to 1866, has housed town hall meetings, a library, a police precinct, a sawmill, and most recently rugs. It’s next reincarnation is already planned - a condominium building. The new condo complex will feature twelve “loft-style” units each with it’s own basement storage area and eleven parking spaces. Other amenities include hardwood and tile floors, high-end appliances, and laundry facilities in each unit.

The units will be priced at market rates (estimated to be the high $300k to low $600k) and will include a five-year, 30% tax abatement. The developer will be accepting non-binding $2,500 commitments in April with the anticipated completion in December 2006. If you are commuting downtown or into NYC, the Garfield Avenue Light Rail station is a six-minute walk and buses to Newport and Journal Square are available.

1st floor . (click on link for pdf layout)http://jerseycityvibe.com/images/stories/pdfs/1stfloor.pdf

The ground floor will consist of two commercial units (749 and 664 sq ft) suitable for a small office or business (for example a real estate agency) and eleven parking spaces. A new glass enclosed entrance tower will be built on the southern side of the building and will contain a lobby area and a steel staircase. Additionally, an elevator will run through the center of the building.

2nd floor. (click on link for pdf layout)http://jerseycityvibe.com/images/stories/pdfs/2ndfloor.pdf Units will have twelve-foot ceilings.

unit 1. 2BR, 2BA (1,035 sq ft)
unit 2. 2BR, 2BA (1,106 sq ft)
unit 3. 2BR, 2BA (1,087 sq ft)
unit 4. 1BR, 1BA, plus den (815 sq ft)

3rd floor / 4th floor duplexes http://jerseycityvibe.com/images/stories/pdfs/3rdfloor.pdf(click on link for pdf layout)http://jerseycityvibe.com/images/stories/pdfs/4thfloor.pdf.

These two-story units will have a mezzanine level and stunning 16-foot exposed brick arched windows that will provide NYC Midtown views.

unit 5. 2BR, 2BA (1,740 sq ft)
unit 6. 2BR, 2BA (1,806 sq ft)
unit 7. 2BR, 2BA (1,876 sq ft)
unit 8. 1BR, 1BA, plus den (1,325 sq ft)

5th floor penthouse (click on link for pdf layout).http://jerseycityvibe.com/images/stories/pdfs/5thfloor.pdf The floor of this new addition will be set just underneath the rafters of the existing roof with ceilings that will rise ten feet.

unit 9. 2BR, 2BA (1,035 sq ft)
unit 10. 2BR, 2BA (1,106 sq ft)
unit 11. 2BR, 2BA (1,087 sq ft)
unit 12. 1BR, 1BA, plus den (815 sq ft)

macmini

May 29th, 2006, 08:36 PM

New Pictures taken Saturday May 20th, 2006

Grove Pointe

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Montgomery Greene

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Liberty Terrace

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K. Hovnanian at Paulus Hook

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TalB

June 3rd, 2006, 10:10 PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/01/nyregion/01lefrak.html
LeFraks Envision Even Bigger Skyline Across Hudson

By CHARLES V. BAGLI
Published: June 1, 2006

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James Estrin/The New York Times

The developer Richard LeFrak in a building under construction in the Newport complex in Jersey City, where his family has built more than a third of the high-rises on the Hudson River waterfront.

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Lefrak Organization

Jersey City waterfront in 1987. For some years, the area had mostly dilapidated piers and warehouses.

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Lefrak Organization

Jersey City waterfront in 1987.

Standing atop a condominium tower under construction at the Newport complex in Jersey City, Richard LeFrak looked south at a forest of green-glass commercial towers and brick residential buildings that seem to leap from the waterfront. His family and their partner built them, 20 in all.

Although the LeFraks cannot lay claim to the tallest tower (the 800-foot Goldman Sachs building at Paulus Hook), they have built more than a third of the high-rise skyline that has grown up along Jersey City's once dilapidated waterfront. And today, exactly 20 years after his father, Sam, embarked on a seemingly quixotic bid to transform these rusty old railroad yards into Newport, Mr. LeFrak is announcing plans for another hotel and four more apartment towers.

The announcement comes on the 20th anniversary of the start of Newport and calls attention to the part that the LeFraks have played in the current Jersey City housing boom. The new plans represent a $750 million investment, on top of the nearly $2.5 billion that the LeFraks say they have already plowed into Newport.

Mr. LeFrak, 60, said the family is making good on a promise by his father and Melvin Simon, the shopping center developer, to build a community where dilapidated piers, warehouses and railroad tracks stood.

"We're celebrating that we got this far," said Mr. LeFrak, who was involved with Newport from the beginning and has now been joined by his sons, Jamie and Harry. "We're celebrating that the vision of my father and Mel Simon is pretty well complete."

The scale of the undertaking is hard to imagine. At 600 acres, Newport is twice as big as Co-op City in the Bronx. There are 11 residential buildings containing 4,135 apartments, eight office buildings with 5.5 million square feet of office space, a 187-room hotel, a marina, a 1.2-million-square-foot mall and many other buildings and stores. Across the river from Chelsea, the complex stretches the equivalent of about 14 Manhattan blocks. Samuel J. LeFrak, who died in 2003 at 85 and built more housing in New York City during his life than any other private developer, saw the possibilities in Jersey City when most builders turned up their noses.

"Sam was bigger than life," said Bob Cotter, director of planning in Jersey City. "His dream was to build this city on the left bank of the Hudson River. He came over and did it. The waterfront has given Jersey City a panache that it never had."

But some urban planners, neighborhood advocates and residents have complained that Newport has a suburban sensibility. Many of the buildings stand alone, with little connection to one another, or to the older, grittier sections of Jersey City to the west, they say. There is a public esplanade along the Hudson River, with sweeping views of Manhattan, but it is bordered by Newport buildings, giving it the impression of a private enclave.

"I love living in a place that takes your breath away," said Monica Coe, an architect who has lived at Newport for 10 years. "At night you see the sparkling lights of Manhattan, rather than the brick walls you'd get in Manhattan. But it's a little like living in a feudal holding."

Dan Falcon, a 15-year resident, said: "Newport has been malled off from the city. We wanted the city to have access to the waterfront."

Mr. LeFrak does not dismiss the criticisms. "It's a valid point," he said. "We're trying to address that now that we have some density."

The company is filling in some of the empty space between buildings and adding street-front stores, to create street life, and small parks, if not the larger park-on-a-pier that some residents wanted. On a recent morning, office workers and women pushing baby strollers could be seen on the streets.

The LeFraks are known for a kind of efficient, if unimaginative, boxy building that provides the maximum space for the rent. But the buildings in the next round are more interesting, with one, the Ellipse, a sleek, elliptical residential tower designed by the well-known Arquitectonica of Miami.

In the late 1970's, the Jersey City waterfront was a web of train terminals owned by bankrupt railroads. Newport began not with Samuel LeFrak but with Mr. Simon and another mall developer who wanted to build a shopping center anchored with a Stern's department store.

Mr. Simon's bankers urged him to find a partner to build housing. He put in a cold call to Sam LeFrak, persuading him to travel from his office in Queens. The developer then called his son.

"He said, 'Richard, you'd better take a look at this,' " Mr. LeFrak recalled. "I've been dreaming about something like this my whole life."

Sam LeFrak, in characteristic fashion, vowed to undertake "probably the largest job that has ever been built since the pyramids" and create the "experimental prototype city of tomorrow."

Mr. Simon built the mall and the first office building, while the LeFraks built several apartment towers. "He built all the other buildings with cash," Mr. Simon said. "We couldn't afford to borrow the money."

Progress was slow and a devastating recession in the early 1990's sent the nascent "Jersey gold coast" into a tailspin, and the LeFraks say they had huge losses in the first 15 years.

But since 2000, they have built seven office buildings, attracting financial tenants from Manhattan like J. P. Morgan Chase, Knight Securities and Insurance Services Office with cheaper rents and tax breaks, surprising brokers who doubted that the New Jersey waterfront would ever attract office tenants.

The LeFraks have the option of building more commercial space, but the vacancy rate is 14.1 percent, according to the brokers Cushman & Wakefield. And new housing is what's hot. K. Hovnanian and Equity Residential recently bought a commercial site on the waterfront, where they plan to build a 900-unit apartment complex.

Even Donald J. Trump has found Jersey City, lending his name to a $415 million project to build two residential towers, one 50 stories and the other 55 stories.

Mr. Cotter said there are 7,000 apartments planned or under construction within a mile of City Hall, two or three times the number five years ago, fueled by the soaring sales prices and rents across the Hudson River.

"It's not Manhattan," Mr. LeFrak said on a recent walking tour of Newport. "But it's not bad. And it just might," he paused, raising a finger, "might, be better than Brooklyn."

macmini

June 9th, 2006, 08:30 PM

Westin Hotel Breaks Ground in the World's Largest Mixed-Use Development - Newport in Jersey City, NJ

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Thursday June 1, 4:09 pm ET

Westin Jersey City to Have Stunning Views of Manhattan's Skyline and Harbor

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 1, 2006--Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT - News), the LeFrak Organization and Melvin Simon & Associates announce the groundbreaking of The Westin Jersey City, a new waterfront hotel in the Newport mixed-use development in Jersey City, NJ. The 26-story hotel will soar 253-feet in the air and will include 429 guest rooms, with a conference center, 10,000 square-foot ballroom, banquet facilities, pool and fitness center as well as 5,000-square-foot specialty restaurant. The hotel is expected to open in the summer of 2008 and will be managed by Westin.

Located on the Hudson River waterfront, Newport is situated opposite lower Manhattan and offers breathtaking and panoramic views of New York's skyline and harbor. Since construction began 20 years ago, $2.5 billion has been invested and more than 16 million square feet have been constructed. Connected to the rest of New Jersey and New York by PATH subway, light rail, buses and N.J. Transit, Newport has world-class restaurants, businesses and luxury apartments currently housing over 8,000 residents, and is home to prestigious office tenants such as UBS, JP Morgan Chase, US Trust, Morgan Stanley, Charles Schwab and CIGNA.

"We are delighted that the LeFrak and Simon families have selected the Westin brand to serve as the flagship luxury hotel in this vibrant, prime location," said Sue Brush, senior vice president, Westin Hotels & Resorts. "Westin continues to aggressively grow its footprint around the world, and anchoring urban mixed-use developments like Newport is part of our expansion strategy. We look forward to offering guests Westin's signature amenities and services, providing a retreat from the rigors of the road so that they feel better when they leave us than when they arrived."

"Today, we're acknowledging what we've already accomplished here on the Jersey City waterfront as well as to push on with our master plan to complete this extraordinary mixed-use development," said Richard LeFrak, chairman and president of The LeFrak Organization. "The construction of the Westin Hotel is a key component of the second phase of construction at Newport."

Each of the elegantly appointed guestrooms, all with magnificent views, will feature Westin's signature Heavenly Bed® and Heavenly Bath®. Guests at The Westin Jersey City will enjoy additional guest services such as WestinWORKOUT® Powered by Reebok fitness facility and WestinWORKOUT guest rooms.

The Aqua

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Aqua will be 330ft tall and construction will start in 08 and the building will be all glass

The 32-story Aqua will have 363 residential units, 15,348 square feet of retail, and 291 parking spaces. There will be 20 studio apartments, 169 one-bedrooms, 161 two-bedrooms, and 13 three-bedrooms. The entire space will be 490,063 square feet.

The project will be built by Newport Associates Development Company as part of Newport's commitment to building on the Northeast Quadrant near the Jersey City-Hoboken border.

New Pictures

Shore Club

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Trump Towers

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Washington Commons

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Grove Pointe & Columbus Circle

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"A"

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krull

June 9th, 2006, 09:52 PM

Wow that boom! Incredible... Thanks for the pics.

TroyBoy

June 12th, 2006, 01:12 AM

How do you make your pics so bright and colorful, when it's so dull and cloudy outside?

macmini

June 15th, 2006, 07:45 PM

Sweet development

Planning Board to review two projects for chocolate factory site near border

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AFTER – There are plans to build residential
housing on the property, as seen in this rendering.

Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer 06/10/2006

The Jersey City Planning Board will be hearing an application this Tuesday for two residential developments to be built on the Jersey City-Hoboken border.

The projects, known as "Van Leer Place North" and "Van Leer Place South," will be located on Hoboken Avenue in Jersey City. Together, they will total 443 residential units and 446 parking spaces.

They will also have 8,690 sq. ft. of retail space, a 1-acre park, a walkway leading up Hoboken Avenue to the Heights, and a shorter walkway down to the NJ Transit Second Street Light Rail Station in Hoboken.

The projects will be built by Hoboken developers George Vallone and Danny Gans in the next five to six years, on two sections of the old Van Leer Chocolate factory property, a total of seven acres.

Recently, Gans said construction would start in spring 2007 if they receive approvals at the Planning Board meeting this Tuesday.

Vallone said the cleanup would take six to nine months, since the property contains a high concentration of white-cake arsenic dumped there before the Van Leer factory existed.

Developing in 'no man's land'

A visit to the old Van Leer Chocolate factory site last week found it a crumbling ruin, with some of the old factory walls still standing. The company, which closed its operations in 2001 after being sold to a Swiss company, decided to tear down the building to ward off vagrants.

Vallone has been involved in the project since 1996 but had to wait for two other developers to back out of developing the area before he and Gans entered into a contract with the Van Leers to develop in October 2004.

The site sits next to the Hoboken Avenue headquarters of the Hoboken Motorcycle Club.

On the surrounding blocks, there are old warehouses, junkyards, including the Erie Lackawanna Warehouse on 16th Street, an Exxon gas station on 18th Street, and some factories.

Further south, there is the entrance to the Holland Tunnel, the Holland Gardens Housing Complex, and some shops. It is some ways, it's a no man's land.
Not always a no-man's land

But Gans last week refuted that view, pointing out that there are a number of businesses near the site, and that it's in close proximity to a NJ Transit rail station.

"I only live five blocks from the site on the Hoboken side," Gans said. "While people see it as abandoned, I don't see it so far removed from many nice establishments. And it will help spur more development in the area."

Gans pointed out that there is already development of residential housing at 833 Jersey Ave., the former site of the Magashoni Apparel Company by an unnamed Hoboken-based development company. And also there is also the construction of a condo complex at 700 Grove Street by Toll Brothers, Inc., and the Cliffs Lofts project on Paterson Plank Road that will see 124 market-rate housing units with 88 parking spaces.
Tuesday

Gans is looking forward to presenting the project.

"It just takes time," Gans said. "There are a lot of little things and lots of small pieces to take care of in terms of what's being presented in the site plan. It's virtually the same plan as [discussed] before, except we're making sure the garage access is on Monmouth Street rather than Hoboken Avenue as originally intended."

Gans said he and Vallone will also seek approval from the Planning Board next week to rebuild a portion of Monmouth Street, which stops south of the site. He said there's a part of it that runs north of the site, interrupted by a several buildings in between.

Gans said the amount of available land allows for "an amenity package" for future residents.

"Because of the size of the property, we have a tennis court, a small putting green, a swimming pool as well as having a 1-acre park with playground equipment," said Gans. "I don't know of many developments that offer these amenities." Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.

©The Hudson Reporter 2006

How do you make your pics so bright and colorful, when it's so dull and cloudy outside?

TroyBoy sorry I did not take this pic if I did it would look dull & cloudy.

yuval5

June 15th, 2006, 11:21 PM

hey i was in new jersey like 3 months ago and i saw the Goldman Sachs Tower, it's really nice! i have a picture of it somewhere

macmini

July 25th, 2006, 07:42 PM

1,000+ new neighbors

JC waterfront to house two 500-foot skyscrapers by 2008
By Rebecca Kaufman , Reporter Staff Writer

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DIGGING – The new homes are expected to open between winter 2008 and spring 2009

Ground was broken Tuesday for two 500-foot skyscrapers, including 1,000 new condominiums and apartments, to rise at 77 Hudson St. near the waterfront. The new project by K. Hovnanian Homes and Equity Residential is "just another step in the advancement of Jersey City," said Mayor Jerramiah Healy at the ceremony Tuesday. The 1.76-acre parcel is located on Hudson and Sussex streets. Randy Brosseau, a regional vice president at K. Hovnanian, said, "[We want to build] a building that will stand the test of time." He added, "There are two words that describe our project best: Luxury and style."

Living in style

One tower will hold 420 condominiums to be sold by K. Hovnanian, and the other will hold 481 apartments operated by Equity Residential.

Equity Residential is expected to rent out the apartments during the winter of 2008, and K. Hovnanian is expected to occupy the condominium building during the spring of 2009.

K. Hovnanian plans to begin selling homes at the property around the end of this year.

The towers of 77 Hudson will be the first Manhattan-style skyscraper in Jersey City, and will feature a curtain wall system, with floor-to-ceiling glass, according to John Cetra of the New York architecture firm Cetra/Ruddy Inc.

Many nontraditional materials will also be used, including terrazzo-like countertops, chiseled marble, and custom-designed cantilevered master bathroom vanities, he said.

The condominiums, 75 percent with Manhattan skyline views, will include approximately 215 one-bedroom units, 144 two-bedroom units, 19 three-bedroom units, and 42 studios.

The apartments will include 132 studios, 209 one-bedrooms, and 140 two-bedroom units.

However, the towers will not only add housing to Jersey City, but also availability of extensive amenities.

The building will have nearly 19,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor to hold new restaurants and stores, as well as a Spa/Fitness center, and a dramatic hotel-quality lobby. A parking garage will contain 920 spaces for residents.

On top of the 10-story parking garage will be a landscaped deck, connecting the two towers, with a pool and a dog run. K. Hovnanian Homes is one of the nation's leading home-builders. Equity Residential is the largest publicly traded apartment company in America.

Revitalization

The new towers of 77 Hudson will not only benefit the Hudson River Gold Coast, but also the other areas of Jersey City, Healy said.

"Jersey City revitalization began on the Hudson Waterfront about 10 years ago," he said. "I know that is has spread west to the Hackensack River and also to the northern and southern borders. Originally, there were areas where no one would invest. Now there are five or six bidders on every vacant lot or building anywhere in Jersey City." Jim Driscoll, the division president of K. Hovnanian, said that the project would be all around beneficial: to the city, new tenants, and the company.

"We can't foretell the direct effect it will have on the rest of Jersey City, but it is an excitable housing opportunity - affordable luxury living," Driscoll said.

Mayor Healy said that the construction of 77 Hudson might also inspire other residents in Jersey City.

"Prosperity is contagious," Mayor Healy said. "People are suddenly taking care of their homes -sprucing them up, cleaning, and painting."

Cetra said, "[77 Hudson] will bring vitality, utility, and twenty four- seven community."

Residents will have just 10 minutes travel time to the Financial District in Manhattan. The location is three blocks from the Exchange Place PATH station, and across the street from a Light Rail stop.

There's even some good news for New York residents, officials noted.

"We're giving those on the east side [of Manhattan] a nice view of what's happening in Jersey City," Healy said. Cetra added, "We are enhancing the view from Manhattan."

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macmini

July 25th, 2006, 07:45 PM

Powerhouse project gets developer
FRESH START
Friday, July 21, 2006
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The outlook for the long-dormant Powerhouse in Downtown Jersey City got a little brighter this week after the city Redevelopment Authority designated a developer with a lengthy track record for successfully transforming industrial-age buildings into modern entertainment complexes.

City officials say the designation of Baltimore-based Cordish Companies - a key player in the turnaround of Baltimore's Inner Harbor - represents a fresh start for the long-troubled Powerhouse project, which is widely considered the cornerstone of the Powerhouse Arts District.

"This is a turning point for the Powerhouse Arts District and all of Jersey City," Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said in a written statement. "Their work at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore is world class and we expect nothing less in Jersey City."

News of the designation was greeted warmly by members of the community who have long fought to see the site both preserved and used.

"It's excellent," said John Gomez, founder and former president of the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy. "We actually visited with Cordish back in 2000, hoping they would come aboard."

The current president of the Conservancy, Joshua Parkhurst, agreed.

"I am glad to see the process is moving along and I hope that the builders will come to the community groups and include them," he said.

Officially known as the Hudson and Manhattan Powerhouse, the one-acre building on Washington Boulevard stands 140 feet tall. Built in 1906 to provide power to the Hudson Tubes - the predecessor to the PATH - the building is structurally sound, though a leaky roof has caused extensive corrosion.

The details of the redevelopment project are still being negotiated, but informal plans call for a multi-level mix of entertainment and retail. Its listing on the National Register of Historical Places also means it will restored under U.S. Department of Interior guidelines.

The project has long been hampered by the fact that the city's partner, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, houses its transformers for the PATH system at the site.

The Port Authority is spending $400,000 for a consultant to conduct a review of the site, which will look at alternative places for the transformers and the agency's projected power needs in the future, said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority.

"From our discussions with the Port Authority, we are optimistic that the issue would be resolved," said city Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis.

It's too early to put forth a timeline, but if and when the transformer issue gets resolved the project will begin to catch momentum, said JCRA Executive Director Bob Antonicello.

How the transformer issue is resolved, along with a host of other considerations, will help determine how the project gets funded. City officials said they expect to lease the space to Cordish, but they would not speculate on other funding formulas.

The JCRA had previously designated a Pennsylvania-based developer at the site, but Antonicello said the project was too large and the city had to find them in default of the agreement.

macmini

July 25th, 2006, 07:47 PM

Echoing the Upper West Side

By ANTOINETTE MARTIN

Published: July 23, 2006

JERSEY CITY

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/07/23/realestate/23njzo.jpgOne appeal of the planned Gull’s Cove condo tower in Jersey City is that it will be next to a new light rail stop and near the ferry terminal.

THE first condominium tower in the 80-acre Liberty Harbor North redevelopment area is now going up alongside a new light rail stop and the commuter ferry terminal at Pier 11 here.

Gull’s Cove, a 16-story tower that will hold 321 residences, ranging from studios to three-bedroom units, is just a small part of a master plan to transform a former industrial area into a neighborhood resembling the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

The master plan — recognized in 2001 by the American Planning Association as a model of “New Urbanism” because of the way it incorporates high-density housing, multiple transit connections and a pedestrian-oriented streetscape — was the creation of the Miami architect Andrés Duany. He is the designer of Seaside in Florida, where “The Truman Show” was filmed; it is considered a New Urbanist icon.

Liberty Harbor North is designed to echo the Upper West Side’s network of small city blocks with town-house-lined streets intersecting a few broad avenues facing the waterfront, according to Mr. Duany.

The overall plan includes 6,500 units of market-rate housing, one million square feet of hotel space, 750,000 square feet of retail space, 4.5 million square feet of office space and two parks totaling about 100 acres.

Two locally based builders, Peter Mocco and Jeff Zak, are the principal developers of the $2 billion project, and control more than half of the redevelopment property. Some sites in the project will be developed by others, as is happening at Gull’s Cove. Mr. Mocco and Mr. Zak have yet to announce the details and timing for their own construction plans.

The other developers that will build pieces of the project include the Applied Companies, which developed the Shipyard mixed-used complex with stores and condominium and rental residences on the riverfront.

Meanwhile, the Gull’s Cove tower is being built by Metro Homes, which is based in Hoboken. It has erected the first five floors of steel for the tower, which is the first phase in a three-building project. Gull’s Cove will eventually include another 110 condos in two additional lower-rise buildings.

Situated about a half-mile west of the Hudson River on the north bank of the Morris Canal, the Liberty Harbor North site offers striking views of Lower Manhattan to the east and the Statue of Liberty to the south, said the Metro Homes principal, Dean Geibel.

“The mass transit access from our building can’t be beat,” he asserted confidently one day last week as he stood at the light rail stop opposite the front doors of the building under construction, and looked toward the ferry terminal clearly within sight.

The light rail system makes a direct connection to the PATH train station at Exchange Place, providing a total commuting time to Manhattan that can be as short as 15 minutes, he said.

Furthermore, there is nearby street access to the New Jersey Turnpike and the Holland Tunnel, and Newark Liberty International Airport is only 10 minutes away, Mr. Geibel pointed out.

The condominiums at Gull’s Cove, which are being marketed by Century 21, range in size from 548 to 2,415 square feet and are listed at prices ranging from the high $200,000’s to $1.2 million.

Condominium shoppers can view the variety of floor plans available at gullscove.com, the project’s Web site, and also see digital renderings depicting apartments finished with the materials and appliances that come with a “standard’ or “upgraded” option package.

Standard features include plank flooring, ceramic tile baths, Whirlpool appliances and black granite countertops. The upgraded package includes cherry or mahogany flooring, marble or porcelain tile, premium-grade KitchenAid appliances, and black or sand-colored granite countertops. In addition, closet spaces can be customized with the upgraded package.

Gull’s Cove will have a 24-hour attended lobby and offer concierge services, Mr. Geibel said. It will also house its own cafe, restaurant, bank, fitness club, child-care center and newsstand.

A putting green and landscaped deck are to be installed on the roof of one of the lower buildings, and the complex will include three levels of covered parking.

One of the Liberty Harbor North parks is to be situated on the west side of Gull’s Cove, beside the canal. Various views from the condo tower will overlook the park, the harbor, the Statue of Liberty, the Manhattan skyline and, closer at hand, two historic neighborhoods: Van Vorst to the east and Hamilton Park to the north.

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

krull

July 25th, 2006, 08:21 PM

Amazing... here is the map of the area they are talking about on the article above.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/07/21/realestate/23njzo.map.large.jpg

macmini

August 7th, 2006, 04:44 PM

525 units at Grove Street station

'Grove Pointe' to include renovation of PATH Plaza

http://images.zwire.com/local/Z/ZWIRE1291/zwire/images/2006/08/story/20060804_162122_1_story.jpg
Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer

The mammoth construction project happening near the Grove Street PATH Station on Newark Avenue is known as Grove Pointe - a 29-story building that will consist of 67 condominiums and 458 rental apartments when it is completed in 2007.

Grove Pointe broke ground in May 2005.

The official address is 100 Columbus Drive for the rental properties and 102 Columbus Drive for the condominiums.

The project is being developed by SK Properties, a subsidiary of Schenkman/Kushner Affiliates based in Bridgewater.

There will also be 535 parking spaces and 20,000 square feet of retail on the site.

The project will also include the revamping of a one-block section of Newark Avenue and the triangular park area at the entrance to the Grove Street PATH station.

The developers would like to make the area a pedestrian plaza for both their residents and for the public. There are plans for a section of Newark Avenue to be closed off to cars during the week at midday hours and on the weekends. But that is still being worked out by the developer with the city.

Condos for half a mil

According to Danielle Scalera, sales associate for the Grove Pointe project, the condos are going out to market right now, and advertising for the rentals will start next year.

Scalera said one-bedroom units ranging from 750 to 987 square feet are starting at $535,000 and two-bedroom at 1,081 to 1,289 square feet will be priced at $655,000 and above.

"People see it in passing on their way to work, word-of-mouth, a lot of people live in the area and they have been renting here for a while, and they thought wanted to invest in something," said Scalera. "What better place to live than where it is convenient to the PATH Station?"

Others are noticing the impact of the project on the area. City Council President Mariano Vega, who lives only a few blocks from the site, lauded the project.

"I think you have to appreciate it when it's finished. They build it to respect the historic district and they built down rather than encroach on the area," said Vega.

Grove Pointe will also contain an outdoor common area and a heated pool on the seventh floor, a multi-floor fitness center, a billiards room, and a home theater room that can be rented out by residents only.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com

Sidebar Also 1,150 units nearby

Besides the Grove Point development at the Grove Street PATH station, there is another project rising nearby overlooking Christopher Columbus Drive.

Construction on "Columbus Plaza" has commenced and is scheduled for completion in early 2007.

Located on Columbus Drive and Warren Street, the project will be constructed in two phases, and will have 1,150 units of housing.

Phase I, already underway, includes a 35-story tower with 392 residences, a multi-level 1,120-car parking garage, 27,000 square feet of ground floor retail, eight townhomes, and a new on-site entrance to the Grove Street PATH subway station.

Phase II will consist of 1.1 million square feet of either a 30-story office tower or 750 residential units in multiple towers with retail and parking. - RK

©The Hudson Reporter 2006

macmini

August 7th, 2006, 04:47 PM

Cordish Co. to revamp Jersey City power plant

Baltimore Business Journal - 10:54 AM EDT Friday
by Julekha Dash
Staff

Baltimore developer the Cordish Co. will transform yet another power plant.

The Jersey City Redevelopment Agency selected Cordish earlier this month to transform the historic Hudson & Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse, a cornerstone of an emerging arts and entertainment district owned by the City of Jersey City and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The Jersey City Redevelopment Agency wants the Cordish Co. to renovate the 100-year-old building into a retail and entertainment destination similar to the Inner Harbor's Power Plant. Across the Hudson River, the Powerhouse is one block from the Jersey City waterfront where ferries arrive from Manhattan.

"We're impressed with the kind of work Cordish has done," said Robert P. Antonicello, a spokesman for the New Jersey agency. "They're a unique developer." Antonicello is not sure how much the project will cost.

"The Powerhouse combines two of our passions - revitalizing historic buildings and developing high-profile projects that serve as catalysts for broader redevelopment," President David Cordish said in a statement.

macmini

August 7th, 2006, 04:49 PM

It looks like Applied is building Two rental communities next to Gulls Cove.Applied is joining Shenkman/Kushner Affiliates on Liberty Harbor North, two super premium rental communities designed by acclaimed architectural firm HLW. The two buildings will rise above the celebrated waterfront and feature over 850 luxury apartments and 50,000 square feet of retail.

http://www.appliedco.com/images/featureLibertyHarbor.jpg

I just found another Liberty Harbor project this is the first I've heard about this project but it looks very nice.
http://www.gmacrealestateipg.com/pro...or_office2.pdf

macmini

August 7th, 2006, 04:51 PM

New Pictures

Trump Plaza

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Jersey%20City%20Construction/TrumpPlaza5.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Jersey%20City%20Construction/TrumpPlaza6.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Jersey%20City%20Construction/TrumpPlaza4.jpg

Gulls Cove

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Jersey%20City%20Construction/GullsCove1.jpg

Grove Pointe

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Jersey%20City%20Construction/GrovePointe1.jpg

A

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Jersey%20City%20Construction/Athena2.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Jersey%20City%20Construction/Athena3.jpg

Columbus Plaza

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Jersey%20City%20Construction/Columbus2.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Jersey%20City%20Construction/Columbus3.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Jersey%20City%20Construction/Columbus4.jpg

700 Grove

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Jersey%20City%20Construction/700Grove1.jpg

Renderings for Power House

http://www.jerseycityhistory.net/25.jpg

http://www.jerseycityhistory.net/20.jpg

xInfamuzPunjabix

August 7th, 2006, 05:48 PM

streetscapeer

August 7th, 2006, 11:36 PM

what a boom!!

treboy

August 8th, 2006, 02:16 AM

macmini

August 10th, 2006, 07:41 PM

New Jersey awards $21.9M jobs grant to Deutsche Bank to bring 1,200 jobs to Downtown Jersey City

NJ awards $21.9M jobs grant to Deutsche Bank
by David Jones - Crain's New York

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority is trying to lure Deutsche Bank to Jersey City with a $21.9 million business employment incentive grant.

The NJEDA is hoping the money will interest Deutsche Bank to relocate 1,200 employees to Harborside Financial Center, a waterfront office complex located next to commuter ferry service and the PATH train, from its other offices. The bank is already leasing 90,000 square feet at Harborside.

Deutsche Bank, which had to apply for the grant, has not indicated whether it will definitely expand in New Jersey, but it told New Jersey authorities that it planned to expanding its offices in New York or expanding in New Jersey.

"Some companies execute the grant and some companies don't," said Glenn Phillips, spokesman for the Economic Development Authority. "It's one of the factors a company will consider in deciding to relocate to New Jersey."

The incentive grant, which has a ten-year term, is awarded based on a formula that gives back 80% of the income tax that new employees would pay New Jersey.

Deutsche Bank said it has about 10,000 employees in the New York area, including 350 in New Jersey. Most of the New Jersey employees currently work in the Harborside complex.

In 2001, Deutsche Bank received a $1.7 million business employment incentive grant to relocate 80 workers to Summit, N.J.

HCCC buys Square area building

Thursday, August 10, 2006
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

As part of an overall county plan to own rather than rent its space, the Hudson County Community College has purchased 2-10 Enos Place in Jersey City, the building that houses the county's welfare offices.

The college paid $3 million for the three-story brick building on Jan. 31, said Jennifer Christopher, a spokeswoman for the college.

Within five years, the college plans to demolish the structure and build a parking garage on the site; and the county plans to relocate its welfare offices to the old Block Drug building on Cornelison Avenue, officials said.

The county raised the $3 million purchase price for the Enos Place property by selling 15-year bonds, said county spokesman Jim Kennelly. Under the state's "Chapter 12" program, the state will split the debt service on the loan with the county on a 50-50 basis, he said.

In the meantime, the county's Department of Health and Human Services, including the Divisions of Social Services and Welfare, will continue to occupy the space, officials said.

The county had been paying Journal Square Equities, the previous owner, $702,242-a-year to lease the facilities, Kennelly said.

By the end of the 2008, the county plans to have relocated 14 different departments in six buildings into the old Block Drug building on Cornelison Avenue, which the county purchased for $14 million two years ago, Kennelly added.

At that point, the county will realize a savings of $470,000-a-year, he said.

The college is investing roughly $73 million in Journal Square and North Hudson over the next five years, Christopher said.

Besides buying the Enos Place property, the college plans to build a new library at 67 Sip Ave., construct science labs at 162 Sip Ave. and 870 Bergen Ave., and acquire 141 Sip Ave. for green space, she said.
In addition, the college is building a new North Campus in Union City and making masonry and roof repairs to its headquarters at 25 Pathside in Journal Square, Christopher said.

macmini

August 10th, 2006, 08:00 PM

new jersey sure has a lot of spectacular skyscrapers going up, but the problem with new jersey is that all of the new projects are being built anywhere the owner gets land....if they tried to make it more organized like all the new buildings on one side and all the old abandoned buildings far away the new projects would look much more attractive than they would without it.

For one those old abandoned buildings are being converted to beautiful lofts. An the huge empty spaces that make it look unorganized were office project that never got built, but now are being built as residential projects. When you let one developer build on acres of land you get Newport and thats the last thing Jersey City needs.

macmini

August 11th, 2006, 05:06 PM

Quandary for Office Tenants: Downtown or Jersey City?

http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/08/11/nyregion/600_tower.jpg

By CHARLES V. BAGLI

The developer Larry A. Silverstein has been betting that tenants for the new office towers at ground zero will finally come knocking on his doors when space gets tight in Midtown and rents soar to unprecedented levels.
Indeed, after largely ignoring his newly built skyscraper at 7 World Trade Center for two years, tenants like Moody’s Investors Service; Mansueto Ventures, a business magazine publisher; and Darby & Darby, a law firm, have suddenly started leasing space there that would bring hundreds of workers downtown.

But leasing is also getting hot again one mile to the west, in Jersey City, where a forest of office towers grew up on the waterfront in the 1990’s as companies fled the higher costs of Manhattan.

Citigroup, which announced two years ago that it was moving 1,600 workers to western New Jersey from downtown, just signed a lease that would send another 1,200 high-paying executives from Lower Manhattan to the Newport complex in Jersey City. Deutsche Bank is nearing completion of a deal to move 1,200 workers to the Harborside complex in Jersey City from Manhattan.

Until recently, the percentage of vacant offices in Jersey City languished in the double digits, refusing to budge. So most developers scurried to erect condominium towers. But after word of Citigroup’s possible move to Jersey City first surfaced three months ago, the level of interest in the New Jersey waterfront by New York-based companies has jumped to the point where the developer Richard Lefrak is considering building his eighth office tower in Jersey City, at a site now earmarked for residential development.

“There’s a lot of activity on the waterfront,” said Mitchell E. Hersh, chief executive of Mack-Cali Realty, which owns the Harborside complex and is negotiating with Deutsche Bank. “Rents here are roughly half of what they are in Midtown. We’re seeing a lot of interest, corporate expansions as well as financial services.”

The moves by Citigroup and Deutsche Bank are only the latest illustrations of the difficulty of retaining jobs in New York City and rebuilding the business district in Lower Manhattan. Increasingly since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, financial institutions and other companies have sought to decentralize. And with rents rising again in Manhattan, there is an economic incentive to relocate at least technical jobs to less-expensive places.

In the past, the battle for jobs has often led to border wars, as New Jersey offered sizable subsidies to lure companies across the Hudson and New York countered with tax breaks of its own to keep the companies in place. Many economists condemned the strategy as self-defeating for both sides.
Eric J. Deutsch, president of the Alliance for Downtown New York, a business group, said that demand was still growing downtown, especially since rents in some prime Midtown buildings have climbed above $100 per square foot a year. In the last 18 months, he said, companies from outside Lower Manhattan have leased 1.5 million square feet of space downtown. In addition, Royal Bank of Canada, the AIG insurance company and Legg Mason, the brokerage firm, are all about to sign leases for some of the large blocks of downtown space.

To retain jobs and handle growth, he said, there is a need for more new buildings. “While the New Jersey waterfront will always be a lower-cost alternative,” Mr. Deutsch added, “Lower Manhattan is the ideal location and a better value for tenants who want to be in New York City.”
There are four new towers planned for ground zero, with 8.8 million square feet of space, and they face a lot of competition from New Jersey, which offers even larger tax breaks and other subsidies than a tenant can get downtown.

The lure of lower costs and tax breaks can be enticing, even to a company like Citigroup, whose chief executive, Charles Prince, is co-chairman of the Partnership for New York City, a civic group working to entice companies downtown.

After Citigroup announced in 2004 that it was sending 1,600 workers from Lower Manhattan to Warren, N.J., a spokeswoman vowed: “We’re keeping all our space in Lower Manhattan. We’re not giving up an inch of space.”
But now the bank has sold its building at 250 West Street and is moving the executives who worked there to Jersey City.

The average rent downtown may be $38.57 a square foot per year, 35 percent cheaper than the Midtown average, according to CB Richard Ellis, a real estate broker. But the average on the Jersey waterfront is only $28.87 a square foot. And under New Jersey’s Business Employment Incentive Program, Citigroup will get a tax rebate worth an estimated $37.1 million over 10 years and Deutsche Bank will get one worth about $22 million over the same time period.

Shannon Bell, a spokeswoman for Citigroup, said yesterday that the bank remained the largest private employer in New York City. “We expect to continue to add jobs here and to keep our headquarters here,” she said.
Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, said that another border war would be unwise.

“What’s important to New York is that these jobs remain within our regional economy,” she said. “We’re long past days where New Jersey is the enemy. It’s more important that these jobs don’t move to Maryland, Tampa or India.”

macmini

August 11th, 2006, 05:10 PM

Renderings of Monaco 1, 2 and Sanremo

http://www.jerseycityportal.com/realestate/images/monacoandsanremo2.gif

http://www.jerseycityportal.com/realestate/images/monacoandsanremo.gif

http://www.slcearch.com/

Go to residential + projects and go downt to MONACO 1,2

New project on Washington Blvd.

The towers on Washington Blvd. would be known as the San Remo, Monaco I, and Monaco II. The developer is Roseland Property Company in Short Hills, N.J. The construction date has not been determined.

James Davidson, the architect for San Remo, Monaco I, and Monaco II, gave an overview of the project's architectural plans.

Davidson said the three towers will have parking decks; the San Remo with its own and the Monaco I and Monaco II sharing one connecting both buildings, with entrances to parking on Fourth Street and Sixth Street.

He also said there would a renovation of the hotel and added space to the hotel that would accommodate 200 more hotel units, over 8,000 square feet of retail, and parking for retail.

Planning Board Chairman John Cardwell told Davidson that he hopes the developer does provide parking for the retail, since the Planning Board was "very deceived" several years before when approving the final construction plans for the Marbella Apartments only a block away from the proposed towers.

"Nobody never answered us, nobody responded when we asked why do you have five spaces, when we approved 36 spaces for retail...so I hope you don't deceive us," said Cardwell.

Planning Board Commissioner Jeni Branum pointed out there should be more recreation space for children and even a dog run for the three-tower project.

"You come here with 674 units and 200 for the hotel; you can't expect those people to use what's already down at Newport....you got to bring green space, you got to bring activity space, and I just don't mean pools," said Branum.

Davidson said there would be a recreation area in each of the three towers.

Spooky873

August 11th, 2006, 08:19 PM

and the growth continues...

People have no idea how much JC benefits from NY. Cant we just annex it? Itd also add a whole shitload of buildings to our dataaa!!!!!

RiversideGator

August 11th, 2006, 09:56 PM

Jersey City is on fire. It is a shame to see NYC and JC at odds though, especially given the circumstances in downtown NYC. It is ultimately much better though for these jobs to stay in the region, anyone would have to agree.

WillyWick

August 12th, 2006, 12:12 AM

Nice...there has been a mega change in the last 5 years...everytime i had visited jersey city.. something new had propped up. :)

nygirl

August 12th, 2006, 01:36 AM

http://www.jerseycityportal.com/realestate/images/monacoandsanremo2.gif

http://www.jerseycityportal.com/realestate/images/monacoandsanremo.gif

Wow Jc!

In my lifetime I will see 3 significant skylines on either side of 2 riverways.....

:cheers:

Spooky873

August 12th, 2006, 05:34 AM

JC wouldnt be like that if it werent for NY. Any building in Jersey isnt tallied in with NY just a reminder.

centreoftheuniverse

August 12th, 2006, 05:55 AM

and the growth continues...

People have no idea how much JC benefits from NY. Cant we just annex it? Itd also add a whole shitload of buildings to our dataaa!!!!!Or tax them. A commuter tax, anyone?

Don Omar

August 12th, 2006, 06:04 AM

yea go New Jersey

Seton Hall represent

xInfamuzPunjabix

August 12th, 2006, 08:02 PM

woohooo go new jersey :)

as ny girl said, we are gonna se 2 more skylines go up across manhattan in our lifetime =]

Eric Offereins

August 13th, 2006, 01:04 PM

Nice towers. :)

macmini

August 14th, 2006, 08:01 PM

Jersey City: An Appetite for Development State's Second Largest City in Midst of Building Boom

By Anthony Birritteri, Editor-in-Chief

When the lease was up on their lower Manhattan office headquarters in October 2004, the principals at Abner, Herrman & Brock, Inc. (AHB) Asset Management didn't consider moving to Jersey City. According to Kevin E. Strauss, managing director, everyone had the old image of Jersey City on their minds - a run-down metropolis in decline. When a broker showed them what actually existed, Strauss and his partners were in awe. "We didn't understand the scope of what was here. This has really become Wall Street West," he enthuses. Almost two years later, AHB is expanding its client base in New Jersey as well as in New York. What's even better is that clients now don't mind visiting the firm's 5,000 square feet of Class A space at Harborside Financial Center 5 on the waterfront, as opposed to visiting their old Manhattan office.

http://www.njbmagazine.com/2006aug/images/jersey_city.jpg
A rendering of LeFrak Organization's Newport development, where the company now plans three new residential towers and a 49-room Westin Newport hotel.

"With improvements in technology, it's no longer vital to be located near the stock exchange or near the Wall Street community," says Strauss, who adds that for one-half to one-third the cost of office space in New York City, AHB also had the opportunity to customize its new space from scratch in Jersey City.

Strauss' comments reflect the views of many businesses that are leaving Manhattan to take advantage of what Jersey City has to offer: less expensive and newer commercial office space; a skilled workforce that is consistently being developed by the area schools such as St. Peter's College, New Jersey City University and Hudson County Community College; quick and convenient access to Manhattan via four PATH stations, the Holland Tunnel, four ferry routes provided by NY Waterway and one provided by New York Water Taxi; access through the region via the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit System; and a flourishing cultural community with art studios, restaurants and various ethnic groups. In fact, walking the streets of Jersey City on any given day, more than 50 languages can be heard at one point or another.

Not only businesses are flocking to the city - people are as well. The city's population of more than 240,000 increased by 5 percent between 1990 and 2000, a great feat considering the population decline of many urban cities throughout the country.

The attraction of Jersey City to groups of new immigrants, young professionals and empty nesters has caught the eye of residential developers who are in the midst of a building boom throughout the 14.9 square-mile region. There are currently 8,000 residential units under construction in the city, 15,000 more are in stages of approval and another 50,000 to 65,000 are predicted to be built within the next 25 years.

"We have an appetite for development," says Robert Cotter, planning director for the city. "We have reached critical mass, and all of a sudden it's here. Things are snowballing.

"We had a big city once upon a time. We shrank, but now we are re-growing ourselves," he says confidently.

"The secret is out," says Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy. "The city was overlooked for a long time; now people are flocking here to live and invest. If you went down to the Hudson River waterfront 25 years ago, there was nothing but abandoned, rotting piers, warehouses and railroad tracks. Go down there now and it's an entirely different place."

According to Healy, redevelopment is running throughout the city: from its northern border with Hoboken to its southern border with Bayonne and east to the Hackensack River and Newark Bay.

One of the main developers providing the spark that led to Jersey City's renaissance as a commercial center for financial institutions is the LeFrak Organization, which, along with Melvin Simon & Associates, began transforming a stretch of abandoned waterfront property back in 1986 into the famed Newport Development, the $2.5-billion mixed-use community where more than 16 million square feet has been built, including: the eight-building, 5.5 million square-foot Newport Office Center; the 1.2 million square-foot Newport Center Mall (which has recently undergone $17 million in renovations); an additional 600,000 square feet of outdoor retail space; nine high-rise rental apartment buildings, comprised of 3,479 units; two condominium buildings with 659 units; the Newport Marina & Yacht Club that services more than 285 boats and yachts; the 187-room Courtyard by Marriott Hotel; the Newport Town Square, a gathering place where a variety of free events are held; and a 1.5-mile stre! tch of the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway.

Looking back these past 20 years, Richard LeFrak, chairman and president of the LeFrak Organization recalls, "In the beginning, it was rough sledding. Nobody was convinced we were going to transform the waterfront. I consider all of the initial residents as pioneers. They were living in the middle of a construction site in a neighborhood that hadn't been developed. We were asking them for some faith."

Asked what initially attracted the company to the site, LeFrak responds, "It was a mile of waterfront facing Manhattan where you had the ability to create a neighborhood from scratch."

Now, LeFrak, along with Melvin Simon & Associates, is planning the next phase of Newport development.

Early in June, the chairman broke ground for the 429-room Westin Newport - Jersey City and announced plans for three residential towers that will add 688 rental apartments and 220 more condominium units to the Newport community. The residential units will include: The Eclipse, a waterfront residential tower adjacent to the 14th Street pier that will consist of 325 apartments and stand 460 feet high; The Shore Club Condominium at Newport North Towers, which will be a 28-story condominium residence, with 229 units (it is the sister project of the Shore Club Condominiums, which is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, but is already 100 percent sold); and The Aqua, a 330-foot-high, 31-story apartment building with 363 units located on River Drive.

The new Westin Hotel, to be completed by the summer of 2008, will be operated by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, and will include a conference center, a 10,000 square-foot ballroom, banquet facilities, pool and fitness center and a 5,000 square-foot restaurant.

According to LeFrak, nine million square feet of space can still be accommodated at Newport. "The site, now as planned, will consist of 16 more high-rise buildings." Though he has not announced any new office space construction, LeFrak says the company is working on a plan for an additional 1 million square feet of office space.

LeFrak says the tenants in his Jersey City office buildings are the "cream of the financial world." Most are New York-based firms that have moved technical operations, back office administrative services and trading operations to Jersey City. Tenants include JP Morgan Chase Bank, Knight Securities, UBS, U.S. Trust Co., Brown Brothers Harriman, Union Bank of Switzerland, HSBC Bank USA and ABN Amro.

Office buildings at Newport include: the 14-story, 472,093 square-foot Newport Financial Center at 111 Pavonia; the 36-story, one million square-foot Newport Tower at 525 Washington Boulevard; the 547,795 square-foot, 14-story Paine Webber Building at 499 Washington Boulevard; the 22-story, 860,835 square-foot Insurance Services Office (ISO) Building at 545 Washington Boulevard; the 21-story, 780,000 square-foot 575 Washington Boulevard and, across the street, the 10-story, 345,000 square-foot 570 Boulevard; the 32-story, 1.1 million square-foot UBS Building at 480 Washington Boulevard; and the six-story, 90,000 square-foot 100 Pavonia Avenue.

Able to support 4 million square feet of new development is another famed waterfront commercial property, Harborside Financial Center, which traces its roots back to the 1970s, and is now owned by Mack-Cali, the Cranford-based real estate investment trust (REIT). The company bought the Harborside complex in 1996 and has since developed a number of buildings.

Today, according to Mack-Cali President and CEO Mitchell E. "Mitch" Hersh, "The waterfront again has gained a whole new level of viability and credibility in serving the needs of corporate America and the global economy."

The company owns and services 4.3 million square feet of space in Jersey City. "We can develop another component roughly equal to that," Hersh says. Harborside Plazas 1, 2 and 3, totaling some 1.9 million square feet of space, were in existence when Mack-Cali purchased the property. Since then, it has developed additional buildings, including Harborside Financial Plaza 10, consisting of 577,575 square feet for Charles Schwab Company. The building was eventually sold to iStar Financial, but Mack-Cali continues to manage the facility. Mack-Cali also built Plaza 4a, consisting of 207,670 square feet, and Plaza 5, which is 977,225 square feet.

In February, Citco Fund Services announced it was leaving Manhattan and moving as many as 300 employees to Plaza 10 by the end of the year. The 70,000 square feet it is moving into is controlled by American Financial Realty Trust, a Pennsylvania-based REIT.

Now, Mack-Cali has plans for: Harborside Plaza 4, which will consist of one million square feet; Plaza 6, at 600,000 square feet; Plaza 7, at 1.8 million square feet; and Plazas 8 and 9 for a combined 1.1 million square feet, which may be sold to condominium developers. According to Hersh, "We feel there is continued need to supplement housing along the waterfront, which creates a tremendous sense of community."

Hersh is currently in discussions with several New York-based companies that could be the future tenants of the planned office buildings. "We are discussing several pre-lease commitments on several of these towers. Depending on how they evolve into lease commitments would influence our decision to build. It is not our intention to build any spec buildings of any substance."

Hersh says lease rates for new commercial developments are about half of what one would find in midtown Manhattan. "These are 21st Century buildings," he says of the Harborside locations. "The older buildings in midtown offer little flexibility for restacking, with limitations on floor plate sizes."

Last year, Mack-Cali purchased the 1.25 million square-foot 101 Hudson Street, the second tallest office building in the state next to the 42-story, 1.43 million square-foot Goldman Sachs Building at 30 Hudson Street. "101 Hudson is a trophy building," says Hersh. "We bought it for $263 per square foot, while new development costs somewhere in the $375 per-square-foot range. It was a magnificent value-creator for Mack-Cali."

Current tenants at the 10-year-old building include Merrill Lynch and PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC). This past February, PWC leased an additional 12,000 square feet at the location, bringing its total presence at the building to 33,230 square feet. The accounting and consulting firm was represented in the deal by Newmark Knight Frank.

Other transactions at Mack-Cali properties within the year included: Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation for 40,470 square feet, Fred Alger & Co., Inc. for 37,785 square feet and Deutsche Bank extending its lease for 90,000 square feet at Harborside Financial Center Plaza 1; and National Fire Union Insurance Company expanding its space at 101 Hudson Street by 38,507 square feet for a total of 317,799 square feet.

In the summer of 2002, Mack-Cali opened, in conjunction with the Hyatt Corporation, the 350-guestroom Hyatt Regency Jersey City, which offers 20,000 square feet of meeting space. The hotel, according to Andrew Davidson, general manager, is running at a 92 percent occupancy rate.

"Approximately 250,000 guests pass through the hotel each year. I don't know if I want anymore demand than what I've already got," Davidson says. The hotel picked up a Four-Star, Four Diamond award last year. "There is nothing on the shoreline here that has this kind of recognition," says Davidson.

"Primarily, we've been a business hotel, with Goldman Sachs being one of our best customers. We are picking up a ton of domestic business from around the country that first want to be in New York, but find our prices more competitive," he says. With the announcement of new hotels under development in Jersey City, Davidson says that competition will be good for everyone.

Atop the Palisades Ridge, in the heart of Jersey City, evolution on a grand scale is taking place at the former site of the Jersey City Medical Center. New York-based developer Metrovest Equities, Inc. is investing $350 million to transform the classic art deco landmark property into a 14-acre, 10-building luxury residential community known as The Beacon. It is the largest historical redevelopment project in New Jersey and one of the most ambitious ever undertaken in the United States.

The hospital was built between 1928 and 1941 under the direction of famed Jersey City Mayor Frank "I am the Law" Hague, who served from May 15, 1917 until his retirement on June 17, 1947. His vision was to provide the city's poor with free health care while keeping them loyal to his Democratic political machine. He kept an office within Murdoch Hall at the hospital and named the maternity hospital after his mother, Margaret.

The hospital, too large to maintain over the decades, began closing down in sections. It closed down altogether with the opening of the new $217-million, 420-bed Jersey City Medical Center - Wilzig Hospital (named after Ziggi Wilzig, holocaust survivor and founder of the former Trust Company Bank of Jersey City).

The Beacon's first two buildings, now under construction and scheduled to be ready by next year, are already 75 percent sold out. The Rialto is a 22-story tower with 164 residences ranging from 700 square feet to 3,200 square feet in studios, lofts and one- to two-bedroom layouts. The 21-story The Capitol will offer 151 residences ranging in size from 600 square feet to 3,100 square feet. Prices at The Beacon start at $300,000 for a 750 square-foot, one-bedroom unit. A two-bedroom unit at 1,400 square feet is in the mid-$700,000 range. Rooftop duplexes are expected to sell for more than $2 million.

Metrovest is investing $110 million in renovating the first two buildings. Eventually, the site will become a miniature city of 1,100 condos, apartments, retail shops and restaurants. The company has been active in Jersey City redevelopment and rehabilitation for some time, producing more than 1,600 residential units and close to 2 million square feet of commercial and retail space.

According to President George Filopoulus, the attraction to The Beacon project is "the ability to offer first-class product minutes from Manhattan at a fraction of the cost." He says the condos, sitting 90 feet above the city, will offer stunning panoramic views of the New York and Jersey City skylines and the rest of the state.

Metrovest is also planning Grand Plaza, a 26-acre site southeast of The Beacon. An underutilized site with industrial buildings, plus a vacant lot, the company plans a mixed-use development consisting of a 150,000 square-foot shopping center and 230 townhouse units.

In what is considered Jersey City's first high-rise condo development in the last 10 to 15 years, KOR Companies, at press time, is expected to announce the grand opening of Montgomery Greene, a $52-million, 20-story luxury condominium also in the heart of the city at the corners of Montgomery and Green streets, between the financial district and Paulus Hook.

According to Harry Kantor, president and CEO of KOR Companies, 80 units at the 113-unit complex have been sold. Studios start at 500 square feet, while one-bedroom units range from 900 to 1,000 square feet, two-bedrooms from 1,200 to 1,400 and three-bedrooms, 1,900. There are eight penthouse units. The condos are selling for $700 per square foot.

Amenities at the location include a 2,600 square-foot roof terrace, a 123-vehicle parking garage, a state-of-the-art gym and loading dock facilities. There is also approximately 4,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

KOR is also involved in the "Grand Development District" adjacent to the Marina at Liberty Harbor, where it is planning two 35-story towers containing 500 units.

Similar to The Beacon project, in that a former hospital site is being turned into condominiums, Exeter Properties, a long-time Jersey City developer, is busy transforming the former St. Francis Hospital complex into a 225-unit residence. According to Eric Silverman, a principal of the firm, a new building will be constructed while an existing hospital building will be renovated. "We will be removing the skin of the building and recessing the 8th and 10th floors. A new street will be created between the two buildings. The two sites will consist of approximately 350,000 square feet with 40,000 square feet of commercial space.

Exeter is investing $100 million into the hospital property. "The zoning has been changed and a redevelopment plan has been adopted," says Silverman. He says the condos will sell from between $300,000 to $1 million. The estimated completion date for the project is three years.

In 2002, Exeter began renovating an area on Grove Street, across from City Hall, where the Majestic Theater once stood. This $20-million project included the restoration of four landmark buildings and the construction of a new seven-story condominium totaling 140,000 square feet, complete with underground parking.

Located within the four renovated landmark buildings are The Bar Majestic and The Merchant Bar & Restaurant, as well as Tia's Place, a clothing and home goods store, and a florist. "We look for creative entrepreneurs who can add something to the community," says Silverman.

Adjacent to the Majestic and City Hall lies a corner property where Exeter is planning Majestic II, where it will build 85 apartments.

In the Hamilton Park section of town near St. Francis Hospital, Exeter has renovated the Park Foundry building into 32 rental lofts. This $8-million project, completed in 1999, includes 10,000 square feet of commercial space.

Directly across from Park Foundry, the company is now building the first new loft building in the state. Known as The Schroeder Lofts, the $30-million project will consist of 60 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, all with high ceilings.

Among the biggest news in the city was the announcement of Trump Plaza: Jersey City, the $415-million condominium project that would include the two tallest residential towers in the state. Located at Washington and Bay streets, it will definitely consist of a 531,500 square-foot, 55-story tower with 445 condominium homes, and, at press-time, may consist of a 481,283 square-foot, 50-story tower with 417 homes. The towers will rise from a 328,658 square-foot, seven-story base, housing a garage with 696 parking spaces and 23,000 square feet of retail space. The studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom residential units will range in size from 750 to 2,224 square feet.

Partners in the project include Donald Trump and Metro Homes founder Dean Geibel and partner Paul Fried. The two-acre parcel was originally acquired by Panepinto Properties of Jersey City, which, along with Applied Development Company of Hoboken, initiated the two-tower concept and design. They remain partners in the project.

A project that is following the "new urbanism" design, Cotter, the city's planning director, proudly points to Liberty Harbor North Redevelopment, an 86-acre site across from Liberty State Park that is knitted into the fabric of the city's street grid pattern. "Currently, 1,000 residential units are being constructed. When fully completed, it will consist of 6,000," Cotter says.

The principal developers of the project are Peter Mocco and Jeff Zak, but according to Cotter, other developers are building in the area. These include: Metro Homes, which is building a 20-story tower; Shenkman & Kuschner, which is building 330 luxury apartments at Liberty Harbor I and 500 at Liberty Harbor II; Roseland Properties; and Applied Development Company.

The 86-acre mixed-use development will also have: 775,000 square-feet for retail; 175,000 square-feet for school facilities; 1.1 million square-feet for a hotel; and 4.6 million square-feet for offices.

Developers have also been busy on Jersey City's other waterfront - the west side of town facing Newark Bay. "Honeywell is cleaning up chromium at a site along Route 440. That opens up a whole new opportunity for development," Cotter says. He specifically mentions the Bayside Redevelopment Plan, the proposal to redevelop the 75-acre area between Communipaw, Bergen and Stevens avenues and Newark Bay. Laid out two to three years ago, the plan calls for 15,000 to 20,000 residential units and a couple million square feet of office and retail space.

"We want Route 440 on the west side to emerge from being a back highway to being a waterfront boulevard," says Barbara A. Netchert, director of the Jersey City Office of Housing, Economic Development and Commerce. "The industrial chromium sites are finally coming around to be remediated and will be ready for development in the next several years."

Boston-based Cathartes has built The Residences at Westside Station, a 52-unit residential development that includes retail space. Approximately 800-plus units are planned at Westside Station, according to the company. Townhomes range from 1,394 square feet to 1,465 square feet, lofts from 760 square feet to 1,360 square feet and studios from 975 square feet. Directly across from the Light Rail, Westside Station, it is 10 minutes from downtown Jersey City and 20 minutes from Manhattan.

There is a plethora of other residential projects completed and under development throughout the city. What follows is a brief description of some of these projects.

K. Hovnanian and Equity Residential are paying Secaucus-based Hartz Mountain Industries $70 million for a 1.7 acre parcel of land where they will build two 48-story residential towers at 77 Hudson Street. The two 500-foot towers, according to planning documents, would total 925,000 square feet and have 901 units. There would be a parking garage for 896 vehicles and 20,000 square feet of retail space.

K. Hovnanian at Paulus Hook is a 68-home condominium complex that offers one- two- and three-bedroom homes ranging in size from 600 square feet to more than 1,500 square feet, with prices starting at $600,000.

New York-based The Athena Group and GoldenTree InSite Partners are building 'A' Jersey City, a $110-million luxury condominium project near the Hudson River waterfront at 389 Washington Boulevard. Expected to be completed by the fall of 2007, the 33-story tower will offer 250 condominium units with views of Manhattan, 10,500 square feet of retail space and a 238-space parking garage.

At Porte Liberte along the Hudson River, Applied Development Company is developing a resort style community with 155 residences featuring one- two- and three-bedroom homes, ranging from $425,000 to $1 million. One-, two- and three- and four-bedroom duplex designs are also available. These two-story homes sit atop a 15-story building rising above the waterfront. One special feature is the on-site marina with available, individual boat slips.

To be ready for occupancy by June 2007 is SK Properties' Grove Point Condominiums, an 11-story building with 67 residential units at 102 Christopher Columbus Drive. Ranging in size from 750 to 1,289 square feet in one- and two-bedroom designs, residences will start at $495,000.

Recently opened, Pinnacle Companies is selling Mandalay on the Hudson, a 26-story tower featuring 269 condominium units being offered in the mid-$300,000 range for one- to three-bedroom homes.

Zanco, Inc. has opened Essex Commons, a new luxury apartment building in the Paulus Hook section of the city. The seven-story, 90,000 square-foot residential building with 70 units, from low-rise homes to one-, two- and three-bedrooms apartments, offers views of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Jarmel Kizel provided full architecture and engineering services for the project.

D6 Development, LLC is renovating 50 Journal Square, better known as the Arcade Building, from an office complex to a luxury condominium building with six 1,500 square-foot units and a 2,500 square-foot penthouse. Land entitlement work, as well as architectural and engineering design for the 12,000 square-foot, eight-story building were supplied by Jarmel Kizel.
With all of this planned construction, and with 65,000 more units estimated in the next 25 years, one wonders if there will be glut of residential units. Exeter's Silverman says the bigger question is how many apartment buildings can the New York City region absorb?

"Just to look at Jersey City is a mistake. This is a sub-market of Manhattan," he says. "The nice thing is that this time around the infrastructure and critical mass are starting to develop here . . . The more apartments the better."

According to Metrovest's Filopoulus, "Quality projects will benefit from the brisk commercial leasing market in Jersey City. Thousands of new employees are moving in as the city continues to attract major corporations relocating and expanding from Manhattan. This translates into a lot of potential purchasers."

KOR Companies' Kantor says there are a lot of high-rise buildings coming on-line, but "builders have a terrific sense of denial that the economic climate will go south. Not acknowledging the projects already in motion, I would quite frankly question the timing of (any new) projects. He advises developers to take a long-term approach in building.

When asked about an increase in traffic due to the possible influx of people moving into these buildings, Cotter says that traffic is a function of the availability of mass transit. "Jersey City's modal split is somewhere around 70 percent (70 percent of residents use mass transit to get to work). It's close to Manhattan's split of 80 percent," he says.

"The light rail system got here just in time. It's the lowest subsidized trolley system in the country. In terms of parking ratios, we park about one car for every five employees. That makes us an extremely green town," he says.

As a place to further attract businesses, Mayor Healy states there will never be a payroll tax in the city as long as he is in office. "I want the investment community to know that," he says. "In my opinion, it is a disincentive to investment. I think it would cause firms to start looking around for greener pastures outside the city." According to a resource guide developed by the city's economic development corporation, there are also no city sales, capital stock, city income, personal property, unincorporated business or commercial leased taxes in the city.

At press-time, Healy has asked for two legislative initiatives that he thinks will provide the city with annual renewable sources of income. One is a hotel tax, which the city currently is not allowed to impose. The second is a realty transfer fee, perhaps $1 for every thousand dollars of a property's sale price, that would go directly to the city.

He says the city still has its problems, most notably crime and public education (the public school system has been under state control for 16 years). Yet, things are turning around.

"When I was running for office 10 years ago, I went through a lot of neighborhoods people would never consider walking through. Now, I notice that the housing stock has improved. People are taking better care of their properties. I have noticed there isn't a vacant lot or abandoned building in the city. You couldn't even give away these things 10 years ago. Growth and development has moved north, south, east, west . . . all over. The old saying goes 'a rising tide lifts all boats.' That's certainly true of Jersey City."

Indyman

August 15th, 2006, 12:30 AM

So many exciting thing for Jersey City! Its kinda like how Kowloon developed a skyline across from Hong Kong (even though it is just another part of HK not a differnet city)

Colonel Cadillac

August 16th, 2006, 05:22 AM

[QUOTE=macmini]TalB I was wrong Goldman Sachs Tower will keep it's title until Harborside Plaza 7 is build Trump Plaza will be 2nd and 3rd tallest building but tallest residential development in the state Trump Plaza will be 560 feet.

Speaking of the 800 foot HP7, is this getting underway or what. Been around for awhile and no progress. Who is the developer? Anybody have info....how good is JC office market?

Colonel Cadillac

August 16th, 2006, 05:29 AM

ok read that article...does this mean Deutsch Bank could be a tenant?

macmini

August 16th, 2006, 03:23 PM

Yes Deutsch Bank is in talks to move 1200 employees to Jersey City an Harborside Plaza 7 will be built when the have a tenant.

macmini

August 16th, 2006, 08:44 PM

From www.nj.com August 16, 2006

Goldman Sachs building to get a little brother

Financial giant Goldman Sachs got the OK today to start the process of planning and constructing a 500-foot, 30-story tower next to its Downtown Jersey City skyscraper, which is the tallest building in the state.

In going before the city council to ask for a change in the Colgate redevelopment plan that will allow for this new building, Gold Sachs reps indicated they weren't interested in garnering the approval to make the 50 Hudson St. property more attractive for sale. Rather, they said, they are interested in building the new tower themselves.

The council voted unanimously, 9-0, to OK the change.

Goldman Sachs reps said the city can expect to see site plans within 30 days.

Jarrett Renshaw

macmini

August 17th, 2006, 05:52 PM

Increase to proposed tower approved by city

Thursday, August 17, 2006By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Global financial giant Goldman Sachs received city approval yesterday to increase the size of a proposed office tower on the Jersey City waterfront from 185 feet to 500 feet, but plans to build a public atrium in the new facility were scrapped.

The changes were included in amendments to the Colgate Redevelopment plan unanimously approved by the Jersey City City Council yesterday.
Under the old redevelopment plan, Goldman Sachs promised to build a curved, glass roof public atrium connecting the Hudson Walkway with Hudson Street.

The amended plan now calls for an open-air plaza, which city officials say will provide better views of the Manhattan skyline. The plaza will feature a number of retail shops.

In addition, the city amended the redevelopment plan to allow for a 500-foot building at 50 Hudson St.

Behind the scenes, several city officials raised questions about the intentions of Goldman Sachs.

The company's current Jersey City building - the state's tallest with a capacity for about 5,000 employees - is less than half full. And of the company's 2,140 employees, only 149 live in Jersey City, according to city records.

"Goldman has been a great neighbor, but I just hope that they plan to build it," Downtown Councilman Steve Fulop said.

Goldman Sachs officials said they plan to have their current building "two-thirds" full by next year.

© 2006 The Jersey Journal © 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

macmini

August 20th, 2006, 01:20 AM

The Cliffs Condo's now in progress

6 months ago
http://static.flickr.com/43/106007323_5e1649f79f_o.jpg

Now
http://static.flickr.com/75/218101357_e96603cb0f_o.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/89/217369780_03aeaaf3c5_b.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/89/217369779_e678269593_b.jpg

macmini

August 28th, 2006, 03:23 PM

From JCMAN320

I also got a got a sneak peak of a building called the Metropitan that could get built soon and is already approved for where the Pep Boys is Downtown and start the demoltion of that ugly parking lot mall and people trust me this tower will make the Goldman Sachs Tower blush. It is actually looks taller than it so we can be talking a building btwn 800-900ft in height!!!!!! I will post a photo I snapped of the rendering tonight after 9:00pm tonite so keep your eyes pealed.

The Metropolitan

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b17/JCman320/DSCN0886.jpg

TroyBoy

August 29th, 2006, 02:41 AM

Looks like a heart.

xInfamuzPunjabix

August 30th, 2006, 05:23 AM

beautifull cant wait to see dat get buildd

Spooky873

August 30th, 2006, 08:26 AM

From JCMAN320

The Metropolitan

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b17/JCman320/DSCN0886.jpg

niiiiiiiice. JC has so many tall towers in progress. To the naked eye nobody would know that its NJ unless you live there, it makes all of NY look great from the air. These should be counted in with the NYC buildings since they are a direct result of NYC anyway.

macmini

October 1st, 2006, 03:45 PM

67-story tower to overlook Newport Mall

Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer

http://www.curbed.com/2006_09_Ellipse.jpg
http://images.zwire.com/local/Z/ZWIRE1291/zwire/images/2006/09/story/09metropolitan17b_story.jpgFUTURE CONDO SITE – The Metropolitan is planned for construction on the site of the Pep Boys Automotive Supercenter. The other stores at the center will remain.

A 755-foot residential tower called the "Metropolitan" is being proposed for land just south of the Newport Mall, at the site of where a Pep Boys Automotive store is currently located.

If it gets its city approvals, the structure at Sixth and Washington streets would be the second largest building in New Jersey. The largest building is already in Jersey City: the Goldman Sachs building at 30 Hudson St. stands at 791 feet.

Within a 10-block radius, there are several condo towers either under construction or that have been approved for construction, including: the 55-story Trump Plaza Jersey City on Washington Blvd. and Bay Street; the 33-story Athena on the corner of Washington Boulevard and Second Street; and the proposed San Remo I, San Remo, and Monaco condo towers located off Washington Boulevard behind the Doubletree Hotel.

The Metropolitan, when completed, will have 809 condominium units, 809 parking spaces on seven floors, and 12,445 square feet of retail space.

The tower is one of several that may be built in that 18-acre shopping area currently anchored by a Shop Rite supermarket and BJ's Wholesale Club. But those shopping stores will still remain.

The plans for the Metropolitan were presented to the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency at their August meeting, and will be presented to the Jersey City Planning Board on October 3.
Details behind the Metropolitan

G&S Investors, a real estate investment company based in Port Chester, N.Y., will build the Metropolitan. They have been the owners of the Metro Plaza shopping center since the early 1990s.

The designer of the project is the architectural firm Arquitectonica of Miami. They also designed the Ellipse, a 460-foot residential tower planned for construction in Jersey City's Newport residential area. They also designed the Westin Times Square hotel in New York City.

Tom Lehne, consultant for G&S Investors, said last week the Metropolitan is estimated to cost $180 to $200 million and construction would start next summer, pending all approvals from the city.

Lehne was the former head of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency in the early 1980s.

Lehne also dispelled rumors regarding the closing of the Shop Rite supermarket, BJ'S Wholesale Club, and Bed, Bath & Beyond stores.

"The other stores have very long-term leases and they are doing great business, especially the Shop Rite," said Lehne. "And it is the wish of [Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy] and the Redevelopment Agency, and I am sure the Planning Department, that the Shop Rite and its parking lot stays intact."
First phase of development at shopping center

Jersey City attorney Francis Schiller, representing the developers, said the Metropolitan project would be the first phase of a larger development project that would span over 20 years, with retail always having a presence in the plaza. Schiller said there will be a meeting with the city's Planning Department to create a master plan specifically for the plaza.

What prompted G&S Investors to look at a residential component? Lehne said the decision was based on them seeing the continuing development in Jersey City.

Schiller said there is no height restriction in the area, which is governed by the Hudson Exchange Redevelopment Plan. The height of this building, Schiller said, would provide "great view corridors" of the New York Skyline to the east and the Watchung Mountains to the west.
What's inside the Metropolitan?

Lehne said the developers are looking to provide a "first-class signature building."

Instead of housing only condos, Lehne said the developers may decide to provide a mix of condos and rentals. That will be predicated on a marketing study being done by the developers currently to learn how to attract new residents to the Metropolitan.

Lehne added that the developers will contribute their share of affordable housing as required by the city for the its Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

Residential units will conceal the four stories of parking from public view.

The 12,445 square feet of retail space on the ground floor will be divided into three areas. Both Schiller and Lehne agreed that the retail will be "neighborhood friendly boutiques" or small-scale retail since there are already big-box stores.
Councilman likes project but not abatement

Lehne said the developers will seek a tax abatement for the project.

A tax abatement is an agreement to exempt a developer from paying regular fluctuating property taxes. Instead, the developer makes a separate revenue deal to pay money directly to the city over 20 or 30 years. The city gets all the money rather than having to share it with the county and schools.

In the last few years, the agreements have become controversial because some people believe developers don't need the extra incentive to build, and other residents may have to chip in a bigger share of taxes than they should have to.

"The city actually makes a lot of money; it's a revenue producer," argued Lehne. "This site is two, three acres, which will mean millions of dollars going to the city."

Also happy about the Metropolitan but opposed to an abatement being granted is Ward E City Councilman Steven Fulop, who represents most of Downtown Jersey City, including the project site.

"I think it will be a great project, but if they come to seek an abatement, I will vote against it," said Fulop. "I think they can build this project without incentives."
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com

macmini

October 1st, 2006, 03:48 PM

Loft Project in Jersey City Attracts a Big Name

By JONATHAN MILLER

Published: September 19, 2006

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Sept. 18 — Only a decade ago, the 13-block warehouse district near the waterfront here was little more than a tumbledown assemblage of buildings.

Over the years, it had become a refuge for artists and others, offering cheap rent for those priced out of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. But as Wall Street companies began migrating across the Hudson River, development on the waterfront surged. Builders, among them Donald Trump, saw opportunity and began creating luxury housing out of faded buildings, or constructing new ones.

On Monday, officials and developers gathered at a hotel built on an old pier to announce a major coup: one of the world’s most famed architects will transform a warehouse, once an artist enclave, into luxury lofts.

The architect, Rem Koolhaas, is a winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and the designer of the Seattle Public Library, the Las Vegas Guggenheim, and the Prada store in Lower Manhattan.

Mr. Koolhaas, who has described his work as “flamboyant conceptually, but not formally,” was approached after a settlement the city reached with the landlord over the zoning of the site.

“My main intent is to do a sophisticated work,” Mr. Koolhaas said in an interview on Monday, although he was short on specifics and said it would take about six months for him to draw up a plan.

Of Jersey City, he said, “It is clearly emerging into a new future, though it’s not clear what.”

Developers and Mr. Koolhaas say they want the site to become a center in Jersey City, one with shops, cafes, galleries and other amenities.

How much of a role the current warehouse building will play in that vision is unclear. The building, a 140-year-old Greek Revival structure at 111 First Street, was a long a warehouse for the tobacco maker P. Lorillard and had been at the center of a long and bitter dispute. For 15 years it had served as a haven for artists — some living there illegally — and at its peak housed about 120 studios.

Last year, their legal options exhausted, the artists reached an agreement with the landlord, BLDG Management Company, based in Manhattan, to leave the building. In exchange they were forgiven what they owed in back rent.

Even before the artists were evicted, the president of BLDG, Lloyd M. Goldman, said that the building was unsafe and ought to be demolished.

How much of the building Mr. Koolhaas will preserve is unclear. The settlement drawn up by the city requires that the facade be preserved, but officials here said that they would be open to any changes Mr. Koolhaas might propose.

In July, the City Council approved zoning changes in the district that would allow developers on the site to build something considerably larger than what is already there, possibly as tall as 670 feet. The decision was criticized by local preservation and other groups.

City officials boasted on Monday that getting someone like Mr. Koolhaas here was a boost to the city. “We want to have someone of this status come here,” said Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy. “We wanted something spectacular.”

The waterfront, once the terminus for numerous rail lines and later a derelict wasteland, has undergone a renaissance in the past decade.

Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and other financial companies opened offices here. Last year, Mr. Trump announced that he would take the lead in developing the tallest residential building in the state a block from 111 First Street. Nearby, another high-rise is being built on the site of a former warehouse. Two blocks away, a 35-story residential tower is being built atop a former parking lot, and a half dozen warehouses in the district have been converted to luxury housing.

But a softening economy over the past few years has prompted some developers to switch their ambitious office projects to luxury residential ones.

The building Mr. Koolhaas intends to design will be 1.3 million square feet and include 710 condominium units. In addition, there will be 120 “work-live units,” some of which will be offered to artists at below-market rate. The plan also calls for 16,000 square feet of art galleries and about 52,000 square feet for retail use. The owners say they hope to start building next year and finish by mid-2009.

Mr. Koolhaas said that Jersey City has potential, but acknowledged that the city is still a work in progress.

“The streetscape is difficult,” he said. “It’s not great yet. There’s still a lot to be done.”

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

macmini

October 1st, 2006, 03:51 PM

New pics by tbal via wiredny

Grove Pointe looking down East down Newark Ave
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Grove1.jpg

Main entrance
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Grove3.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Grove2.jpg

at 77 Hudson, molds for footers have been constructed, so vertical construction may begin soon
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/77Hudson2-1.jpg

The tower crane at Columbus Plaza was being taken down for now, until the start of Phase II
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Columbus2.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Columbus3.jpg

And, there is this building on Newark Avenue that has been under renovation for several months now and it seems that work has been completed just this past week. Every aspect of the exterior was redone, including all those tiles near the main doors and windows; all of those huge windows are new, and the sidewalk has been removed and replaced with pavers. It was originally built in 1929. It seems like tons of money went into its resurrection - it went from being full of broken windows and having a heavily damaged facade to this:
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The Hudson
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"A"
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Westin Hotel
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Crews were busy this morning removing the scaffolds around 111 First Street in preparation for demolition
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Gull's Cove
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Gull's Cove
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Phobos

October 1st, 2006, 08:03 PM

The Metropolitan seems to have a nice cladding.
If I was to live in NY,I would probably choose Jersey City to live in.It has the best views of Manhattan's skyline.

macmini

January 15th, 2007, 02:49 AM

In the Region | New Jersey

A Patchwork Project, by Design

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DIVERSE STYLES Attached buildings in the first phase have designs by five architects.

By ANTOINETTE MARTIN

Published: October 8, 2006

JERSEY CITY

IF his plans hadn’t been thwarted two decades ago, said Peter Mocco, the developer of the massive Liberty Harbor community rising adjacent to two historic neighborhoods here, he would have built a “spaceship” development — sealed-off and sterile.

But today, as the 667-unit first phase of Mr. Mocco’s project at last takes shape, he is going in the opposite direction — open and eclectic-looking. The only “spaceship” aura exists inside the residences under construction. Each will have a touch-screen computer on the wall that can do just about everything but take out the garbage.

Before construction began, the site was inlaid with raceways of fiber to generate virtually unlimited bandwidth at all points.

“From one of the town houses in Liberty Harbor,” Mr. Mocco said, as he walked the site on a recent day, “you could operate 10 high-definition TV’s with video on demand and still have enough bandwidth to run a day-trading operation.”

“This will probably be the most technologically advanced residential community in the nation,” he suggested. “Everything, from the thermostats to the lighting, including computers, TV, kitchen and bath appliances, can be remotely controlled from outside the home — say, in your car while coming home from work, using your cellphone or P.D.A.”

It was 1985, a decidedly different era, when Mr. Mocco was named master developer of the huge site adjacent to the Paulus Hook and Van Voorst historic neighborhoods covering 28 city blocks. The area was run-down and industrial, with abandoned warehouses and, on the fringes, rows of substandard apartment buildings.

“The conventional wisdom at the time was that if you were going to redevelop in the inner city, you built a defensive residential complex — set behind a giant wall, with one gate to go in and out,” Mr. Mocco said. “Crime rates were very high in all the urban areas. The idea was to create a sort of sealed-off space station in order for people to feel safe enough to live there.”

So that is what Mr. Mocco dutifully designed, and by 1987, he had city approval for his plans to cover the site — bounded by Grand Street, Luis Muñoz Marin Boulevard, Jersey Avenue and the Tidewater Basin — with modern, but “sterile looking” apartment buildings and single-family homes set behind a fortress wall.

Abruptly, though, things soured: the economy, the real estate market and the financial industry’s willingness to back a plan for 7,000 to 10,000 housing units in a risky area of Jersey City.

A decade passed, Mr. Mocco said, before the notion of rebuilding in beat-up urban areas became realistic again. Crime rates were significantly lower in New York, and Jersey City, too, by the late 1990’s, he recalled, and urban living was regaining cachet. By the year 2000, he had begun considering how to reshape his vision for Liberty Harbor.

Mr. Mocco, 64, whose company bears his name and is based in Jersey City, decided five years ago to put his project under the wing of the renowned architect Andrés Duany, a prominent advocate of New Urbanism. Mr. Duany developed a conceptual plan for Liberty Harbor using New Urbanist principles calling for open, “porous” development that fits seamlessly into the existing urban setting and offers a variety of housing types and styles integrated with retailing and park space and pedestrian-oriented street layouts.

To prevent the Levittown syndrome in a community that will have so many residences, Mr. Duany recommended commissioning a number of architects to work on various parts of the project.

Mr. Mocco hired 10 architectural firms, whose members sat with city planners and community representatives in a series of “charrettes” — open-ended working sessions to generate ideas and drawings — and produced plans employing a diverse “vernacular,” as the architects say.

Sometimes, an individual architect designed a block of one type of housing — condominiums or town houses or duplex apartments. In other cases, the work of different architects was designed to stand side by side. A single block of five attached buildings in the first phase of construction, for example, features five designs by five architects, ranging from a classic brick building with bowed windows and a slate mansard roof, to a more modern-looking structure relying heavily on wood and glass for a sleek facade.

The connected buildings are drawn together by their scale, friendly front stoops and small touches, including the circular pediment ornaments that Mr. Mocco had custom-designed, which are stamped “L H” for Liberty Harbor.

In addition, the community will be tied together by fiber and circuitry. “Residents of Liberty Harbor will be able to see what’s going on inside their own homes, and up and down the block, by looking at the screen on the wall or the computer or the TV,” Mr. Mocco said, “and they can do that from anyplace in the world with a digital connection.”

“From your office, you can check out who is down at the park,” he said, “and whether there was a package left on your doorstep.

“If you’re in the Bahamas,” he continued, “and someone rings your doorbell, your cellphone will ring, letting you know someone is at your door, and you will be able to communicate with them.”

There will be video cameras on every corner recording the street activity, and the images will be kept for a minimum of 30 days, which Liberty Harbor planners expect to act as a deterrent, keeping a lid on crime and mischief.

Mr. Mocco said he is intent on making Liberty Harbor a haven for families. “I believe for urban areas to redevelop, they have to compete with the suburbs,” he said, “compete with the barbecue grill and the patch of grass in the backyard, and the sense of being safe and secure.”

The wall screens and digital wizardry are meant to imbue the community with a sense of security, he said. One or more screens will be installed in every residence; home shoppers can try them out at the just-completed 6,000-square-foot Liberty Harbor sales center on 333 Grand Street, directly opposite the new Liberty Health Jersey City Medical Center.

With a few minutes of instruction, a visitor can learn to raise and lower the blinds on the vaulted windows at the center, or lower the lights in the main hall, by simply clicking on a button.

The sales center also houses four model kitchens and baths that are available in the units under construction, and prospective buyers can view floor plans for the units to be completed within the next year or two. The project may take five to seven more years to complete, Mr. Mocco said.

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

macmini

January 15th, 2007, 02:50 AM

Planning Board Approves Two Downtown Buildings
Grand Street, Second Street residential projects get green light

The Planning Board at its Tuesday meeting approved the construction of a a 269-unit, 436-foot high tower at the foot of Second Street overlooking the Hudson River, and 349-unit multi-story rental complex on Grand Street and Marin Boulevard that is part of the 6,000-unit Liberty Harbor North project.

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Hudson Exchange
The Second Street project, known as "Hudson Exchange," will build the units on a 60-foot high parking deck with 6,000 square feet of retail space designated for a restaurant. There will also 275 parking spaces. There will be a marina and a walkway along the Hudson River.

Brian Fisher of Fisher Development, based in Jersey City, said at the meeting that he looked forward to starting construction.

"I like building in Jersey City and I have built here before," said Fisher. "And I want to get started as soon as possible."

The project is expected to break ground in spring 2007 with a two-year construction schedule. He said he could not give any cost figures for the project.

Grand and Marin part of Liberty Harbor North
The $75 million Grand Street and Marin Boulevard development will be a mixed-use complex that includes buildings of four stories, eight stories, and 12 stories. It is part of the $2 billion, 80-acre Liberty Harbor North redevelopment project on the waterfront.

When completed in the next five to 10 years, Liberty Harbor North will have more than 6,000 residential units, 775,000 square feet for retail, 175,000 square feet for school facilities, 1.1 million square feet for a hotel, and 4.6 million square feet for offices. It is been considered by some urban planning experts to be a "city within a city."

Longtime developer and attorney Peter Mocco and fellow developer Jeff Zak are overseeing the entire Liberty Harbor North project.

The Grove Street and Marin Boulevard section will have nearly 4,000 square feet of retail along with 353 parking spaces, a new lot, and street access for the project, which sits next to the Hudson County Boys and Girls Club on Grand Street.

Applied Housing of Hoboken is working on this particular project, along with veteran developer Jeff Persky. Joshua Wuestneck, vice president of development at Applied Housing, said the project has been four years in the making.

No name has been given for the complex at the present time. The project is expected to take 18 to 24 months to complete.

At Tuesday's meeting, Sottolano asked the developers to commit to a total of 353 parking spaces, which would require valet service, as opposed to the original proposal of 249 spaces without a valet.

At first representatives of the developer were opposed, but then changed their minds and agree to put in more parking.

'Real exciting building'
The Planning Board was unanimously complimentary about the Second Street project, particularly the sleek glass tower design of the building.

"This is a real exciting building," said Planning Board Commissioner Leon Yost.

Commissioner Phillip Matsikoudis commented, "Great professionalism, beautiful building."

However, Planning Board Commissioner Michael Sottolano, also a City Council member, brought up the issue of whether the building will block the views of New York City for other buildings located west, such as the recently opened 26-story Mandalay on the Hudson, also on Second Street.

But Jordan Gruzen, the architect for the project, said the building will be constructed in such a way as to not block much, if any, of the views from adjacent buildings.

Among the conditions the developers would have to adhere to as part of receiving approval is making a color map of the project showing where building cranes and other construction equipment will be placed and how streets will be blocked off.

According to Fisher, this is the third building his company is constructing that directly overlooks the waterfront, following in the steps of Liberty Towers and Liberty Terrace, both on Hudson Street.

Robert Antonicello, executive director for the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, was also at Tuesday's meeting. "This building, when completed along with the marina, will be one of the most desired locations in all of Northern New Jersey," said Antonicello.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com

macmini

January 15th, 2007, 02:54 AM

Council hands out more tax abatements
Friday, November 24, 2006 By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Jersey City City Council continued to crank out tax abatements this week.
Six tax abatements were introduced for The Beacon, the $350 million project by Manhattan-based Metrovest Equities to transform the old Jersey City Medical Center complex into a swanky condo development. The council adopted four other abatements, three of them for waterfront projects.
Following the pattern set more than a year ago, the six abatements introduced Tuesday for the Beacon run 30 years. The normal duration for tax abatements in the city is 20 years.

The Beacon received an added break when it came to the gross annual revenue that has to be paid to the city. The normal payments-in-lieu-of-taxes are 16 percent of gross annual revenue. The six abatements introduced Tuesday call for PILOT payments of 12 percent - up from the 10 percent the project received a little more than a year ago for its first four properties.
George Filopolous, principal of Metrovest Equities, told council members Monday that 250 of the 315 units in the first two buildings under construction have been sold. Those two buildings, the Rialto and the Capital, will open next spring, he said.

The council also adopted 20-year tax breaks for Monaco North and South, a rental complex rising at the site of the old Doubletree Hotel at Washington and Sixth streets and a condominium complex at the foot of Second Street.
Downtown Councilman Steve Fulop blasted these abatements as "gifts" and noted that Mayor Jerramiah Healy campaigned on the premise that waterfront abatements were no longer necessary.

The waterfront abatements passed 6-2, with Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson joining Fulop in opposing them. At-Large Councilwoman Willie Flood was absent.

A 20-year abatement for a market-rate condo project at 100 Water Street on the west side of the city was approved.

macmini

January 15th, 2007, 02:55 AM

Jersey City is a Pocket of Strength in a Lackluster Office Market

Evelyn Lee -- NJBIZ Staff -- 11/27/2006

Even in a lackluster year for the New Jersey office market, location still makes a difference.

"In the office market, things right now are pretty flat," says Mike McGuinness, executive director of the New Jersey Chapter of the National Association of Office and Industrial Properties in New Brunswick. There are some more significant vacancies than last year. Landlords are trying to attract tenants with improvement packages.

The overall office vacancy rate for this year hovers around 17 percent, which is usually a sign of a "tenant's market," according to Richard Baumstein, executive director of Cushman & Wakefield in East Rutherford.

In some key submarkets, however, the office market has been performing better, with vacancies at about 10 percent. "When the market is around 10 percent, there's no particular advantage for the landlord or tenant," says Baumstein.

The state's strongest submarket, the experts concur, is the Hudson waterfront, particularly in Jersey City, where the three largest office buildings on this year's list are. In the top spot is 101 Hudson Street, which moved from sixth place on last year's list. Newport Office Center 7, which was No. 8, now ranks second and Newport Tower jumps to No. 3 from No. 13 last year.

The proximity of Manhattan to northern New Jersey will help to boost the office submarket there, says Richard Duenas, senior director of Cushman & Wakefield in East Rutherford. "The New York City market is doing very well," says Duenas. "We'll see substantial push-out to northern New Jersey to take advantage of lower prices, substantially lower prices."

Other strong submarkets include Bergen County, Newark, Metropark and Short Hills, according to experts. As for what makes for a desirable and sought-after location, McGuinness says proximity to mass transit and availability of good schools are defining factors.

Morris and Somerset counties have not fared as well, partly because of industry changes, says Mitchell Hersh, president and CEO of Edison's Mack-Cali Realty, which manages 101 Hudson St. "There's been a lot of job loss in telecommunications so that's resulted in some of the overhang in that market," says Hersh. "Pharmaceuticals, which has historically been an engine of growth, has slowed down dramatically. That's had an impact on a lot of markets."

Fewer new office buildings will be coming on the market, in light of the higher vacancy rates, according to McGuinness. "The vacancy rates have been higher, so the pressure's on to fill the vacancies," he says. "It's keeping new development down."

macmini

January 15th, 2007, 02:58 AM

To designate developers for housing on King Drive

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

The Jersey City Redevelopment Agency is scheduled to designate developers today for three housing developments on Martin Luther King Drive, city officials said yesterday.

Collectively, the three projects will create 238 units of low-, moderate-, and market-rate housing and help build the customer base to support the nearby Hub shopping center, said JCRA Executive Director Robert Antonicello.

The bulk of the housing will be near the King Drive light rail station at Virginia Avenue.

The biggest project will have 166 condominium units on a 2.4-acre site bordered by King Drive and Orient, Rose, and Kearney avenues.

For 10 years, the site was earmarked for the Thomas Jackson Estates, a proposal to build 24 two-family homes. But the Joint Venture Partnership contracted to develop the area was found in default earlier this year.

The members of the new partnership are the JCRA, the Neighborhood Development Corp. and Philadelphia-based builders, Universal Companies and Brandywine Construction & Development Services.

The JCRA also plans to name local builder Ed Folkes the developer for three mixed-used houses and two two-family homes at 311-315 King Drive, Antonicello said.

The Jersey City-based Community Outreach Team, led by the Rev. Kevin E. Knight, is expected to be designated the developer for a 67-unit senior building at 15-21 King Drive.

KEN THORBOURNE

macmini

January 15th, 2007, 02:59 AM

Last Square holdout fights for more $$
Tuesday, November 28, 2006 By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Two down, one to go.

The Jersey City Redevelopment Agency has purchased two of three buildings standing in the way of a massive redevelopment project on a key block of Journal Square, an official said yesterday.

The two properties - 12 & 14 Journal Square, the site of a closed Wendy's and a still-open Kentucky Fried Chicken - will be conveyed to the developer within two weeks, said JCRA Executive Director Robert Antonicello.

Jersey City-based Harwood Properties inked a deal with the JCRA in May to build two residential/retail towers adjacent to the Journal Square PATH Transportation Center.

In keeping with that agreement, Antonicello said, Harwood Properties will reimburse the JCRA the $2.7 million it paid to acquire the two properties from Florham Park-based developer Fred Kruvant.
Robert Kang, owner of the third property - 15-16 Journal, which houses a McDonald's, Song's Hallmark, HT Wireless, and a dentist's office - is disputing the $2.5 million figure the JCRA maintains is the value of his property, Antonicello said.

Kang has paid for his own appraisal, which the JCRA is reviewing, Antonicello said. Antonicello declined to say how much money Kang is seeking, and Kang couldn't be reached for comment.

Harwood Properties is under contract to buy the other properties still standing on that block before the end of the year, officials said. Two businesses still operate out of 1-7 Journal Square - Three Brothers Pizza and Daily Tortillas.
The owner of these buildings, New York investor Ralph Tawil Jr., agreed to sell to Harwood Properties in March, after paying the city a record $1.1 million in fire and building code fines.

Harwood Properties officials hope to break ground on their $350 million project early next year and anticipate a two-year construction timetable.

macmini

January 15th, 2007, 03:02 AM

Journal Square gets 1,034 units - and more
Two towers will include Times Square-like news ticker

Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer 12/16/2006
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SHOWING OFF PLANS – Ted Hammer, architect for the two-tower project to be built in Journal Square, makes a presentation to the Planning Board on Tuesday.

Journal Square will see its first new major development project in years, as the Jersey City Planning Board approved at their Tuesday meeting two towers to be built near the Journal Square PATH Transportation Center.

The towers, at 52 and 46 stories respectively, will include 1,034 residential units and approximately 150,000 square feet of retail space with 805 parking spaces. The first three levels of the project, which will include a basement, are to be designated for retail. On top of the retail base will be the parking area.

The project, estimated at $350 million, is to be built by Jersey City-based developer Harwood Properties, known for the parking lots that they have operated in the Journal Square area for over 50 years, and as one of the developers of the State Square apartment complex on Kennedy Boulevard.

Lowell Harwood, the managing partner of Harwood Properties, attended Tuesday's meeting but did not comment on the project. Instead, the attorney for the project, Eugene Paolino, spoke about its impact.

"This project will bring life back to this part of Jersey City that has lacking for so long," he said, "and Mr. Harwood should be commended for having the vision to create a project that will do that."

Mayor Jerramiah Healy, upon hearing of the project's approval, said, "This represents a huge step forward for Jersey City and Journal Square. Lowell Harwood and his family have a longstanding history in Jersey City, and I am certain that this project will be spectacular for the Square and restore it to its original splendor."

Towering over Journal Square

At the meeting, the Planning Board was given a PowerPoint presentation of the preliminary site plan.

The attractive features of the towers include a Times Square-type wrap-around ticker displaying news, sports, and weather. There will be an on-site indoor swimming pool, a roof garden, playground, and dog run, and a fitness center.

Each tower will have game and conference rooms.

There will also be an entrance and exit for delivery trucks on Sip Avenue.

The board was informed that the project will cause the relocation of various features in the Square, including the 9/11 Memorial Fountain, cabstand, and kiosk.

The Planning Board requested that the development be moved further west in order to increase the width of the walkway from Sip Avenue to the Journal Square Transportation Center from five feet to 10 feet. Paolino said this movement could be done "if possible."

Planning Board Commissioner Michael Sottolano expressed concern that the project would bring in too many billboards and signage to the vicinity, but Paolino said the project is Jersey City's "answer to the Time Warner Building."

City Planner Maryanne Bucci-Carter commended the project but said there will have to be more work on the site plan.

Tom Leane, another project consultant, responded that it would be another nine months before plans are finalized, after which construction will commence.

The board concurred that the project is long overdue.

"Journal Square has suffered enough, and I am glad for its rebirth and rejuvenation," said Sottolano.

Journal Square turns residential

Robert Antonicello, the executive director of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, hailed the importance of the project's approval.

"This project signals the transition of Journal Square from a retail center to a more residential community," he said. "It will put Journal Square back on the map."

Antonicello said the project is part of a larger effort by the Healy administration and other city agencies to revitalize this long-neglected area.

Antonicello also said there will be a $1.2 million façade improvement program that will affect storefronts from Kennedy Boulevard to Bergen Avenue, as well as other initiatives.

"We are also looking to re-brand what Journal Square is about," said Antonicello. "Other improvements will include a new mural in Journal Square to be done by the city's Mural Arts Program."

Presently, two of three buildings that are on the site of Harwood's two-tower project have been acquired by the Redevelopment Agency on behalf of Harwood. Those two buildings contained a Wendy's restaurant and a greeting card store. Harwood is in the process of acquiring the third building, where a McDonald's is based.

Ricardo Kaulessar can be contacted at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com

macmini

January 15th, 2007, 03:06 AM

The lowrise building between the Metropolis Towers was undergoing demolition today. The building had several tenants, including a video rental outlet, a law office, and a convenience store. As some of us know, their was an 'infill' proposal by the owners of the Metropolis Towers to redevelop the parking and other underutilized areas into a new set of towers and additional retail. Being that the tenants in the buildings demolished today were active, and considering that the land is prime real estate (hence the reason for Grove Pointe and Columbus Plaza shooting up across the street) it seems logical that they are in fact beginning site preparation for construction of these two additional towers:

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Metropolis Expansion Revealed?
According to the online portfolio of DMR Architects though, there will be three phase construction at the complex. Phase I will include two 25 Story towers with 420 units of apartments. These two are towers are perhaps the most hyped-- sort of like the Apple iPod Phone. Based on our own perceptions of the area compared with the renderings, we're thinking these towers will run along Columbus Drive, directly across the street from Columbus Tower & Plaza.

But what gets interesting is Phase II and III. DMR architects has a fairly extensive portfolio when it comes to urban redevelopment and urban in fill projects. And that's exactly what Metropolis Towers needs-- an urban landscape instead of bare parking lots fenced off from a vibrant downtown. In either case, according to the DMR website, a low or mid rise apartment complex and a similar office tower will fill out the rest of the site-- and there is plenty of room, particularly along Warren Street.

(For the record - three of the four corners at the intersection of Marin Blvd. and Columbus Drive are now undergoing extensive revitalization simultaneously - the activity taking place in this area this morning was a sight to see, between this demo work, Grove Pointe construction, the PATH/Newark Ave reconstruction, and Columbus Plaza construction).

Pics of the demolition:

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photos taken by tbal from wirednewyork

macmini

January 15th, 2007, 03:08 AM

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Wednesday, January 03, 2007

W ith Donald Trump and the CEO of Reebok making a splash in Hudson County's real estate market, 2006 was the year of the heavy hitter. The star power brought notoriety to Hudson County - even if Trump's television apprentice Randal Pinkett snubbed Jersey City when he chose to work in Atlantic City instead.

But 2007 likely will be remembered as the year of the innovator, as a number of nontraditional projects are built, some far away from the Hudson County waterfront.

Here's a list of what to watch in the local real estate market.

The Powerhouse Arts District

10 The historic Manischewitz factory on Bay Street in Jersey City is set to move its matzo-making operations to Newark early this year, setting the stage for a battle between preservationists and Toll Brothers, the new owner of the factory, which wants to follow Lloyd Goldman's lead and build to the sky.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy and the members of the City Council sit right in the middle of the action, so watch their public comments closely to see which direction the wind is blowing.

Toll Brothers, which bought the factory for $36.4 million, is expected to lay out plans sometime this year for a 40-story building, equipped with 400 housing units and 70,000 square feet of retail.

As for the Powerhouse itself, city officials are awaiting a Port Authority study that should clean up all the legal, logistical and financial questions standing in the way of its renovation. Watch for the Baltimore-based Cordish Company to take a lead role.

Big boxes on Tonnelle Avenue

9 For decades, trucks ruled the road on Tonnelle Avenue in North Bergen, but they are soon to be replaced by consumers in much smaller vehicles. As one of the central pieces of his administration, Mayor Nicholas Sacco pledged to transform this thoroughfare into a commercial powerhouse - and look for a lot of progress this year.

From 69th to 91st streets, Tonnelle Avenue will be filled with big-box stores like Costco, Lowe's and Wal-Mart. Thanks to millions of dollars in state funding, Tonnelle Avenue will also be widened throughout North Bergen and equipped with traffic lights with left-hand-turn signals to move traffic along.

The Hub

8 With new leadership in place, the city hopes to bring housing to support the commercial district along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Don't expect to see construction, but residents should at least see some plans.

Though the path has been cleared, don't expect everything to go smoothly. Neighborhood groups are still trying to wrestle some control of the district away from the Jersey Redevelopment Agency and its executive director, Bob Antonicello.

Union City High School

7 Construction of the new, modern Union City High School at the old site of Roosevelt Stadium on Kennedy Boulevard has been slowed by the unexpected presence of large rocks beneath the soil.

City officials, already hinting that the expected September 2008 opening will be pushed back, are now crossing their fingers that everything will go smooth in 2007.

It is slated to become a unified 10th-through-12th grade high school, turning Emerson and Union Hill high schools into schools for eighth- and ninth-graders and sending a ripple effect down the line that promises to reduce class size across the board.

Hoboken redevelopment

6 Outsiders may laugh at the idea of redevelopment in red-hot Hoboken, but the truth is - despite all of its residential growth - there are still large pockets of the Mile Square City that need a facelift.

The city's planners will draw up redevelopment plans to transform these industrial areas into residential projects. These areas include the southwest redevelopment plan, western edge redevelopment plan, the renovation of the Hoboken Terminal and the Neumann Leather building.

These redevelopment plans are political documents, so expect a fight between the city and residents who want to see more open space.

Harrison waterfront

5 The new Red Bulls soccer stadium, scheduled to open in July 2008, will be the centerpiece of a $1 billion redevelopment plan that will convert Harrison's industrial waterfront into a modern, live-work-and-play transit village anchored by 800 apartments and dozens of stores and restaurants.

American Can Co.

4 Dubbed the CANCO Lofts, this onetime industrial complex is quickly becoming one of the more interesting residential spaces in Jersey City - and perhaps one of the more affordable ones.

Expect the developer, New York-based Coalco, to open sales offices in the first quarter of 2007 for the first round of roughly 200 units. The units will feature large bay windows, ceilings as high as 27 feet, and price tags starting in the high $200,000 range.

"We are very concerned about pricing, but also with providing a good product," said Edward Worukyoff, director of marketing.

Many analysts are watching the success - or failure - of the project to gauge consumer interest in redevelopment projects in residential neighborhoods like the Marion section. Officials with the company say they are already getting feedback from an introductory Web site and a billboard.

The Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor

3 The highly anticipated project is expected to launch this summer when shovels hit the ground, marking the start of construction for the first 500 or so civilian units at the old Military Ocean Terminal.

The city has staked much of its financial future in the massive redevelopment project, and residents should expect to see more development plans as the year goes by.

The first round of approvals included 600 housing units, a 150-room hotel and some commercial/retail space, along with the right to convert two existing six-story Army warehouses into mixed-use facilities and put up a 22-story residential tower on 14 acres.

Journal Square

2 For perhaps the first time, a large swath of Journal Square is now in the hands of one developer - opening the door for one of the most highly anticipated projects in the city's history and promising to transform the face of the historic square for decades to come.

Jersey City-based developer Harwood Properties plans to break ground this year on two towers - one 52 stories, the other 46 - containing 1,034 apartments, 150,000 square feet of retail, and three levels of parking.
The 350-million project comes after years of legal wrangling as the city attempted to spark action in the onetime commercial hub.

The Beacon

1 Widely considered as the thermometer of everything not Downtown in Jersey City, the multimillion-dollar restoration of the historic Jersey City Medical Center will begin to take shape this year.

George Filopoulos, president of Metrovest Equities, said he has sold 85 percent of the Beacon's first 315 available units for a price range of $320,000 to $750,000. Owners are expected to move in this spring, and the company plans to begin offering its next phase of units by the end of the year.

The success - or failure - of this project will go a long way to setting the bar for the rest of the inner-city's market. If the pace begins to slow, or there is downward price pressure on the units, it could impact developments throughout the city.

© 2007 The Jersey Journal© 2007 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

macmini

January 15th, 2007, 03:18 AM

Here's a few snap-shots of some of the major reconstruction going on around the city here's what's going on at American Can (as you can see a few windows have been replaced on the upper floors.

American Can
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Looking up from St. Paul's Avenue
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Viewing the complex from the corner of Tonnele Ave and Dey Street
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Look at the contrast between the new & original windows
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Look at the contrast between the new & original windows
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Heading South, here's a look at one of the buildings in Phase I of The Beacon
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Some major underground utilities work is in progress through the center of the 'mini-city
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Montgomery Greene Getting Detail Work
Awning glass has been installed at the corner of Montgomery and Greene Streets
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The Shore Club is nearing completion as the asphalt along the newest extension of River Drive has been poured, and the North tower is nearly as tall as the South tower.
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The Shore Club south tower is nearly finished, except for a few random windows that have been filled in with various materials. Are windows falling out? Did someone forget to order enough glass?
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View of the A Condo's from the intersection of Warren & First Streets:

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Viewing the 111 First Street demolition with the A Condo's rising in the background:

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At 77 Hudson, we see the first signs of above-ground contruction, with forms for some of the first floor walls under construction (left side of photo):

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And here's an overview of the 77 Hudson Towers site (mostly of the East Tower):

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macmini

January 15th, 2007, 03:25 AM

They Don’t Make Passover Matzo Here in Jersey City Anymore
December 31, 2006
By JENNIFER V. HUGHES
New York Times

AFTER 74 years of matzo baking at the Manischewitz plant here, it was all coming to an end, and the house rabbi, Yaakov Horowitz, was philosophical.

“The Jewish experience is one of transition,” he said as he prepared to supervise the last kosher-for-Passover run of the crackers before the operation moves to Newark in the spring. Earlier this year, the 100,000-square-foot property was bought by Toll Brothers for $34.6 million. The place where some 75 million sheets of matzo crackers have been baked each year is destined to become another condo development in the city’s gentrifying warehouse district.

“There is a great amount of sadness that the facility so many people looked to for so many years will assume a more, shall we say, mundane character,” said Rabbi Horowitz, as the run of Passover matzo began on Dec. 20. Still, Rabbi Horowitz saw the poignancy in having the final, one-day run take place during Hanukkah. “Part of Hanukkah is about people connecting the old with the new,” he said. “We’re thrilled to be entering a state-of-the-art facility.”

The Jersey City plant will continue making other products, which include regular matzo, matzo meal, noodles and jars of gefilte fish, until it closes. Manischewitz also licenses its name to another company for wines.

The new plant, on Avenue K in Newark, will be more efficient and twice the size of the Jersey City factory, Rabbi Horowitz said. Most of the 100 employees in Jersey City will make the move to Newark, company officials said.

Jersey City’s warehouse district was once the heart of a thriving industrial center, filled with factories and rail lines. Its industrial base declined in the 1980s, and about 10 years ago artists began moving into the area, which was designated the Powerhouse Arts District by the city in 2004. That ordinance regulated aesthetic issues, provided for artists’ living and working space and mandated affordable housing.

Now, condo and retail projects are completed, in the works or planned for at least six former warehouses. They will add more than 1,000 housing units and almost 800,000 square feet of retail space, said Bob Cotter, the city’s planning director.

The fight over the most prominent artist’s enclave, 111 First Street, which involved residents and preservationists as well as the developer, landed in court; a settlement last June allowed the developer to build 40 stories tall, instead of adhering to the original building’s height. The old building has been demolished, and the design for the new building by Rem Koolhaas is scheduled for completion in mid-January.

Conceptual drawings for the six-story Manischewitz building are similar, calling for a high-rise tower similar in height to 111 First Street, about 400 housing units and 70,000 square feet of retail, said Bob Antonicello, executive director of the city’s redevelopment agency.

That was what some preservationists feared after the 111 First Street settlement.

“If you want to have anything resembling a neighborhood, you can’t have these warehouses packed next to skyscrapers,” said Joshua Parkhurst, president of the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy.

A Toll Brothers spokeswoman declined to talk about plans for the site.

The neighborhood that city planners are hoping will become a new SoHo was not so trendy in the 1950s when Bob Starr began serving as the president of Manischewitz, a post he held for 41 years.

“It was horrible — this neighborhood was one of the worst slums in the city,” Mr. Starr, who was visiting the plant, said, over the roar of the mixing machines.

The matzo meal is mixed on the plant’s sixth floor, then heads down a chute to the fifth, where it is rolled flat and moved by conveyer belt into a huge brick oven that dates to the building’s erection in 1932.

Mr. Starr said the closing of the Jersey City plant was emotional, even though he has been retired since 1992. “I spent most of my life right here,” he said.

macmini

January 15th, 2007, 03:35 AM

the plans for a 300-room Hilton Hotel in the Liberty Harbor North redevelopment area off of Grand Street.

http://www.gradarchitects.com/large/95.jpg

Project Title: Liberty Harbor North
Client: Tramz Hotel
Location: Jersey City, NJ
Expertise: Hotels & Hospitality
Size: 2.2 Acres
Cost: N/A

Description:
This entire waterfront lot, facing a marina, has views of lower Manhattan, New York Harbor, and the Statue of Liberty. This coordinated development replaces demolished industrial facilities in the redevelopment zone of Jersey City, NJ contains:

* 300 Room Hilton Hotel with Street-Level Shops
* Banquet & Conference Facilities
* Full Health Club
* 21-Story Luxury Condominium Tower with Duplex Penthouses
* 8-Story Liner Block-Front Condominium Building
* Eight 4-Story Townhouses
* Multi-Story Interior Parking Structure with Richly Landscaped Rooftop Garden

There are approximately 275 units of all types. Many of the units have balconies or full terraces and provide large living-dining and bedrooms with marble baths. A variety of unit sizes are provided, from one-bedroom to four-bedrooms, with the predominant number being two-bedroom.

macmini

January 15th, 2007, 09:26 PM

This is a great article about Jersey City the Good & the Bad

If You Lived Here, You’d Be Cool by Now

Ever get the feeling that the New York of your dreams is happening elsewhere? These days, the half-life of a hot neighborhood can be measured in mere weeks. To find the optimal balance of commodious bistros, tasteful urban decline, and cheap(ish) rent before it disappears, run like hell to...Jersey City?

* By Adam Sternbergh

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Oasis Café (Photo: Michael Schmelling)

*Sorry to get you all out of breath. You’re already too late.

Perhaps you are happy in your neighborhood. Perhaps you are ensconced right where you are. Perhaps you never indulge the stray notion that maybe it’s time to pull up stakes and move to Brooklyn or, if you live in Brooklyn, maybe you should check out Astoria or Jackson Heights. Perhaps your interest is not roused by each new story of the underground loft parties in Bushwick, or that very reasonably priced warehouse conversion in the South Bronx (sorry—SoBro), or that awesome and as-yet-undiscovered pocket of Red Hook with that one really great new restaurant. In which case, good wishes to you, and move along. There’s nothing for you to read here.

See, once upon a time, it was easy: If you’d always dreamed of living in New York City, all you had to do was move to New York City. Your decision of where to live once you got here was primarily a function of economics (what you could afford) and community (who you were, who you wanted to become, and who you wanted to hang around with). Beatniks? Please make your way to the West Village. Fancy pants? They’re holding a space for you on the Upper East Side. Immigrants? You’ll find a familiar and populous neighborhood already established. Artists? Take your pick of cheap, available space. Manhattan is only twenty square miles, but there was room enough for everyone.

Then not that long ago, maybe fifteen years back, something happened. As New York became more prosperous and more glamorous and less dirty and less scary—morphing from the bankrupt city of The Warriors and Escape From New York in the seventies and eighties to the glittering city of Sex and the City and Friends in the nineties—more and more people came to pursue the dream of New York, and so the dream itself became more and more elusive. Manhattan became overcolonized, then overpriced. Its internal boundaries bulged, then burst. Old neighborhoods became financially inaccessible, so new ones were carved out. Now the Upper West Side is swallowing Harlem. The flow from Brooklyn to Manhattan has reversed course. The meatpacking district, once synonymous with “the district in which meat is packed,” became synonymous instead with cool, then not cool—and it all happened in about three weeks. “Downtown” has gotten so skittish that it’s hopscotched from the East Village to Soho to Tribeca to the Lower East Side, before eventually packing up and marching right across the bridge to Williamsburg.

Phrases like “Brooklyn is the new Manhattan” and “125th Street is the new Soho” have become a regular part of the conversation, creating a double-ended sense of disorientation: Not only is one place now cooler than you assumed, but the other one’s no longer as cool as you thought. In his quasi memoir Nobrow, John Seabrook sounded a familiar lament: “By the time I was ready to buy an apartment, Soho was too gross, too ruined by commercialism,” he wrote. “I ended up buying in Tribeca, where in my own way, I try to make the present feel like the past. To me, Tribeca is like Soho before the money took over.” And he wrote this six years ago, not twenty. Now Tribeca’s the most expensive Zip Code in the city—the money’s taken over—and somewhere else, someone’s out there looking for the new Tribeca (Dumbo?) and trying to make that present feel like the past as well.

As a result, even dug-in New Yorkers suffer from a kind of neighborhood ADD, perpetually suspecting that their dream of New York, whatever that might be, is happening elsewhere—not in another city, but in another borough, another neighborhood, another block. This is driven in part, of course, by money—priced out of Manhattan, you turn to Brooklyn; priced out of Brooklyn, you turn to Queens—but also in part by that anxious feeling you get when you’re attending a great party, but you can’t help hearing that there’s a louder, more raucous party going on down the hall. The reason many people come to New York, after all, is to marvel at its glories and revel in its parade of daily wonders. But to live here now is to endure a gnawing suspicion that somebody, somewhere, is marveling and reveling a little more successfully than you are. That they’re paying less money for a bigger apartment with more-authentic details on a nicer block closer to cuter restaurants and still-uncrowded bars and hipper galleries that host better parties with cooler bands than yours does, in an area that’s simultaneously a portal to the future (tomorrow’s hot neighborhood today!) and a throwback to an untainted past (today’s hot neighborhood yesterday!). And you know what? Someone is. And you know what else?

Hot Neighborhood Entropy

Red Hook? Already over. Lower East Side? It’s hot—no, wait, it’s not. No, wait, it is again! The life span of a trendy neighborhood used to be measured in decades. Now it might not last long enough for you to make the subway ride out there.

Right now, that person just might be living in Jersey City.

“Shake off the old perspectives and move into a new way of perceiving the world around you,” reads the introduction to the first issue of New, a palm-size booklet full of glossy Jersey City attractions. And sure enough—its pages promise an undiscovered land so packed with bistros and wine bars and galleries and day spas that you’d think you were wandering lost in Paris.

You’ll find one such bistro, a cute and cozy four-year-old place called Madame Claude Café, nestled at the corner of Newark Avenue and 4th Street, tucked in among a Texaco station, a Gulf station, a funeral home, and a building marked demolition and concrete local 325. This is the first difference you notice between the Jersey City of the booklet and the Jersey City of walking-around-downtown Jersey City. The spas and boutiques are there, all right, but you’ll need the booklet to find them, scattered as they are amid a blighted landscape of dollar stores and empty lots.

For the record, downtown Jersey City is not Eden. It’s not even nice. Downtown Jersey City is pretty much what you think it is, if you ever stop to think about Jersey City: an industrial hub from which the economic lifeline, the railroad, was pulled a long time ago, leaving a hole that was filled by poverty and crime and, in some areas, a nasty toxic legacy in the soil. The entirety of Jersey City is huge and sprawling, the second-most-populous city in the state (next to Newark), but the current revival is centered in the long-neglected area anchored by the Grove Street path station, only a couple of stops from Manhattan. Beyond a kind of hardscrabble grittiness, there’s little here to romanticize, even for the locals. While Manhattan has ghosts of all persuasions to lure you to its canyons—Dorothy Parker, Lou Reed, Carrie Bradshaw—Jersey City is haunted by Nathan Lane, Martha Stewart, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner from The Cosby Show. The city’s better known for its string of ethically flexible mayors who eventually wound up in jail. A photograph of the current mayor, naked and passed out on his front porch, wound up in a story in the New York Times. And that was before he got elected.

Even its name, Jersey City, is a double-barreled insult, “worse than the punch line ‘Jersey’ alone, with the image of urban squalor added on, like insult to injury,” wrote Helene Stapinski in Five-Finger Discount, her memoir of growing up on the wrong, rancid side of the Hudson. People like her great-grandparents “did not settle in Jersey City. They settled for Jersey City. They were settlers of a different kind, the kind who always feel cheated, because they settled for less.” For a hundred years, Manhattan has been the backdrop for dreams. Jersey City, if you’re looking west, has been the backdrop for Manhattan.

But then, isn’t that exactly the kind of flowers-in-the-concrete place that’s ripe to be discovered? Aren’t there pockets of Brooklyn—hell, pockets of Manhattan—that once seemed burned out and blighted until, all of a sudden, they weren’t?

I set out from the WTC path station—traveling directly through the ghostly ground-zero pit, as though riding a monorail through a brightly lit attraction at a macabre amusement park—to Grove Street. I’m headed to Madame Claude to meet with Ingrid Dahl, a 26-year-old bass player with hair shaped like a candle flame, and her bandmates, Stephen Hindman and Penelope Trappes, who together form the local glitch-pop band Lismore. The three of them are, by local standards, graybeards of the renaissance: Stephen’s lived here for nine years, Penelope seven, and Ingrid four. And they are the perfect Jersey City evangelists, exactly the kind of people you imagine living on the vanguard of the coolest scene in the city. Penelope’s from Australia and wears her blonde hair in eye-skirting bangs. Stephen, who grew up near Pittsburgh, has a dyed-black asymmetrical haircut that recalls Robert Smith of the Cure. They each have an excellent “How I wound up in Jersey City” story, none of which starts, “Well, I’d always dreamed of moving to Jersey City...”

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Penelope was living in Bahrain and working as a flight attendant for Gulf Air when she took a vacation to New York and met a guy—from Jersey City. “I ended up crashing on this guy’s couch. Then I ended up marrying this guy. Then I ended up divorcing this guy,” she says. Ingrid, who grew up between New Brunswick and Taiwan, settled here after graduating from Rutgers. On the day she moved in, her bike was stolen. Later that month, someone broke into her car, took it for a joyride, then smashed it into a tree in front of her house. Meanwhile, someone kept breaking into her apartment—it turned out to be her next-door neighbor, who had just been released from prison and was under house arrest. Stephen arrived in Manhattan to work as a drum-and-bass D.J. and spent a few months couch-surfing while he looked for a cheap place. On the day before his self-imposed deadline, when he was supposed to fly back to Columbus, Ohio, he found a two-bedroom in Jersey City for $650. “I’d stayed in Queens for a couple of weeks and hated it,” he says. “I’d spent some time on a couch on Christopher Street—that was awesome. Jersey City seemed like somewhere between Christopher Street and the last stop in Queens.”

Jersey City, they say, is affordable, friendly, and still in the first flush of an artistic explosion. They’re excited about what’s happening and are eager to get the word out—as though they’ve stuck the message of the Jersey City revival in a bottle, tossed it in the Hudson, and are waiting for it to wash up on the other side. “I’ve had lots of opportunities to move to Williamsburg, the East Village, West Village, the Lower East Side,” says Ingrid. “But something keeps me here.”

There are, however, a few amenities they’re missing. “An all-ages music
venue,” says Ingrid. “We definitely need that.”

“Any kind of music venue for local bands,” says Penelope.

“And a couple more bars,” says Ingrid.

“And a couple more cafés,” says Stephen.

“More post offices,” says Penelope.

“And a 24-hour diner,” says Ingrid. “There’s nowhere to eat late.”

After dinner, they take me to LITM, which stands for Love Is the Message, a cool lounge with brick walls and warm lighting on downtown’s main drag, Newark Avenue. This stretch has been designated “Restaurant Row” by the city, which is odd because currently there’s only one restaurant. When LITM’s owner, Jelynne Jardiniano, who grew up in Jersey City, opened three years ago, she had to fight a local ordinance that forced restaurants on Newark to close by midnight because of concerns about noise and drunks.
“Growing up here, we were scared of downtown,” Jelynne tells me. “But now people come in here and say, ‘We weren’t sure about buying here, but then we saw your place.’ ”

“Newark Avenue is going to explode,” says Robert, Jelynne’s husband. “We want people who’d go to Soho to come here. It’s a new frontier. Ten years ago, who went to Tribeca?”

During drinks with the Lismore bandmates, the conversation turns to another former frontier, Williamsburg. “Williamsburg got all weird,” says Stephen. “But at least they already had their scene. All those bands like Interpol and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, they got big and got signed. If Jersey City got weird before anyone got signed—man, that would suck.” Penelope mentions that she heard that Interpol just bought a house in downtown Jersey City.

Later, Ingrid says, “I wish I was older, so I could have lived in Williamsburg ten years ago.”

While I was writing this story, people kept asking me three questions, often in anxious succession.

One: Where’s Jersey City? (It’s right next to Hoboken, across the Hudson from Battery Park City, where you see the Goldman Sachs building and the big Colgate clock, a remnant of a torn-down soap factory.)

Two: Are you going to move there? (I’ll admit, the thought’s crossed my mind. I am certainly now no more hesitant to go to Jersey City for dinner or an art opening than I would expect my whiny Manhattanite friends to be about coming across the bridge to Brooklyn.)

Three: Is it too late to buy? (Probably. The pretty brownstones along historic Van Vorst Park City—buildings that, in the eighties, the city would have essentially given to you for free—now list at more than $1 million each.)

When I moved to New York two years ago, I settled in Brooklyn for all the usual reasons: a combination of the practical (cost restraints, proximity to the subway) and the intangible (brownstones, the Brooklyn Bridge, I kind of liked the movie Smoke). My block, as it turns out, features exactly no brownstones and exactly one recent murder. Still, I like it: It’s Brooklyn, in New York, a place I’ve mythologized all my life.

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Life (Photo: Michael Schmelling)

Toronto, where I came from, is a metropolitan, multicultural, dynamic city in which people are notorious for talking wistfully of living somewhere else. I assumed that by moving to New York I’d escape that wistful longing, and I did, sort of. But what I found is that in New York, people don’t fantasize so much about other cities—London, Montreal, San Francisco, Berlin—as they do about other eras. A friend of mine recently moved to Bushwick, the next frontier in gentrified Brooklyn, and he always sells it by saying, “It’s like Soho in the eighties or Williamsburg in the nineties.” You need only to flip through On the Street, Amy Arbus’s new book of photos taken in the East Village in the early eighties, or read reviews of Up Is Up But So Is Down, an anthology of writing from the same era, to be reminded of a time when, as one reviewer put it, the city was “infused with the energy and violence of a city where blackouts and social protests were routine, the East Village was still filled with tenements, and the subway was covered with graffiti”—and then, oddly, to feel nostalgic for that time. And yet we regard this nostalgia with a self-mocking irony. Gawker, for a time, reported gruesome murders under the snarky catchall heading “NYC Is EDGY!”—the joke being that we’re glad it really isn’t while simultaneously kind of wishing it still was.

This perpetual churn of nostalgia is what drives us to seek out a present that feels like the past, to find the next neighborhood that will remind us of the neighborhood that’s already gone. It’s what spurs Ingrid to talk fondly of the Williamsburg of ten years ago, or prompts Amy Dubin, the cheerful, spiky-haired proprietor of a downtown Jersey City tea shop called Janam, to remark, “I love New York. But compared to the New York of the seventies, it’s not so...colorful, in terms of music and fashion and art. It feels kind of muted.” In Jersey City, by contrast, “there is an excitement here. People feel like this is a movement that could have historical significance, like Williamsburg has.”

It’s understandable to want to recapture—or, I guess, capture—the feel of that bygone New York that lured you here in the first place. This desire, as it happens, also makes for a great sales pitch. All across America, developers are pitching new loft conversions or luxury condos as having “a Soho feel” or “a Williamsburg vibe,” or, magically, both. “We want it to be a cross between Williamsburg and Soho,” said a Philadelphia developer of his $100 million development to the New York Times last year.

As I drive around downtown Jersey City with Steven Fulop, the area’s recently elected 29-year-old city councilman, he offers me a tour of Waldo, which is Jersey City’s own version of Brooklyn’s Dumbo, complete with derelict warehouses, an overarching development plan, and a marketing-friendly acronym (it stands for Work and Live District Ordinance). “It will have a Soho-Village kind of vibe,” he says. “It’s like the Village was 40 years ago. Not that it’s going to take us 40 years to get there.”

In fact, downtown Jersey City, with its mishmash of brownstones and warehouses and condos and Williamsburgian industrial blocks, is like a tabula rasa for gentrifiers. There’s a burgeoning art scene side by side with a blooming skyline of luxury waterfront towers. (And, as one satisfied owner said to me, “When I look out, I’ve got a view of the sun rising over the Manhattan skyline, while over there you’re looking at the sun setting over New Jersey.”) On the picturesque streets around Van Vorst Park, if you squint, you could almost be in Park Slope. Then again, if you turn around and walk in the other direction, you could almost be in downtown Toledo, stranded on a windy office block near a Chili’s or a coffee shop inexplicably named Hawaii Cup-O.

Whatever your dream of New York life is, downtown Jersey City is ready to fulfill it, or at least some reasonable facsimile. “When we opened this store, people were like, ‘Wow, this is amazing. This feels just like the West Village,’ ” says Cliff Rullow, an Englishman who owns Life, a high-end men’s boutique.

“We’ve been called the sixth borough, but everything here is better than Brooklyn. I like to call us the second borough,” says Fulop, the young councilman.

“At Marco + Pepe, you could convince yourself that you are in Chelsea,” writes a reviewer of the charming restaurant right across from City Hall—on the same corner, in fact, where Helene Stapinski grew up.

“When she said we were going to Jersey City, my first reaction was ‘Ugh,’ ” says John, a Brooklynite, of his companion Betsy, a Manhattanite, while returning from a house party on the 12:15 a.m. path train to New York . “But it’s really gentrified well. They should make it a borough.”

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Iris Records (Photo: Michael Schmelling)

There are roughly four types of people who push the frontier of gentrification: creative types in search of cheap rents; gays and lesbians drawn to affordable, like-minded communities (and Jersey City, just a few path stops from the West Village, has a strong gay community—on the first day I visited, the City Hall was flying a rainbow flag); young couples and new families who’ve been priced out of the neighborhoods in which they’d hoped to buy; and speculators driven by those tantalizing stories of the $150,000 Boerum Hill brownstone or the just-before-the-neighborhood-exploded Tribeca loft.

Typically, the gentrification process is linear and unfolds over time. First the artists seek out a neighborhood (usually an abandoned industrial zone or vibrant ethnic enclave) that’s cheap and relatively accessible. Then come the scenesters, who have more money but who still want an authentic urban lifestyle because, seriously, no one moves to the suburbs anymore. All they want is an affordable place on a non-eyesore-ish block within walking distance of a few cute restaurants, and a couple of good bars, and a halfway decent bookstore, and a yoga studio, and a wine store that isn’t just full of cheap swill for rummies, and maybe a children’s boutique with adorable $80 hand-sewn frocks hanging off a wooden tricycle in the window, and a Starbucks, and a Whole Foods. And they’re willing to bet that, if just a few of those things are in place already, the others will come along soon enough—so that eventually their new neighborhood will look pretty much identical to the ones they couldn’t previously afford. At which point the developers arrive to throw up new condo buildings named after the neighborhood, and the hipper chains start to sniff out a new lucrative demographic pocket—and the artists have long since moved on, along with a good chunk of the neighborhood’s previous residents.

This neighborhood ADD is a luxury, of course, afforded to a certain kind of urban nomad, those who aren’t obliged to choose their home based on necessity, community, or need. So instead, they—all right, we—have become settlers, in both senses of the word: constantly seeking out virgin territory where we can enact the dream that brought us here, or at least the closest version we’re willing to accept. And the more we hear about these neighborhoods happening elsewhere, the more fidgety we become. Which means the gentrification cycle speeds up. In Williamsburg, the transformation from artist colony to condo glut took about ten years. In Dumbo, maybe five. In Jersey City, it’s not a cycle at all. It’s happening all at once.

No neighborhood better illustrates this than Waldo, or, as Councilman Fulop prefers to call it, the Powerhouse Arts District. For years, an abandoned warehouse at 111 First Street served as an unofficial squat for Jersey City artists. Two years ago, the city seized the building and evicted the occupants, and the warehouse is now waiting to be torn down to make way for a Rem Koolhaas–designed condo tower—which will contain subsidized housing, somewhat ironically, for local artists.

This kind of urban-biosphere approach is springing up in cities all over the continent as a way to resurrect underused—and suddenly fashionable—industrial properties. The goal is to artificially accelerate gentrification, sort of like digging up an untended garden of wildflowers and building a greenhouse instead. A block away from 111 First, the massive Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse sits gutted, awaiting some presumed influx of galleries and performance spaces and, possibly, a Barnes & Noble and, if they have trouble filling it, a couple of big family restaurants. The project’s been granted by the city to the Cordish Company, a Baltimore-based developer that renovated similar powerhouses in Baltimore and Richmond, Virginia; Baltimore’s Power Plant now houses a Barnes & Noble, a Hard Rock Café, and an ESPN Sportszone. And, on a nearby corner, the skeleton of a luxe Donald Trump development, Trump Plaza Jersey City, with top prices at $1.24 million, and which, at 55 and 50 stories, will become the two tallest residential towers in the skyline, is already starting to rise, scheduled to be open in 2007.

I didn’t move to New York to live in Jersey City,” says Amanda Assadi-Rullow, publisher of the New booklet.

“I didn’t move from England to end up in Jersey City,” says Cliff Rullow, her husband and owner of Life.

They’re explaining to me how they wound up in Jersey City. Like many pioneers, their story involves a series of fortuitous accidents (my favorite of these is the guy who says, “I was looking in Hoboken and got lost”) and at least a little bit of arm-twisting. Cliff and Amanda were living in Brooklyn, near Prospect Park, when they got priced out of the neighborhood. So they started looking for a better deal. A friend who lived in Liberty Towers, a well-appointed high-rise on Jersey City’s waterfront, convinced them to come across the river for a visit. Cliff says, “We walked in and our jaws dropped. Then we went up to his apartment and our jaws dropped further. After that, it was an absolute no-brainer.”

Listening to them, it’s easy to see the upside: great views, short ferry ride to the city, better value for the money. But it’s also easy to see the downside: It’s not New York. It’s not even New York State. It’s Jersey City.

“Look, not everyone is prepared to make that move,” Cliff says. “If you’ve moved from the West Coast or from another country, you want to be in Manhattan. That’s part of your dream. For us, I think we’d gone past that. And there’s so much potential here.”

His store is a glimmering white box stocked with Seven jeans and Y-3 sneakers and Paul Smith Crombie coats, located in the tree-lined downtown neighborhood of Paulus Hook. Some Jersey City lifers still call the area by its old nickname, Gammontown, from the Dutch word gemeen, which means “abandoned” or “vile,” as the neighborhood was once known for its persistent infestation of rats. Now the brownstones are filled with prosperous transplants from Manhattan’s financial and fashion industries—the kinds of people Cliff would spot carrying bags from shops in Soho and wearing $200 jeans, which convinced him a store like his could succeed. “The stigma is slowly but surely changing,” says Cliff. “Now we have what the West Village has. The meatpacking district has a guide. Now we have our own guide.”

Rob Finn, a 29-year-old who grew up in Jersey City and recently bought a house, explains it like this: “My whole life, I’d say I grew up in Jersey City, and people would give me that look. Now when I say it, they don’t give me that look anymore. The look they give me is more like, ‘Oh, I hear there’s a really cool wine bar there.’ ”

For Amanda and Cliff, their bet on the city has paid off—so much so that, recently, they were priced out of Liberty Towers. They’ve since bought a chic home on a pretty block in Greenville, which is known as one of rougher areas in Jersey City. Only three years ago, crossing the Hudson on the ferry, they felt like pioneers. “But we got pushed out already,” says Amanda. “It’s already working against us.”

So there you have it: Downtown Jersey City is already over. Forget I said anything. Or, rather, Jersey City finds itself both dawning and in its twilight, both undiscovered and overdeveloped. It’s the beneficiary and victim of our restless devouring search for the next “next”—the promise of an idealized future in some reminder of the romanticized past.

As it turns out, this isn’t a “Jersey City is the new blank” story; it’s “Blank is the new Jersey City.” People priced out of downtown are moving on to nearby Journal Square or Jersey City Heights or Greenville. Heck, a couple of months ago, the New York Sun declared Newark the sixth borough—why not, it’s only a few more path stops down the line. The Times, a year ago, went one better, proclaiming Philadelphia the next great neighborhood for New Yorkers. Artist friendly! With a Soho feel! And the commute’s not as bad as you think! And I will admit, I remember thinking, just for a moment, Hmmm, maybe Philadelphia … Like most people, I’m willing to chase my dream of New York almost anywhere.

macmini

January 16th, 2007, 06:51 AM

Views from in the 1.5 mil penthouse @ the Waldo Lofts

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/128/349347961_8be4bfa111_b.jpg

You can see A & Trump going upfrom the condo and Manhattan

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/153/349366212_dea1c777fe_b.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/160/349366219_c506e62af0_b.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/143/349347914_faeffaee86_b.jpg

http://newyorkssixth.com/newyorkssixthphotoblog/nov302006/waldo293.jpg

Indyman

January 16th, 2007, 10:53 PM

wow I would kill to wake up to a view like that!

macmini

February 8th, 2007, 09:26 PM

Construction Starts on 18-Unit Condo
By Eric Peterson

http://www.globest.com/newspics/nej_154_158steuben.jpg
154-158 Steuben St.
http://www.steubenstreet.com/main.html

JERSEY CITY-Construction is just under way for 154-158 Steuben St., a new residential condo building here. The project is being done as a joint venture between TreeTop Development of New York City and the Hoboken-based Fields Development Group.

What its developers term a “boutique” condo building will add 18 one- and two-bedroom units to the market. Targeted buyers are single professionals and young couples, says Adam Mermelstein, a principal of TreeTop Development. Features will include on-site parking and a glass lobby. The developers say that preconstruction sales for the new building will start in April.

The Developers Group, based in Brooklyn, NY, has signed on as the exclusive sales and marketing agent for the building. The location is near the Grove Street PATH light rail station, which connects to Manhattan.

macmini

February 12th, 2007, 03:33 AM

In the Region | New Jersey
High Altitude, Higher Price

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/02/11/realestate/11njzo.600.jpg
WEALTHY WELCOME The lobby of the Beacon, where a penthouse just sold for $2.3 million.

By ANTOINETTE MARTIN
Published: February 11, 2007

THERE is a wealth of high-end, high-rise condominium units coming on the market along the Jersey “Gold Coast” — and purchase prices are soaring to new heights.

Last week, a two-story penthouse at the Beacon, the former Jersey City Medical Center complex that is being converted to condominiums, set a record for a high-rise apartment in Jersey City when a purchase contract was signed for $2.3 million.

“This is indeed a leap,” said Jacqueline Urgo, executive vice president of the Marketing Directors, which is handling sales. She said that her agency had overseen sales at Liberty Terrace, the last high-rise to break price barriers in Jersey City, and that the highest purchase price there had been $1.45 million.

Most Liberty Terrace units were sold by September, though, said Ms. Urgo — and she sees the market for expensive condos with riverfront views as having picked up significantly since then.

At the 55-story Trump Plaza, now under construction in Jersey City, more than 200 contracts for condos have been signed since sales started in October. Asking prices for apartments there range from $400,000 to around $2.5 million for the penthouse, which has not yet been sold.

The Beacon, a $350 million conversion of eight Art Deco structures set on a hill in Jersey City’s downtown, has until now been marketed as a lower-cost alternative to waterfront high-rises. Studio units on low floors of the first two Beacon buildings, which are to open this spring, sold for $325,000.

A total of 265 units, out of 315 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom condos in the first two buildings, have sold, according to the developer, Metrovest Equities, based in Manhattan. Ultimately, Metrovest plans to create 1,200 condos and rental units at the Beacon complex.

The penthouse that sold is now taking shape on the 20th and 21st floors of the Beacon’s Capitol building. It will offer three bedrooms, three full and two half baths, a library, a den, a breakfast room and a private interior elevator, with a total of 3,195 square feet of interior space. In addition, the penthouse has three terraces covering 2,100 square feet, facing north, southeast and west, with views of the full Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty.

“This is some apartment,” said George Filopoulos, Metrovest’s president. “We’ve tried to take advantage of all the unique architectural features these buildings offer, and the quirks in this one make for a magnificent home.”

More than 100 different designs have been developed for units at the Capitol and the Rialto, the other Beacon building now under construction. The Rialto penthouse unit is being marketed, as are the two condos below the penthouse at the Capitol.

Just to the north, in Hoboken, where prices have generally tracked higher than in Jersey City, a record is certain to be set whenever contracts are signed for two penthouse condos atop the W Hotel, now being built beside the Hudson River.

The asking price for those units — which come with full W Hotel service — is $4.4 million, according to the developer, Michael Barry of the Hoboken-based Applied Development Company. He said that there had been a number of “serious lookers” and that he expected both to sell well before completion of the hotel building in the summer of 2008.

Prices for the W condos are roughly $1,000 per square foot — around $300 per square foot more than the typical new-construction high-rise unit gets in Hoboken — according to the Marketing Directors, which is handling W’s sales as well.

But, Ms. Urgo noted, the W will provide exceptional service and ambience for Hoboken, with a sleek design by the Manhattan architecture firm of Gwathmey Siegel & Associates, as well as concierge service, a restaurant and shopping area, the W Bliss spa, an upstairs bar and a stunning lobby with a street-level bar.

There will be nine floors of condos with two, three or four bedrooms atop the hotel — a total of 38 units — with asking prices starting at $1.5 million. Mr. Barry said 32 were already under contract.

The four-bedroom penthouses each provide 4,250 square feet of space, with unobstructed wraparound views of New York City from their 25th floor perch. Each has floor-to-ceiling windows, a den and a fitness room, the developer said.

Three three-bedroom units on the floor below have been sold for $2.6 million, which may be a record for high-rise units in Hoboken, according to the Marketing Directors.

Another candidate to challenge Hoboken’s record might be Maxwell Place, where the first of two riverfront buildings recently opened to its first occupants, but where closing prices have not yet been reported. A second building is being marketed, although construction has not started. Several large two-bedroom units on upper floors of the second building have asking prices in the $2 million range.

The W and Maxwell Place have been attracting buyers from Manhattan and New Jersey in roughly equal numbers, according to Applied and the Pinnacle Companies, the builder of Maxwell Place.

Another huge development in Jersey City, the Liberty Harbor project, which covers 28 city blocks, will have 667 units coming on the market this year and next, with an eventual 7,000 to 10,000 units planned at a site adjacent to the Paulus Hook neighborhood. Right now, the project has some four- and five-bedroom town homes on the market, at prices of $1.5 million to $1.66 million.

At Port Liberte in Jersey City, several lavish town homes at the water’s edge are up for resale at prices in excess of $2 million, including one for $2.99 million. And in Hoboken, two grand three-story brownstones are listed at $2.75 million and $3 million.

“The high-rise market is different, though,” Mr. Filopoulos noted. “We’re really excited about setting a record with the Beacon that signifies a real change in the high-rise picture in Jersey City.”

As with the W, he said, the amenities are crucial to the value of the condos.

The Rialto and Capitol buildings are joined by a two-story lobby with a 24-hour doorman and concierge. Residents will also be provided valet parking, shuttle service to PATH trains and ferry stations, and access to a 25,000-square-foot “lifestyle and fitness” center with a full-time staff. Club Aqua, as the center is called, is to feature an indoor pool, gym, lounge with hot tubs, his and hers saunas and steam rooms, a “social sauna,” treatment rooms, a yoga studio, a juice bar, a screening room and a children’s playroom.

Beacon residents will also have access to a restored Art Deco theater that will be available for events, a catering kitchen and a rooftop sundeck for grilling, dining and lounging, Mr. Filopoulos said. “Additional spaces are being brought back to mint condition to be used as poker rooms, a reading gallery and a billiards hall,” he added.

A “town center” now under construction will have a rooftop bar-restaurant, shops, a market, a prekindergarten and day-care facility, a movie theater and an art gallery.

Phobos

February 13th, 2007, 02:51 AM

That penthouse is great :yes:
I love the wood details!

macmini

February 13th, 2007, 08:22 AM

The Bates Building 12 stories - downtown was approved back in November and will break ground for this building in the coming Spring.

www.mushroomdevelopment.com

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/BatesBuilding.jpg

ZZ-II

February 13th, 2007, 11:06 PM

is "The Metropolitan" ( 230m ) still up-to-date?

macmini

February 15th, 2007, 03:43 AM

is "The Metropolitan" ( 230m ) still up-to-date?

Yes ZZ The Metropolitan is up to date it will be 755 feet (230m) and it should break ground later this year. The Metropolitan is part of a bigger project called Hudson Square there are new renderings of the Hudson Square/ Metropolitan.

The website says it's the first tower of the Hudson Square (The Metropolitan) a residential and retail development. An a total of eight residential buildings are planned which surround a newly developed park. The park act as a "Town Square" of the project.

You can see the renderings @ http://www.arquitectonica.com just go to projects then residential.

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Metropolitan1.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Metropolitan2.jpg

Indyman

February 15th, 2007, 11:45 PM

ZZ-II

February 16th, 2007, 12:00 AM

Yes ZZ The Metropolitan is up to date it will be 755 feet (230m) and it should break ground later this year. The Metropolitan is part of a bigger project called Hudson Square there are new renderings of the Hudson Square/ Metropolitan.

The website says it's the first tower of the Hudson Square (The Metropolitan) a residential and retail development. An a total of eight residential buildings are planned which surround a newly developed park. The park act as a "Town Square" of the project.

You can see the renderings @ http://www.arquitectonica.com just go to projects then residential.

great, thank you very much for the info :)

macmini

February 16th, 2007, 10:00 AM

That article posted earlier says gritty and edgy artist scenes are prefered...wow

Is my opinion contrary to the popular opinion? Cause that does not appeal to me one bit. Maybe it is my midwestern upbringing.

Yes Indyman gritty and edgy are an Urban thing no one whats it dirty but you need a little edgy.

macmini

February 27th, 2007, 12:37 AM

Famed architect unveils design for 111 First St

http://www.nj.com/cgi-bin/prxy/photogalleries/nph-cache.cgi/cache=3000;/njo/images/8238/002.jpg

One of the world's leading architects laid out his ambitious designs for the controversial 111 First St. site, prompting officials to label the proposal a turning point in the city's transformation into a internationally recognizable metropolis.

"The time has come to do a building that is less typical," said famed architect Rem Koolhaas, whose award-winning portfolio includes the Seattle Public Library, the Prada stores in New York and Los Angeles and the China Central Television Headquarters in Beijing.

Koolhaas unveiled the design this morning at the Jersey City Museum.

The radical design calls for three blocks stacked on top of each other, with each block rotating 90 degrees to give the building what one official described as a "Rubik's Cube" look.
"This is the most cutting edge piece of architecture I have seen in my career," said Bob Cotter, the city's planning czar.

In a number of ways, the unusual design can be viewed as a visual indictment of the "cookie-cutter" high-rises that are dominating the city's skyline these days, according to some city officials at the press conference.

http://www.nj.com/cgi-bin/prxy/photogalleries/nph-cache.cgi/cache=3000;/njo/images/8238/001.jpg

http://www.nj.com/cgi-bin/prxy/photogalleries/nph-cache.cgi/cache=3000;/njo/images/8238/003.jpg

http://www.nj.com/cgi-bin/prxy/photogalleries/nph-cache.cgi/cache=3000;/njo/images/8238/005.jpg

http://www.nj.com/cgi-bin/prxy/photogalleries/nph-cache.cgi/cache=3000;/njo/images/8238/004.jpg

Indyman

February 27th, 2007, 01:14 AM

Wow... thats certainly fresh. I think...I think I wanna like it lol

Phobos

February 27th, 2007, 03:42 AM

Abd I'm sure I'll hate it.

Indyman

February 27th, 2007, 05:04 AM

I dont think I could hate it...im glad to see development in Jersey City. Even if it is awkward looking haha. Seriously my little cousin makes uneven lego building like that. You know the huge duplo blocks...

ZZ-II

February 27th, 2007, 09:53 PM

also like that "funny" shape

TalB

February 28th, 2007, 12:22 AM

That building doesn't even look realistic to begin with.

Indyman

February 28th, 2007, 01:33 AM

^^ I think they call it a render....but I may be wrong.

TalB

February 28th, 2007, 10:31 PM

I am glad that it is just a rendering, b/c I doubt something like will ever get built in JC.

macmini

March 1st, 2007, 12:14 AM

No TalB something like that would be built in Pleasantville, NY. Love or Hate this building will have everone talking about Jersey City.

TalB

March 3rd, 2007, 06:46 AM

Honestly, it shouldn't be built at all, especially for the fact that doesn't even look real.

Nongkhai_tong

March 3rd, 2007, 09:37 AM

also like that "funny" shape

me too:lol:

TalB

March 3rd, 2007, 11:54 PM

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/realestate/04NjZo.html?ref=realestate
The Hanging Tower of Jersey City

By ANTOINETTE MARTIN
Published: March 4, 2007

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/03/04/realestate/04njzo.600.jpg
Office for Metropolitan Architecture

ARTS DISTRICT, BUILDING BLOCKS This 52-story design by Rem Koolhaas is to house apartments, hotel rooms and artists’ spaces as well as stores, an art gallery and a cabaret.

JERSEY CITY

AFTER a wild development saga involving a dozen legal actions and the hiring of a mega-star architect, the design for a new tower to anchor this city’s arts district emerged last week as, well, kind of wild.

The structure designed by Rem Koolhaas is 52 stories tall and holds 1.2 million square feet of mostly residential space. Yet, from most angles, it resembles nothing so much as a small child’s precarious stack of blocks. Looking from Manhattan across the river, the skyscraper presents the startling prospect of a giant barbell, standing on end.

Mr. Koolhaas, the Dutch founder of the internationally known Office for Metropolitan Architecture and a professor of urban studies at Harvard, said he took note of the way bare-boned monoliths dominate Jersey City’s modern architecture — “and played with that.”

The building he designed for a two-acre site at 111 First Street here is born of conflict. Displaced artists, Manhattan developers and Jersey City politicians have mixed it up in court for years over the project’s configuration and scale and the basic question of whether it should replace a historic industrial building where artists once lived and worked.

Mr. Koolhaas seemed to cast that history into oblivion during an interview after the unveiling of his designs — or at least he tried.

“This building was born under a lucky star,” Mr. Koolhaas said after the formal unveiling, held at the Jersey City Museum. “I think everyone who has seen it so far likes it.”

One key issue in the debate over the structure, the proposed centerpiece of the city’s Powerhouse Arts District, has been whether a high-rise is appropriate for the site, since the city had said it intended to create a neighborhood to human scale, with vibrant street life.

Mr. Koolhaas and his associate Shoei Shigematsu, the lead architect for the project, responded by breaking the building into three components — a cube and two rectangular blocks — and stacked them perpendicularly. Terraces and open spaces are created at each structural joint, and slices of the view of Manhattan from existing buildings in the neighborhood are retained.

There is to be a meditation pool at street level, as well as a sculpture garden and sports terrace. Upper terraces are to feature gardens, outdoor dining areas and other amenities. A connection across Washington Street to the historic Powerhouse building, a vacant Victorian-era power plant slated for conversion to an arts center, will be achieved via a pedestrian plaza with sculpture garden.

The First Street tower is envisioned as a “vertical city” by its Manhattan-based builders, the Athena Group and the BLDG Management Company.

The top 25 floors will hold 330 apartments; the 7 floors below that will have 252 hotel rooms. Below these, there will be 40 loft apartments; 120 artist live/work spaces; parking for 719 cars on 6 floors; and a 2-story street-level area for stores, an art gallery and a cabaret, plus the lobbies for the hotel and the condos.

From some angles, as displayed in digital renderings and a scale model by the architects last week, the structure’s profile looks positively svelte — even a trifle fragile, as if it might topple in a stiff wind. “That was my first question,” joked the Jersey City mayor, Jerramiah T. Healy. “Is it going to blow over?”

The president of BLDG Management, Lloyd M. Goldman, whose company owns the site — and who at one point sued the city for stopping demolition of the old tobacco factory there that served as housing for hundreds of artists — declared the new design “utterly sound.”

“We brought in WSP Cantor Seinuk as the structural engineers,” he noted. “They’re the firm that’s doing the Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center.”

A reinforced concrete tube running through its core will anchor the building. Cantilevered concrete beams will support the two upper blocks, whose end sections splay out over the street.

The bottom third of the building will hold the artist spaces and rise 16 floors over the two-story retail area. The midsection, 18 stories tall, will hold the hotel and 10 floors of loft apartments that may be developed as “hotel condos.”

The glass-faced 16-story top section, which will face the Hudson River and Manhattan skyline directly eastward, will be condos.

As with other parts of Jersey City, a total transformation is under way in the area — providing a source of satisfaction for developers, angst for artists who loved the beaten-down warehouse district the way it was, and torn loyalties for city officials committed to revitalization.

At the unveiling of the design for the $400 million project, the mayor chortled over the coup of getting a “cool house for Jersey City,” playing on the architect’s surname, and called it a step forward in a renaissance. Later, he said he needed to correct himself. “This area used to be full of two-family frame houses, factory buildings and hole-in-the-wall bars,” he recollected. “We’re not just seeing a renaissance. We’re building a new city.”

William Matsikoudis, the city’s attorney, said he was thrilled to have wrested a compromise from a crowd of “New York City lawyers” hired by the developers, permitting a high-density structure on the one hand, but on the other a building that resembles a “600-foot-tall sculpture.”

Mr. Matsikoudis said he had handed the developers a list of seven world-class architects last June and told them a deal could be struck over the size of the building if they could lure a “star-chitect” to the project. Mr. Koolhaas accepted the commission in September.

The deal also included a commitment from the developers to donate $1 million to the arts in Jersey City. A first check of $330,000 was turned over to the city art museum two weeks ago.

For Mr. Koolhaas’s firm, based in Rotterdam, the Jersey City structure represents its first large-scale residential project in this country.

Mr. Koolhaas described the project as a welcome chance to produce “serious” architecture in a “real” place, as opposed to “spectacular architecture in unreal places.”

The architect, who won the Pritzker Prize in 2000, has in recent years designed the Prada stores in New York and Los Angeles, the Whitney Museum extension, the Seattle Public Library and the Illinois Institute of Technology campus center in Chicago.

His firm’s largest project to date worldwide is the China Central television headquarters and cultural center, under construction in Beijing.

Mr. Koolhaas said he thought the Jersey City arts district would appeal to “anyone who doesn’t want to live in a manicured environment.”

Asked for his favorite vantage point for viewing the 111 First Street building, Mr. Koolhaas said it would be from the thoroughly unaesthetic New Jersey Turnpike. “From there,” he said, “you see the Jersey City skyline in the foreground, with the Manhattan skyline in the background, and the two seem to meld. This is truly urban, truly beautiful.”

macmini

April 19th, 2007, 10:31 PM

Harwood brings in a partner for 2-tower project at Square

Saturday, April 14, 2007
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The two-tower development planned for Jersey City's Journal Square now has two partners sharing the risk, burden - and potential rewards - of building the $400 million project.

The board of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency voted yesterday to amend the redeveloper's agreement with Jersey City-based Harwood Properties to include Washington-based Multi-Employer Property Trust, a national real estate equity fund that invests union pension funds.

"I am confident that with MEPT's support, Journal Square will soon become a thriving neighborhood and a destination," said Lowell Harwood, managing partner of Harwood Properties.

"Redevelopment of Journal Square has been talked about for 30 or 40 years. Now it's finally going to happen."

David Antonelli, senior vice president of Kennedy Associates Real Estate Council Inc. LP, MEPT's sole advisor and founder, noted, "We're early on in the process. There's a lot of work to be done."

MEPT is a $6.2 billion real estate equity fund owned by 312 pension plans, with a portfolio of 172 properties in 25 major metropolitan markets, said company spokeswoman Pamela Silberman.

The new entity created by the partnership is called MEPT Journal Square Urban Renewal, LLC. The partners declined to say what percentage of the new company they owned.

The project is slated to be built on the site of the old Hotel on the Square and several stores, next to the PATH Transportation Center, and is to consist of two towers, 52 and 46 stories, containing 1,034 apartments, 150,000 square feet of retail space and three levels of parking.

By next week, officials said, MEPT will be the owner of all the properties on the block still standing.

The JCRA has hired a relocation specialist to help relocate the remaining businesses on the block, including a McDonald's, said JCRA Executive Director Robert Antonicello. The developer would reimburse the city for the moving expenses, Antonicello said.

Harwood predicted that by August all the remaining structures on the block will be leveled. Construction would take 18 months to two years, he said.

macmini

April 19th, 2007, 10:32 PM

Jersey City's Skyline at Night

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/5702/img3020mk4.jpg

Manhattan & Jersey City

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4944/img3017uu7.jpg

Jersey City's growing skyline

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/493/img3293vy7.jpg

macmini

April 19th, 2007, 10:33 PM

Model of urban future: Jersey City?

http://images.usatoday.com/news/_photos/2007/04/16/jersey-cityx-large.jpg
By Todd Plitt, USA TODAY
Morning commuters on the Jersey City waterfront, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan. Jersey City is second only to New York in a ranking of the USA?s 'least sprawling' cities.

By Rick Hampson, USA TODAY

JERSEY CITY — Once, this was a city of browns and grays. Railroads owned a third of the land, and trains rumbled night and day to the cacophonous riverfront. Factories belched fumes and leaked chemicals. "Nobody cared," says Bob Leach, born here in 1937. "Smoke meant jobs."

And those were the good years. Then, in the 1960s, the railroads went broke. Rail yards were abandoned, piers rotted, factories closed. In the 1970s alone, the city lost 14% of its population and about 9% of its jobs.

Now Jersey City has come back as its own antithesis: clean, green and growing — an example, urban planners say, of how the nation can accommodate some of the additional 100 million Americans expected by 2040 without paving over every farm, forest and meadow.

Jersey City, a model of smart growth? Even Robert Cotter, the city's planning director, says he was surprised by the notion. But because so many people here live in apartments or attached houses located near shops, offices and mass transit, they require less land, gasoline, heating oil, water, sewer pipe and other finite resources.

Smart Growth America, an advocacy group that ranks the largest metro areas by sprawl, says Jersey City is the second "least sprawling," trailing only New York City.

It's part of a remarkable demographic and economic U-turn. In a region where many cities are shrinking, Jersey City in the last quarter-century has gained about 30,000 residents, 27,000 jobs and 18 million square feet of prime office space — more than all such space in downtown Atlanta, Phoenix or Miami.

Another 8,000 housing units are being built, and permits have been issued for 10,000 more. With tens of thousands more homes planned over the next 25 years, Jersey City — given up for dead 30 years ago — could pass its 1930 population peak of 316,700.

Once written off by the rest of the nation as another Rust Belt failure, Jersey City is now seen as instructional.

Robert Lang, director of Virginia Tech's Metropolitan Institute, says the city "won't be a model for the whole country, but it will be an important model for parts of it" — especially satellite cities near bigger, more dynamic ones: Long Beach near Los Angeles, Oakland near San Francisco, Chelsea near Boston.

"Areas that have been blighted are beds for redevelopment," says Ben Jogodnik, a vice president of Toll Brothers, a leading national home builder that just finished a 12-story condo tower here. "Decay is incredibly fertile for regrowth."

Toll Brothers is known for building big houses on big suburban plots. But it formed a division to focus on locales such as Jersey City, Jogodnik says, "because that's where our customers are going."

A winning formula

How is Jersey City doing it? Observers such as Lang, Jogodnik and James Hughes, dean of Rutgers University's school of planning, identify several elements in the city's reversal of fortune:

•Proximity to New York. Hughes calls Jersey City "almost a sixth borough of New York." Mayor Jeremiah Healy calls the waterfront "Wall Street West." The city is a short trip across the Hudson River from Manhattan, but its building and real estate costs are one-half to one-third of Manhattan's. This has attracted companies such as Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, and thousands of residents who cross the Hudson to work.

•Redevelopment and infill. Because Jersey City had built on almost all of its land more than 50 years ago, it has to reuse, reclaim and redevelop land, including so-called brownfields (once-polluted industrial sites) and grayfields (parking lots, old strip malls).

After the Hudson riverfront's industrial economy collapsed in the 1970s, Jersey City lucked out: The land was abandoned. No one was living there to object to the construction of offices, apartments and stores on old rail yards and piers.

Similarly, the city has created the Powerhouse Arts District around an imposing but abandoned early 20th-century subway power station. Plans call for a mix of loft-style residential condos and rental units, restaurants, clubs, galleries, theaters and artists' spaces in an area just west of the waterfront.

Also, several former industrial sites contaminated with chromium have been cleaned up. Tons of soil have been removed from a former Honeywell plant on the west side and replaced with clean soil.

•Politics. For most of the 20th century, Jersey City's politics were reliably Democratic — and reliably corrupt. But in 1980, Democratic Mayor Gerald McCann endorsed Ronald Reagan, whose administration later gave the city a $40 million grant for infrastructure improvements along the still-undeveloped waterfront.

In 1992, even though only 6% of the electorate was registered Republican, conservative Republican Bret Schundler, a Harvard graduate who had worked on Wall Street, was elected mayor. Corporations were lured to the city in part by Schundler's reforms and by his reputation for honesty.

Hughes, the Rutgers professor, says publicly traded national companies no longer are automatically leery of doing business in Jersey City.

•Mass transit and infrastructure. Unlike Sun Belt cities that must build new transportation and water lines to accommodate growth, Jersey City is rich in basic infrastructure that was designed when the city was more populous than it is now.

Take mass transit. Although the city is served by a new, $2.2 billion state and federally financed light-rail system, it has long had subway, bus and ferry lines to Manhattan. About 40% of commuters use mass transit — second only to New York among the nation's 100 largest cities — and 9% walk to work.

•Immigrants. Thirty-seven percent of Jersey City residents are foreign-born, compared with 12% of all Americans. From 1970 to 1980, foreign-born residents jumped 45%, an increase nine times the city's population growth rate. Dozens of different languages are spoken here, and the city is home to one of the largest Arab Muslim communities in the nation.

Immigrants include wealthy Asian émigrés who are snapping up apartments at the still-rising Trump Plaza tower, which will be New Jersey's tallest residential building, Indian business owners who have established a "Little Bombay," and low-income Central Americans who work as domestics and manual laborers.

•Density. Cotter, the planning director, half jokes that Jersey City has earned its green reputation largely "by piling people on top of each other."

Among the largest U.S. cities, only New York has a higher population density than Jersey City. Nationally, 64% of homes are free-standing, single-family houses; in Jersey City, the figure is only 8%.

Jersey City's repopulation fits the state's policy of fighting sprawl and preserving open space. "We really have stemmed sprawl and forced development into some of the older urban areas," Hughes says.

And he says it's not just New Jersey: "In the whole Northeast now, part of the political culture is to slow down growth." As Sun Belt boom states such as North Carolina continue to grow — to get more "Jersified," as Hughes puts it — they'll come around, too, he says.

The Beacon on the hill

Last year, Caitlin Coan and Scott Young, who rent in a tower on Jersey City's waterfront, took a walk west — under an elevated highway, past a vocational high school and public housing project. They wanted to check out what Coan calls "that crazy hospital on the hill."

This was the former Jersey City Medical Center, a cluster of Art Deco buildings on a rise in the center of the city, far from the booming waterfront.

Now the medical center was becoming The Beacon condominium complex, one of the nation's largest historic renovation projects.

Most of it was built during the Great Depression. In 1932, Jersey City's most famous mayor, Frank Hague, helped elect Franklin Roosevelt president. In return, he got federal money to help build the hospital complex.

Hague, the history of Jersey City clearly documents, was a master of vote fraud, extortion and intimidation who told city workers how much to kick back to his political machine, whom to vote for and what newspaper to buy. He once had his police dump Socialist Party leader Norman Thomas on a Manhattan sidewalk after he tried to lead a rally in Jersey City.

The medical center symbolized his power. It could be seen for miles —The Saturday Evening Post wrote that it rose "like a beautiful mirage … up from the municipal rubble which is Jersey City." Its eight buildings had marble walls, terrazzo floors, etched glass, decorative moldings and glittering chandeliers.

Overbuilt and overstaffed, the center drained city finances for years. In 1988, four decades after Hague's retirement, the hospital declared bankruptcy. In 2004 it moved to a new building, leaving behind one of the biggest white elephants in America.

The city got it declared a state and national landmark and sold it to a developer for $9.5 million and a promise to spend $350 million to turn its huge buildings into 1,200 condos. This summer, Coan and Young will move into The Beacon, where they've purchased a one-bedroom unit.

Their willingness to move inland to find an affordable home is crucial to the city's plan to repopulate and upgrade its traditional center. The couple acknowledges they're taking a risk on an unfashionable neighborhood. "This is still an up-and-coming area," Young says. "If it doesn't get better, we'll be stuck."

In many ways, Jersey City still is two cities: waterside and inland, new and old, rich and poor.

"We see buildings going up, but it doesn't do us any good," says Walter Williams, 64, an unemployed security guard who lives near The Beacon. About 19% of Jersey City residents live below the poverty line, compared with 9% statewide and 12% nationally. Crime remains a problem despite the hiring of more police. The troubled schools are under state control.

George Filopoulos of Metrovest, The Beacon's developer, says 85% of the apartments in the first two buildings have been sold, mostly to residents of the waterfront or New York, or empty-nesters from the suburbs. Studios sell in the mid-$300,000s; a penthouse went for $2.3 million.

The legend of Hague, softened by the years, is part of the sales pitch. "The ghost of Frank Hague will be happy," Leach says. "In his own way, he always wanted to make this a world-class city."

Cotter says The Beacon is a test of whether Jersey City can grow out beyond its golden waterfront: "This is how we're growing, and in the future it's where a lot of U.S. cities are going."

macmini

April 19th, 2007, 10:36 PM

Jersey City lures another world famous architect

Already the planned home of a Rem Koolhaas designed building at 111 First St., Jersey City may also become host to a design by world famous architect I.M. Pei.

Pei, the famed Chinese-born architect who designed the pyramid entrances at the Louvre Museum in Paris, has designed the second Goldman Sachs tower. That building will not go up until the current Goldman Sachs building is full.

"Developers and cities are realizing that architects have the power to draw attention, international attention, to their location. That was true in Milwaukee, and in Bilbao, and it's going to be true in Jersey City,'' said Robert Ivy, editor-in-chief of the Architectural Record, referring to Santiago Calatrava's Milwaukee Art Museum and Frank Gehry's design for the Guggenheim Museum in Spain.

Associated Press

Ebola

April 19th, 2007, 10:41 PM

I hope the JC skyline gets some supertalls in the future because the Jersey skyline is the New York skyline.

nygirl

April 20th, 2007, 07:13 AM

Don Omar

April 21st, 2007, 02:43 AM

yea jersey

krull

April 21st, 2007, 07:15 AM

Jersey city skyline is going to change so much. :yes:

macmini

April 26th, 2007, 05:27 PM

Macmini do you think the GS Tower will do some decorative lighting with it's top? I love Jc's skyline as it is and it is bound for even more growth than we are seeing currently but the gs at night looks really crappy. I hope something is being planned and figured you were the guy to ask.

From the original rendering the top of the build was going to have some glass structure & it was going to be lit-up at night, but I don't think its going to happen now. At one point Goldman Sachs asked the city if the could put their name on the top of the build ,but the city said no.

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macmini

May 16th, 2007, 08:39 PM

PGA Tournament With a View of the New York City Skyline

By DAMON HACK
Published: May 16, 2007

The Barclays golf tournament, a fixture at Westchester Country Club in Harrison, N.Y., since 1967 and the inaugural PGA Tour playoff event, will move to Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City in August 2009, bringing professional golf closer to Manhattan for at least one year.

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The Liberty National course,
a 7,400-yard layout bordered
by townhouses in Jersey City,
opened last July.

“Liberty has a lot of potential,” Tim Finchem, the PGA Tour commissioner, said Sunday during the Players Championship. “With camera angles, 4,000 feet on the water and the Statue of Liberty very much a part of the landscape, it will look more like New York to the rest of the country when it’s on television. The golf course was built with hospitality in mind, and I think it will be a nice move in 2009.”

Although the Barclays — formerly the Westchester Classic and the Buick Classic — has been played at the same course for four decades, Finchem and the club’s membership agreed last year that Westchester would be its host for only three of the next six years, including 2007 and 2008, with an option for a fourth year.

That left the Tour with a gap to fill for its FedEx Cup playoffs, and Finchem chose Liberty National, a 7,400-yard layout designed by Tom Kite and Bob Cupp and built by Paul B. Fireman and his son, Dan Fireman, for $150 million.

Finchem said the Tour had not decided where the Barclays would be played in 2010 and beyond.

Liberty National, which opened last July, has gained acclaim among businessmen and politicians. Rudolph W. Giuliani and Robert K. Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots, are among the club’s founding members.

Liberty National has built up plenty of cachet, with ferry and helicopter service, $1 million Belgian stone cart paths and challenging holes with panoramic views of the Statue of Liberty and the New York City skyline.

If the course holds up to professional competition and if the tournament is viewed as successful, Liberty National may continue as a PGA Tour site and also begin courting major championships, Ryder Cup matches and Presidents Cup matches.

“Though Westchester has been a great venue for years, Liberty is the next new thing out there for the Tour to sink its teeth into,” Dan Fireman said in an interview. “It’s an exciting new venue for golf, and we hope to showcase it. Tiger Woods wants to conquer everything out there. Until he conquers Liberty, he hasn’t.”

Cupp, who collaborated with Jack Nicklaus to build Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, called Liberty National his defining moment.

“Players, deep down, love to compete on hard golf courses, and the Tour likes to see 30-mile-an-hour winds,” Cupp said. “The course has places to make birdies and places to make a bunch of ‘others.’ It’s a course that has every shot.”

In location and style, Westchester Country Club is much different from the wind-swept Liberty National. Westchester, nearly 600 yards shorter, is a classic course lined by large trees and dotted with small greens.

Before moving to August as part of the FedEx Cup playoffs, the Barclays was often overshadowed in its June date on the Tour calendar, one week before or after the United States Open. Woods, for example, who rarely plays the week before or after a major, has not played at Westchester since 2003.

Last year, when it was rumored that Westchester would cease to be a regular stop on the PGA Tour calendar, the Tour veteran Billy Andrade was among those who bemoaned a potential change.

“If you polled every player on our Tour and said name your top three or four, Westchester Country Club is in the top three or four,” Andrade, who won there in 1991, said last year. “I hope we do whatever it takes to continue to play here because this is a fabulous venue.”

Although Finchem did not rule out returning the event to Westchester beyond the Tour’s deal with the club, he said he liked the idea of rotating the location. The lure of a course a stone’s throw from Lower Manhattan, he said, would only increase the tournament’s appeal.

“We wouldn’t at all have a problem with our home base being Westchester,” he said. “It’s great as far the tournament goes. The only thing is, you are trying to reach and excite a metropolitan area of 10, 11 million and make sure it has a full flavor that is really part of New York. It would just make it a bigger event. That’s not to take anything away from Westchester at all. It’s just to say that we’re in the business of trying to make big events.”

macmini

May 16th, 2007, 08:39 PM

$106M vote of confidence for Downtown

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

A Woodbridge-based development company has purchased 30 Montgomery St. and its neighbor, 2 Montgomery St., in Downtown Jersey City, for a whopping total of $105.87 million - and the plans for the site might open a new chapter for the city and its already red hot waterfront real estate market.

City sources tell me that Onyx Equities LLC plans to demolish the buildings to make room for a spectacular, mixed-use complex similar to the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle in Manhattan.

The project would feature a 14,000-square-foot open air plaza with shops and restaurants.

The building would also have more than 1.2 million square feet of retail, residential, office and luxury hotel space, continuing the trend of mixed-use construction in Jersey City.

The location is one of the most marketable and expensive sites in Jersey City, just a block from the Exchange Place PATH station and thus minutes from Manhattan's Financial District.

There have been no plans submitted to the city yet, and officials with the company did not return calls seeking comment.

If true, the proposal shows the continuing maturation and diversification of Jersey City's residential and commercial market, which in recent months has seen an innovative proposal from one of the world's most noted architects.

"This is the type of building that gets built in major metro areas like New York and Chicago," said one city official.

The 30 Montgomery St. building, built in 1974, is home to bankers, lawyers and real estate brokers, along with a number of Jersey City government offices, including the city's Planning Department, Redevelopment Agency, and the Jersey City Economic Development Corp.

Sources tell me the company plans to let leases expire in the upcoming months and may buy out others in order to clear the building. Meanwhile, the city is working on plans to consolidate all offices, perhaps building a City Hall annex on Grove Street.

The 2 Montgomery St. building is the previous corporate headquarters of First Jersey National Bank, but is currently fully leased to Met Life.

Though 30 Montgomery St. dwarves its neighbor in size, the buildings sold for roughly $52.5 million each. City officials say the similar sale prices has to do with the similar zoning.

It appears The Donald's charm works on both sides of the Hudson River, after Metro Homes and the mogul himself celebrated the sales of more than 300 units at Trump Towers Jersey City - in Trump style of course.

There were beautiful models, a yacht that carried real estate brokers from Manhattan to the shores of Jersey City and, of course, a bit of self-promotion.

"It is the most successful real estate project in the state of New Jersey," said Dean Geibel, owner of Metro Homes, who has partnered with Trump on the project.

Since the sales office opened seven months ago, 304 of the 444 available units have sold in the first 55-story tower, with prices ranging from $450,000 to $2 million.

That means 43 units sold per month, which either beats or compares with other Jersey City condo development sales at the height of the real estate boom, said one local official who tracks the market.

"The success of the Trump project means a lot. It shows there is a high demand for luxury condos," the local official said.

Buyers can expect to move into their new digs by next spring, Geibel said. However, the start of construction on the 407-unit second tower is still some time away and depends on the success of the first tower.

"The quicker we sell out the first tower, the quicker we can start construction of the second tower," said Geibel.

About 15 percent of the buyers are moving out of Manhattan into New Jersey in pursuit of value, while the majority of the remaining buyers are people who are moving from other parts of New Jersey to get closer to their jobs in Manhattan, said Geibel.

macmini

June 16th, 2007, 06:12 PM

In the Region | New Jersey
‘Gold Coast,’ Sterling Views, but ...

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Dixon Mills, being converted to condos from rentals, has six buildings that started as a pencil factory.

Article Tools Sponsored By
By ANTOINETTE MARTIN
Published: June 17, 2007

JERSEY CITY

PRICES are a big attraction at Dixon Mills, an apartment complex set in historic brick factory buildings here that is being converted from rentals to condominiums. The condos run about 60 percent less than for comparable space in Manhattan, according to the Robert Martin Company, the developer doing the conversion.

The apartments are distinctive, the streets are cobblestone, and there is even parking for most of the 467 units. In addition, from the top floor the views — of Manhattan, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and the Statue of Liberty — are nonpareil.

The catch? “Well, I guess it’s New Jersey,” laughed Timothy M. Jones, a partner at Robert Martin. “It’s still a wide river in some respects. A lot of people don’t even think about coming to New Jersey.”

Given the increasing price disparity, however, more New Yorkers are said to be giving New Jersey a look. Various developers offering new condos along the Jersey “Gold Coast” are reporting that the number of home shoppers venturing west of the Hudson River is up.

Mr. Jones’s partner at Robert Martin, Greg Berger, said that when his company began work at Dixon Mills last year, only about 10 or 15 percent of those looking at the condominiums were considering a move from New York City. Now, nearly 30 percent are from Manhattan or other boroughs, he said. “Given the price disparity that exists,” Mr. Berger added, “I think huge crowds should be beating down our doors.”

Studios as well as one-, two- and three-bedroom condominiums, some with balconies and patios, have asking prices from the mid-$200,000s ranging up to the mid-$600,000s.

Because the complex is horizontal rather than vertical — there are six brick buildings, with four or five floors — there are more than 100 penthouse units available, some priced below $300,000.

“We had a guy in here from Park Slope,” Mr. Berger said last week. “He had been looking for months and couldn’t find anything in New York — and that was at $650 per square foot. We’re in the mid-$400s per square foot here.”

“This particular guy works downtown” in Manhattan, Mr. Berger said, “and he can catch the PATH train three blocks from here and be at work in 10 minutes, and he was, like, ‘Oh! This is a no-brainer.’ ”

The complex at 158 Wayne Street is also bordered by Christopher Columbus Drive, Mercer Street and Brunswick Street. The Grove Street PATH station is three blocks east on Christopher Columbus.

Built in 1847 on seven acres as the factory for Joseph Dixon, whose most famous invention was the yellow Dixon Ticonderoga pencil, Dixon Mills is situated between two historic brownstone neighborhoods: Hamilton Park and Van Vorst.

Its Romanesque Revival-style buildings were transformed into rental apartments — 122 of them two-story duplexes and 10 of them three-story triplexes — more than 20 years ago. The layouts are quirky, with no two precisely the same; ceiling heights range from 9 to 12 feet. Many have private entrances.

There are 222 one-bedroom units, 159 two-bedrooms, a dozen three-bedrooms and 74 studios.

The buildings retain their original oversized factory windows, overhead pipes and exposed brick interior walls. One structure is to be made over into a community clubhouse with a fitness center, sports courts, locker rooms, sauna, WiFi laptop bar, screening room, kitchen and lounge. The layouts of the other five buildings will remain as they are.

Robert Martin, which is based in Elmont, N.Y., is upgrading the interiors with high-end kitchens, marble baths and refinished floors.

The work is being done without displacing tenants, who may choose to renew their one-year leases up to three times under New Jersey laws governing conversions, and who have the first option to buy the units in which they reside.

Three weeks ago, the first 50 converted units were put on the market, and contracts have been signed for 60 percent of them, Mr. Jones said.

The developer is renovating all of the buildings’ interior courtyards, and each is being given a theme. One will feature tropical plants and cozy seats. Another will have an original artwork — an etched-glass waterfall sculpture — installed under a glass canopy roof. A third courtyard, which has a huge skylight and three levels of interior balconies, will have nostalgic streetlamps creating a “town square” effect. And the fourth will be done up to resemble a French town plaza, with window awnings, umbrella tables and a town clock.

The sprawling exterior courtyard of the fifth residential building is being relandscaped and outfitted with community barbecue grills.

When the building is entirely converted, a community association will be formed to maintain the common areas, according to Mr. Jones.

Among the current offerings at Dixon Mills is a 943-square-foot duplex with one bedroom, one and a half baths, exposed brick and a small terrace. It is priced at $388,330 with a common charge of $539 a month.

A three-story condo with 1,257 square feet, two bedrooms, two baths, a balcony and a rooftop deck is priced at $475,670, with a monthly fee of $719.

One penthouse duplex with a large rooftop terrace that wraps around two sides of the apartment, a Juliet balcony and a straight-on unobstructed view of the Statue of Liberty was decorated and shown as a model. Priced at $600,000, the two-bedroom, two-bath unit immediately generated competing bids, and Mr. Jones said last week that he expected it to sell for about $650,000.

By comparison, the average price in the first quarter of this year for a one-bedroom condo in Manhattan was more than $813,000 and for a two-bedroom condo was $1.7 million, according to a report by Prudential Douglas Elliman. For co-ops, the average was more than $570,000 for a one-bedroom and more than $1.3 million for a two-bedroom.

macmini

June 16th, 2007, 06:15 PM

55-story Trump tower touches sky
Saturday, June 16, 2007
By JARRETT RENSHAW
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Less than 18 months after the shovels went into the ground, city officials yesterday joined with the developers of Trump Plaza Jersey City to celebrate the topping off of the 55-story building.

The project, which broke ground in February 2006, is a joint venture between Hoboken-based Metro Homes and real estate mogul Donald Trump, who has made several high-profile visits to the site since construction begun.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy was on hand to celebrate the "topping" of the first of two towers to be built. Construction on the smaller, 50-story second tower, which was slowed by financing concerns, is now scheduled to begin in the fall.

Trump Plaza Jersey City will feature more than 900 condominium residences in two towers, making them the two tallest residential buildings in New Jersey - that is until the nearby Metropolitan is built.

When built, the $200 million Metropolitan would become the state's second tallest building, after the 781-foot Goldman Sachs building on Hudson Street. The tower is one of several that may be built in the 18-acre shopping area currently anchored by a Shop-Rite supermarket and a BJ's Wholesale Club.

Sales at Trump Plaza Jersey City have been going quickly, with roughly 320 units sold in less than eight months, officials said.

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macmini

June 16th, 2007, 06:44 PM

SQUARE KEY
Monday, June 04, 2007 By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Developer acquires final piece

The future of Journal Square is about two months away.

The limited liability entity redeveloping a key block of Journal Square now owns every lot on the block, and new owner Lowell Harwood hopes to complete demolition of the remaining buildings at the heart of Journal Square by August.

Harwood said he hopes to break ground next year on a two tower, $400 million mixed-use development that many hope will revitalize the Jersey City neighborhood.

The developer already had purchased a number of adjacent properties, but now Harwood holds the final piece of the puzzle - a 1.5-acre block adjacent to the Journal Square Transportation Center that was snapped up by MEPT Journal Square Urban Renewal, which is partly owned by Harwood, at a closing in April.

Harwood refused to disclose the sales price, but CoStar Comp, an on-line newsletter, stated the transaction amounted to a $28 million sale; an official familiar with the negotiations said the figure was somewhat higher.

Harwood had already purchased the lion's share of the properties on the block from companies tied to Ralph Tawil Jr., a landlord who racked up nearly $4 million in code violation fines during his nearly two decades on the square.
In March 2006, Tawil agreed to a settlement figure of $1.1 million and to sell his holdings to Harwood.

MEPT Journal Square had also already purchased 12 Journal Square (formerly KFC), 14 Journal Square (formerly Wendy's), and 15-16 Journal (McDonald's, Song's Hallmark, HT Wireless, and a dentist's office.)

No date was given as to when McDonald's, Song's Hallmark, HT Wireless and the dentist's office would have to vacate. The Jersey City Redevelopment Agency is working on relocating the 15-16 Journal Square tenants, officials said.

Besides the McDonald's building still on the block are the Three Brothers Pizza and a parking lot owned by Central Parking. Harwood said he expects all the buildings to be demolished by August.

macmini

June 27th, 2007, 05:42 PM

Jersey City waterfront & Downtown

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macmini

June 27th, 2007, 05:44 PM

On agenda tonight: Abatement for new Goldman Sachs tower

Wednesday, June 27, 2007 By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Its 42-story tower at 30 Hudson St. is barely 65 percent occupied, but Goldman, Sachs & Co. wants to construct another office building right next to it - and wants a tax abatement to do it.

The Wall Street heavyweight dispatched a phalanx of officials to the City Council's caucus meeting on Monday to describe the high-rise proposed for 50 Hudson St. and make their pitch for a 20-year abatement.

Plans call for a 30-story office building consisting of more than 700,000 square feet of office space, roughly 21,000 square feet of retail space and a 573-space parking facility, Goldman officials said.

By the end of 2009, 30 Hudson will be completely filled, said Goldman Managing Director Dino Fusco.

The proposed 20-year abatement, already given a green light by the mayor's "Tax Enhancement Committee," calls for a "payment in lieu of taxes" to the city of 15 percent annual gross revenue for the retail space and 10 percent of annual gross revenue for the office space.

The first-year "PILOT" would be $2.2 million, officials said. The site currently generates $165,000 a year in taxes, city officials said.

The Goldman abatement is scheduled to be introduced at tonight's council meeting.

Council members were receptive to the application."

macmini

July 2nd, 2007, 12:05 AM

$ky $craper deal!

Votes add up: Goldman gets its abatement

Friday, June 29, 2007 By KEN THORBOURNE

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Goldman, Sachs & Co. is golden with the Jersey City's governing body.
By a 8-0-1 vote, the Jersey City City Council introduced on Wednesday a 20-year tax abatement for the company's proposed office tower at 50 Hudson St. - right next to its 42-story tower at 30 Hudson St.

The 30-story structure will consist of more than 700,000 square feet of office space, roughly 21,000 square feet of retail space and a 573-car parking garage, officials said.

The 20-year abatement calls for "payment in lieu of taxes" to the city of 15 percent of annual gross revenue for the retail space and a 10 percent of annual gross revenue for the office space.

The first-year "pilot" would be $2.2 million - a far cry from the $165,000-a-year the property currently yields in taxes, city officials said.
Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop, who favored the abatement, abstained since he once worked for Goldman Sachs.

The only dissenting voice on the abatement came from Pamela Gardner, vice president of the Jersey City's NAACP, who during the public speaking portion of Wednesday's meeting questioned how many blacks and Latinos work for the company and how many are in upper management.
Goldman Sachs spokesman Peter Rose declined to comment on this topic yesterday.

Joseph Seneca, a Rutgers University professor working with Goldman Sachs, told council members Monday the $560 million project will generate the equivalent of 274 one-year construction jobs for Jersey City residents, paying on average $58,000 annually.

When the building is finished, 12 percent, or 413 of Goldman Sachs' 3,440 financial workers located in Jersey City will be local residents, Seneca said. These workers earn on average $156,000 annually, Seneca said.
No start date for 50 Hudson St. has been set.

ZZ-II

July 3rd, 2007, 09:26 PM

great news :)

macmini

July 16th, 2007, 09:01 PM

A Ranking of Seven Hotels for Under $200 a Night. In New York.

Or so nearby it doesn’t matter.
By Stephen Milioti

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The Hyatt Regency in Jersey City.
(Photo: Coutesy of Hyatt Regency)

In many cities besides New York, $200 gets you a nice room at a good hotel, with shampoo, a shower cap, and maybe even an in-room coffeepot. In New York, not so much. But with some digging and some deals, it is possible to find a clean room, a soft mattress, free Internet, and fresh-baked cookies for under two Franklins. I tested seven hotels, staying on weekends and booking rooms online to take advantage of deals. Prices can vary widely (especially in the fall and spring high seasons) and often go up during the week.

1. Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson
2 Exchange Pl., Jersey City, N.J.; 201-469-1234

PRICE: $199
GREAT VIEWS

The best $200 hotel in New York is in New Jersey—a one-stop, four-minute PATH ride or short Water Taxi ride from lower Manhattan. My room has water and city views (not all do, but my ultranice front-desk agent upgraded me because there was available space). The room is 400 feet, with low-key and sophisticated touches: a granite bathroom sink; a rather masculine taupe, brown, and gray color scheme; a good-size desk for working; and very upscale bedding—plus a spectacular view of the Woolworth Building.

The rest of the list http://nymag.com/travel/features/34731/

macmini

July 29th, 2007, 02:00 AM

70-90 Columbus are part of 50 Columbus Plaza which is currently under construction. 70 and 90 Columbus are to start construction in 2008 both towers will be 48 stories.

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Here are some pictures of 50 Columbus Plaza which is almost complete.

The mid-rise section extending west from the main tower has a mini glass tower on the end now
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Looking east down Columbus Drive, the Trump Tower rises in the background
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Looking west down Columbus Drive with Grove Point in the background
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macmini

July 29th, 2007, 02:01 AM

Goldman Sachs Gets Deal for 2nd Jersey City Tower
By CHARLES V. BAGLI
Published: July 19, 2007

The Goldman Sachs Group received approval yesterday to build its second tower on the Jersey City waterfront, a 30-story, $560 million office building that would house employees moving across the river from New York and accommodate the future growth of the firm.

The approval came in a vote by the Municipal Council to grant a property tax break worth roughly $4 million a year for the project, which had already been approved by the planning department. Goldman said it would probably begin construction late in 2009, about the time it completes a $2.4 billion headquarters one mile to the east, at Battery Park City in Lower Manhattan.

The deal in Jersey City comes less than two years after Goldman promised to retain 9,000 employees and add 4,000 in the coming years in Manhattan, in return for one of the most generous subsidy packages in New York City ever granted by state and city officials.

The new Goldman tower in Jersey City would hold about 3,500 workers and add to that city’s rapidly growing skyline.

But it raises questions about the wisdom of granting corporations tax breaks in return for jobs. Critics of the practice contend that Goldman Sachs, one of the most profitable investment banks on Wall Street, may be unable to fulfill all its promises to New York and New Jersey.

Goldman’s first tower in Jersey City, at 30 Hudson Street, is only 60 percent full today and could accommodate 3,000 more workers.

“Goldman has perfected the art of grabbing subsidies on both sides of the river,” said Bettina Damiani, director of Good Jobs New York, a group that conducts research on economic development. “We can only hope that elected officials can get equally good at ensuring that Goldman lives up to its job promises. Too often, taxpayers get stuck with the tab and don’t get the jobs that were promised.”

Peter Rose, a spokesman for Goldman Sachs, said the company was planning for the future and had made a substantial investment in both Lower Manhattan and Jersey City. The property tax abatement that Goldman Sachs just received in Jersey City, he said, is available to any company moving there.

“We have to look at the economics of where we put a building,” Mr. Rose said. “We may be a profitable firm. But that doesn’t mean we don’t watch our expenses. This is a win-win for Jersey City and Goldman Sachs.”
The firm says it has 9,000 to 10,000 employees in New York and 3,662 in Jersey City.

New York City officials expressed mixed opinions. “The great news is that Goldman Sachs is continuing to grow,” said Robert C. Lieber, president of New York City’s Economic Development Corporation. But, he said, the commitments Goldman made in New York “have consequences if they’re not upheld.”

The tax break for Goldman provoked a lively debate yesterday at the Municipal Council’s meeting.

It was generally acknowledged that Goldman was a model corporate citizen. But the Rev. Kevin Agee, pastor of the Calvary C.M.E. Church, said it was “morally reprehensible to allocate tax abatements to folks who are billionaires and millionaires while the poor, and even the middle class, gets shafted.”

Elnora Watson, president of the Urban League of Hudson County, said she was grateful that Goldman Sachs donated $7,500 to her group last year, but she opposed the abatement. She said the Council should work harder to ensure that jobs go to local residents, a sentiment also expressed by other speakers.

Raj Patel, who owns a travel agency in Jersey City, said that he pays full property taxes and an additional $960 a year for a special improvement district. “These people are getting freebies,” Mr. Patel said. “It doesn’t make sense.”

But the president of the Municipal Council, Mariano Vega Jr., said that Goldman Sachs had done a lot for Jersey City since it opened its first tower about four years ago. Aside from the jobs and tax revenues, he said, the company has contributed to programs for affordable housing, recreation and education. And he said that Jersey City needed to provide incentives for companies if it wanted to compete with Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and other locations.

The Council ultimately voted 6 to 1 in favor of the deal.
Viola Richardson, the sole council member to oppose it, said that she was not against Goldman Sachs, but that it was no longer necessary to provide incentives to get companies to move to the waterfront.
Goldman Sachs has long been a downtown stalwart. In 1999, the company bought three development sites at the former Colgate toothpaste factory in Jersey City. Five years later, it built 30 Hudson, at 42 stories the tallest building in the state, after bargaining for tax breaks worth more than $160 million.

Goldman Sachs initially planned to move equity sales and trading operations to the tower from Manhattan. But executives rebelled against the plan, and the company has been slow to fill the tower, which cost $1.3 billion to build.

A short time later, Goldman announced plans to build a 42-story headquarters on a site in Battery Park City, which would have a view of its Jersey City operations.

Grateful for the commitment downtown after the attack on the World Trade Center, state and city officials offered the company $1 billion in tax-free bonds and about $30 million in tax breaks.

But after snags in the negotiations, state and city officials enhanced their offer by providing $1.65 billion in bonds and $140 million in tax breaks and cash, as well as a sharp reduction, worth an estimated $9 million a year, in Goldman’s payments in lieu of taxes.