[NYguy]

Jersey Journal

Increase to proposed tower approved by city

Thursday, August 17, 2006
By JARRETT RENSHAW

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.

[Lecom]

Good luck to them. Too bad about the atrium, but there's not enough pedestrian traffic in that area to require such an atrium anyway. Will be nice to see the main tower rise in a denser area.

And they really need to add height to their Manhattan headquarters, or else it would be pretty sad if it ends up shorter than their "back office" tower across the Hudson.

[NYguy]

they really need to add height to their Manhattan headquarters, or else it would be pretty sad if it ends up shorter than their "back office" tower across the Hudson.

I don't think they are concerned with height. It makes you wonder why they wouldn't have gone for a larger tower in Manhattan. But Goldman already owns the Jersey City land, that likely played the biggest role.


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

Makes you wonder why they even plan to build a new tower there at all. Guess it depends on when this new tower is supposed to be built. Goldman could just be getting approvals in place.

[DetroitSky]

Renderings anyone?

[kznyc2k]

It makes you wonder why they wouldn't have gone for a larger tower in Manhattan.

Wasn't it someone related to the WFC (AmEx perhaps?) that in effect made a stipulation saying that the GS tower couldn't rise any higher than 1 WFC?

[NYguy]

Wasn't it someone related to the WFC (AmEx perhaps?) that in effect made a stipulation saying that the GS tower couldn't rise any higher than 1 WFC?

Possible, but I don't think the building going up there uses all of the square footage that was allowed on site.

[macmini]

I don't think they are concerned with height. It makes you wonder why they wouldn't have gone for a larger tower in Manhattan. But Goldman already owns the Jersey City land, that likely played the biggest role.

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

Makes you wonder why they even plan to build a new tower there at all. Guess it depends on when this new tower is supposed to be built. Goldman could just be getting approvals in place.

Their employee's don't need to live in Jersey City it takes less then 10 minutes to get to lower manhattan or time square from JC. An Goldman Sachs just said in an article that the build in JC would be 2/3 full by the end of 2006.

[NYguy]

Their employee's don't need to live in Jersey City it takes less then 10 minutes to get to lower manhattan or time square from JC.

Well, duh.


An Goldman Sachs just said in an article that the build in JC would be 2/3 full by the end of 2006.

That's what they said. Then again, the tower was supposed to be full a while ago. Now 2/3 full is supposed to be some sort of victory. That fact remains that 1/3 of that tower is still a lot of space. The Jersey City headquarters was supposed to be a 3 tower "campus". We'll see how well this new tower sits with the employees. If the first tower is any indication, it won't.

[macmini]

Well, duh.




That's what they said. Then again, the tower was supposed to be full a while ago. Now 2/3 full is supposed to be some sort of victory. That fact remains that 1/3 of that tower is still a lot of space. The Jersey City headquarters was supposed to be a 3 tower "campus". We'll see how well this new tower sits with the employees. If the first tower is any indication, it won't.

I guess you have never made a typo NYguy. Just get over it Goldman is building another tower here Citigroup & Deutsche Bank are moving 1200 each to JC. An since when has any corporation cares what their employees thinks.

[NYguy]

I guess you have never made a typo NYguy.

Never.


Just get over it Goldman is building another tower here Citigroup & Deutsche Bank are moving 1200 each to JC. An since when has any corporation cares what their employees thinks.

Get over it? Oh please, there's nothing to get over. Whatever gets built in Jersey City is just a trickle of what gets built in Manhattan. Its JC's proximity to Manhattan that affords it such construction to begin with. And that may be short lived with the coming and continuing new construction in Brooklyn and on the Brooklyn and Queens waterfronts.

And P.S., the reason the new Goldman tower is only 1/3 full is because that company cares what its employees think.

[macmini]

Never.




Get over it? Oh please, there's nothing to get over. Whatever gets built in Jersey City is just a trickle of what gets built in Manhattan. Its JC's proximity to Manhattan that affords it such construction to begin with. And that may be short lived with the coming and continuing new construction in Brooklyn and on the Brooklyn and Queens waterfronts.

And P.S., the reason the new Goldman tower is only 1/3 full is because that company cares what its employees think.

The GS tower is half full not 1/3 there are over 2,000 employees in the JC building. Yes I'm sure Goldman Sachs cares about their top tier employees that they will be moving to the new Manhattan build. If they really cared what the rest of their employees thought they wouldn't be building a new building in JC. Their is more construction going on or planned in JC then Brooklyn and Queens combined. The Jersey City waterfronte is more developed then Bro. & Queens an the commute from JC is still better.

[mczamalek]

Their is more construction going on or planned in JC then Brooklyn and Queens combined.

You can't be serious? If you are, I suggest you make a little trip over here and look around.......it might take a while though considering Brooklyn/Queens is more than 10 times the land area of Jersey City, with new construction spread all over.

[Scruffy]

Thats stupid, it would make so much more sense for GS to instead make a 900-1100 footer in BPC instead of making the current shorter and another tower across the river. It would look better too to have such a tall tower a block away from the waterfront.

[Crawford]

You can't be serious? If you are, I suggest you make a little trip over here and look around.......it might take a while though considering Brooklyn/Queens is more than 10 times the land area of Jersey City, with new construction spread all over.

Very true. Brooklyn and Queens taken individually have tons more construction than all of Hudson County, to say nothing of Jersey City.

Even the Bronx has more construction than Hudson County.


http://censtats.census.gov/bldg/bldgprmt.shtml

[Jularc]

I know, just because JC is having a construction boom of towers on the waterfront doesnt mean that is having way more construction than Brooklyn or Queens. :rolleyes:

[LostInTheZone]

so, what's the necessity of this, when their current building in JC is still only half full?

[mczamalek]

^Reading the article, it seems more like JC officials were working out what will be allowed on the site, less like what GS will actually do with it (height-wise). The city will now allow a 500 footer on the site, but that doesn't mean GS will actually build one.

The main issue seems to have been the enclosed atrium, which was put down in favor of an open-air plaza.

[macmini]

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."

;)

[mczamalek]

Well sure, JC is doing great, nobody disputes that- but it isn't killing Brooklyn/Queens, nor outdoing them when it comes to construction. Would DT Brooklyn and LIC like to woo more class A? Of course- but JC is another animal entirely.

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.

Kevin E. Strauss is either an idiot, or this journal (you didn't post which one it was) is quoting him way out of context. Nobody I know in the world of corporate NY looks upon JC as a "rundown metropolis in decline"- not since the mid 90's. So this is a fuzzy-bear booster piece filled with "we'll show them" crap?

[NYguy]

The GS tower is half full not 1/3 there are over 2,000 employees in the JC building.

It's not half full, and even if it were, that's nothing to brag about. That buildings been completed for a while now.

The company's current Jersey City building - the state's tallest with a capacity for about 5,000 employees - is less than half full.

So, of 5,000 you say there's 2,000? Please.


Behind the scenes, several city officials raised questions about the intentions of Goldman Sachs. "Goldman has been a great neighbor, but I just hope that they plan to build it," Downtown Councilman Steve Fulop said.

There's a reason these officials have their doubts.


Yes I'm sure Goldman Sachs cares about their top tier employees that they will be moving to the new Manhattan build. If they really cared what the rest of their employees thought they wouldn't be building a new building in JC.

First of all, Goldman already has that land in Jersey City. They need to do something with it. Secondly, its been known since even before that tower opened that Goldman changed its plans for that building due to employee sentiment.


Their is more construction going on or planned in JC then Brooklyn and Queens combined. The Jersey City waterfronte is more developed then Bro. & Queens an the commute from JC is still better.

And thirdly, you've just proven how little you do know.

[NYguy]

^Reading the article, it seems more like JC officials were working out what will be allowed on the site, less like what GS will actually do with it (height-wise). The city will now allow a 500 footer on the site, but that doesn't mean GS will actually build one.

That's true. Remember, Goldman originally had plans for 3 towers on the site. As it is now, they just want to have plans in place. Remember their search for space a few months back. Maybe they don't want to have to repeat it.

[macmini]

That's true. Remember, Goldman originally had plans for 3 towers on the site. As it is now, they just want to have plans in place. Remember their search for space a few months back. Maybe they don't want to have to repeat it.

That just shows how little you know the original plan never hade 3 towers.

http://www.computercraft.com/goldmansachs/829cropdim.JPG

http://www.computercraft.com/goldmansachs/pierdim.JPG

The company's current Jersey City building - the state's tallest with a capacity for about 5,000 employees - is less than half full.


So, of 5,000 you say there's 2,000? Please.

I said over two 2,000

Originally Posted by macmini
Their is more construction going on or planned in JC then Brooklyn and Queens combined. The Jersey City waterfronte is more developed then Bro. & Queens an the commute from JC is still better.


And thirdly, you've just proven how little you do know.

Liberty Harbor North is twice the size of Atlantic Yards and their are plenty of smaller projects that don't get that much press .

Liberty Harbor North
86 acres

Housing: upt to 9.16 million sq. ft., (7,336 units)
Retail: 775,000 sq. ft.
School: 175,000 sq. ft.
Office: 4.6 million sq. ft.
Hotel: 1.1 million sq ft.

[NYguy]

That just shows how little you know the original plan never hade 3 towers.

You know, I really don't have the time to keep coming behind you and correcting your dumb mistakes, especially when all you have to do is read up on the information you're talking about...





http://www.jcedc.org/photos/goldmansachsboats.JPG


http://www.jcedc.org/photos/goldmansachscrystal.JPG

Goldman Sachs... is paying a reported $100 million for the three parcels.....Goldman Sachs expects to go ahead with development on two of its three parcels within a year or so, but probably won't build on the third for a few years. He said work will probably go forward soon on one of the two office towers planned for the parcels. Goldman Sachs was said to be determined to buy its own land and construct its own buildings rather than to lease space from waterfront developers such as Hartz Mountain, Mack-Cali Realty and the Lefrak Organization

http://www.hartzmountain.com/graphics/description/70_90sitemap.jpg

Originally the tower was meant to be the centerpiece of an entire Goldman Sachs campus at Exchange Place, which was to include a training center, a university, and a large hotel complex. After many of the company's Manhattan-based equity traders refused to move their offices to New Jersey, the building's top 13 floors have remained vacant with no current plans for their occupation.

Too bad...


Liberty Harbor North is twice the size of Atlantic Yards and their are plenty of smaller projects that don't get that much press .

You're so far off base, its amazing you even bother to post this nonsense.

[macmini]

Their is no need to continue going around in circles with you just keep the jobs coming. :cheers:

Deutsche Bank to move 1,200 jobs to Jersey City
by David Jones

Deutsche Bank said Wednesday that it signed a 10-1/2-year lease for 228,000 square feet of office space on the Jersey City waterfront, and will relocate up to 1,200 workers from Manhattan by 2008.

The bank was awarded a $21.9 million grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority earlier this month, and is using the funds to more than double its existing offices at the Harborside Financial Center in Jersey City.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Deutsche Bank has a number of leases that are due to expire soon, according to a source with knowledge of the agreement, however it was not yet clear which offices would be moved.

The bank has about 10,000 employees in the New York area, including 6,000 at 60 Wall St. -- the U.S. headquarters for the German investment bank. Deutsche Bank officials said no employees would be moved out of Lower Manhattan.

The firm previously had 90,000 square feet of office space at the Harborside complex, and is adding more than 138,000 square feet. The bank has 350 employees in New Jersey, with a majority based at the Harborside complex.

Cranford, N.J.-based Mack-Cali Realty Corp. owns the building, which is now 79% leased.

[NYguy]

Their is no need to continue going around in circles with you just keep the jobs coming. :cheers:

Deutsche Bank to move 1,200 jobs to Jersey City
by David Jones

Deutsche Bank said Wednesday that it signed a 10-1/2-year lease for 228,000 square feet of office space on the Jersey City waterfront, and will relocate up to 1,200 workers from Manhattan by 2008. The bank was awarded a $21.9 million grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority earlier this month...

The bank has about 10,000 employees in the New York area, including 6,000 at 60 Wall St. -- the U.S. headquarters for the German investment bank. Deutsche Bank officials said no employees would be moved out of Lower Manhattan.

I guess it would be too much to ask that you crawl back under whatever rock you came out from, but you do know that NY will hardly feel that. Jersey City has been leeching off of Manhattan for years, we all know that. What you posted is the norm as far as that goes.

Just make sure the NETS are delivered to Brooklyn on time and without any damage.

[Kram]

Will you two talk about some ARCHITECTURE! You sound like two very small little boys. JC is on the way up and NYC just can't stand it. Good news for Jersey City. Is New York big enough to accept it?

[hoosier]

Will you two talk about some ARCHITECTURE! You sound like two very small little boys. JC is on the way up and NYC just can't stand it. Good news for Jersey City. Is New York big enough to accept it?

Even though I don't live in New York, the city has NOTHING to worry about when it comes to Jersey City. NYC has the Ground Zero redevelopment which will put bring two 1300+ towers, the Atlantic yards proposal (MASSIVE residential/sports complex), the new Madison Square Garden/Penn Station proposal which could bring another 1000+ tower to NYC, plus the new Mets and Yankees stadiums, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

It is nice to JC booming. I don't see NY hurting from JC's success.

[NYguy]

Will you two talk about some ARCHITECTURE! You sound like two very small little boys. JC is on the way up and NYC just can't stand it. Good news for Jersey City. Is New York big enough to accept it?

How about you stay out of it, or waste your lone 1 post in some other thread.

[NYguy]

Even though I don't live in New York, the city has NOTHING to worry about when it comes to Jersey City. It is nice to JC booming. I don't see NY hurting from JC's success.


New York is not hurting from JC's success. It was just noted that JC's success depends primarily on its proximity to Manhattan, which it leeches off.

Questions further arose because Goldman Sachs is already building a new headquarters in Manhattan, and its JC tower is less than half full. The question was, do they really intend to build now or are the pieces just being put in place in case they need to in the future. At the very least, they could always sell that land to another developer if they don't.

[Jularc]

New York is not hurting from JC's success. It was just noted that JC's success depends primarily on its proximity to Manhattan, which it leeches off.

I like your description of JC success. 'Leeches off.' :D Very true.

[macmini]

New York is not hurting from JC's success. It was just noted that JC's success depends primarily on its proximity to Manhattan, which it leeches off.

Questions further arose because Goldman Sachs is already building a new headquarters in Manhattan, and its JC tower is less than half full. The question was, do they really intend to build now or are the pieces just being put in place in case they need to in the future. At the very least, they could always sell that land to another developer if they don't.

For some one who is not bothered by Jersey City success you just can't seem to stop taking cheep shots. An lets not forget their was a time when NO one wanted to be in Manhattan and the city was bankrupt.

[mczamalek]

[edit]

[NYguy]

For some one who is not bothered by Jersey City success you just can't seem to stop taking cheep shots. An lets not forget their was a time when NO one wanted to be in Manhattan and the city was bankrupt.

Really? If no one wanted to be in Manhattan, imagine how low Jersey City must have looked...:rolleyes:

NO "cheep" shots, just the facts.

[NYguy]

JC Reporter

New 30-story Goldman Sachs tower approved
Planning Board hears concerns over office building

Ricardo Kaulessar
09/29/2006


The Jersey City Planning Board at its meeting on Sept. 19 approved a 30-story office tower by the financial firm Goldman Sachs of 50 Hudson St.

They also approved a public plaza between that new building and Goldman Sachs' existing 30 Hudson St. building.

The new building will be approximately 500 feet high, with 918,956 square feet including 21,380 sq. ft. of retail.

Originally, the building was planned for only 185 feet, but changes to the Colgate Redevelopment Plan, in which the proposed 50 Hudson St. building sits, were approved at the Planning Board's Aug. 16 meeting.

[sciguy0504]

Will you two talk about some ARCHITECTURE! You sound like two very small little boys. JC is on the way up and NYC just can't stand it. Good news for Jersey City. Is New York big enough to accept it?

:tup:

The city itself is big enough to accept it. Its residents, on the other hand, probably are not. It's the typical NYC attitude. :rolleyes:

[NYguy]

:tup:

The city itself is big enough to accept it. Its residents, on the other hand, probably are not. It's the typical NYC attitude. :rolleyes:

Yeah, and you know so much about it....:rolleyes:

[NYguy]

I like your description of JC success. 'Leeches off.' :D Very true.

You can see how priximity to Manhattan pays off very well for JC. The
skyline looks great from the waterfront, but not much to it beyond that.
However, I do think a 1,000 footer would look great behind the Goldman,
complementing the WTC and adding to the skyscraper metropolis...

(newyorkharborbeaches.org)

http://newyorkharborbeaches.org/image/beach03img01.jpg


http://newyorkharborbeaches.org/image/beach03img02.jpg

[TechTalkGuy]

:tup:

The city itself is big enough to accept it. Its residents, on the other hand, probably are not. It's the typical NYC attitude. :rolleyes:
Your remark is typical Philadelphia attitude (and I know because I grew up in Philly). :sly:

So get hoppin' on the Market Frankford "EL" to your Downtown and your construction sites. :rolleyes:

Oh and by the way, Jersey City compliments New York, which is much more than I can say about how Camden (-compliments (not)-) Philly. :P

[oreoman85]

I love how JC compliments NYC. Most foreigners dont know that technically its not NYC, but physically it might as well be. Adds very well to the expansive metro, and its only growing and rapidly I might add.

[TechTalkGuy]

:previous: Yes, Jersey City is a part of the New York Region and it's population is counted officially as part of the whole.

[oreoman85]

as it should.

[NYguy]

:previous: Yes, Jersey City is a part of the New York Region and it's population is counted officially as part of the whole.

Practically all of northeast Jersey is...

[NYguy]

Most foreigners dont know that technically its not NYC, but physically it might as well be.

Its not just the foreigners either. You'd be surprised at how many people from the US (other regions) don't know that New York and New Jersey aren't the same. I hear it all the time.

[CoolCzech]

EDIT for double post - what's always the matter with the server, anyway?

[CoolCzech]

It's silly to pretend some sort of rivalry between JC and NYC. It's as impossible to imagine one without the other as it is Manhattan without Brooklyn. JC's growth is good for it, AND for The City.

[NYguy]

** Removed for copyright infringement **

[hartss]

At night, it seems like the top half is dark, so why would GS build additional space now? Are they anticipating future growth?

[NYguy]

At night, it seems like the top half is dark, so why would GS build additional space now? Are they anticipating future growth?

Part of long term planning.

[NEWARKNJREP]

Jersey City Has A Serious Skyline....its Much Better Than Most Of The Other Mid Size Cities On This Site...of Course It Feeds Of Nyc...and So What...so Show Some Respect....it Also Has A Functional Subway,with The Path Being An Underground System...how Many Other Cities Have A Skyline Like Jc(still Growing)and A Subway???

[babji]

Would anyone have a pic of the u/c Twin "Trump Plaza"
(behind the Harborside Financial Center) at the Exchange Place...

Its planned as a residential complex. Its being built so strong (and fast) -
there are rumors that the FEDs want to buy the building(s) for their offices ...
here is an artist's impression ...

http://www.miamirealestatetrends.com/Images/StarterImages/TrumpNJ-Aerial.gif

[babji]

Jersey City Has A Serious Skyline....its Much Better Than Most Of The Other Mid Size Cities On This Site...of Course It Feeds Of Nyc...and So What...so Show Some Respect....it Also Has A Functional Subway,with The Path Being An Underground System...how Many Other Cities Have A Skyline Like Jc(still Growing)and A Subway???
and "Hudson Burgen Light Rail" which connects Jersey City to the Liberty State Park with ample parking space ... and NJTurnPike so easily accessible...

[NYguy]

http://www.hudsonreporter.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18584923&BRD=1291&PAG=461&dept_id=523586&rfi=6

If they get it, will they build?
Goldman Sachs wants special tax agreement for new $560M tower

http://images.zwire.com/local/Z/ZWIRE1291/zwire/images/2007/07/story/07goldman15a_story.jpg

MAKING A CASE FOR 50 HUDSON – Dino Fusco, director of global real estate operations for Goldman Sachs, speaks at the June 25 City Council caucus on the financial firm’s proposed office tower at 50 Hudson St. The company estimates that they will be expanding greatly over the next few years. Some are concerned that they may take too long to start building.


Ricardo Kaulessar
07/13/2007

When the City Council convenes its meeting this Wednesday, it will consider approving a 20-year tax abatement deal for a major investment firm.

Goldman Sachs, the owner of the tallest building in the state at 30 Hudson St. - and a sponsor of various community events - would like the tax agreement for an office tower to be built at 50 Hudson St., next to their existing headquarters.

They say their company will be expanding over the next few years, and they need the extra space.

However, tax abatements have become controversial. They allow developers to make a deal with the city to pay a pre-determined annual tax fee rather than being subject to the quixotic rise and fall of regular property taxes. Some believe that the deals are too generous to the developers, and should be used only to encourage developers to build in blighted areas.

But even major developers sometimes claim they need the deals in order to make a big project financially viable, or to make it more prudent than locating elsewhere (like in New York City).

At the City Council's previous meeting on June 27, the council voted 8-0 to introduce the abatement, with an abstention by City Councilman Steven Fulop, a former Goldman Sachs employee himself.

The $560 million, 918,956 square-foot office tower will be 30 stories high with 573 parking spaces - if it is built.

Some officials believe that it's a big if, as an original construction plan for that property has been on hold since June 2000.

That year, Goldman Sachs got approval for tax abatement for a hotel/conference center at the site.

At the last council meeting, several officials tried to press Goldman Sachs on when they will build their new project, if they get the new abatement. They noted that the existing 30 Hudson St. headquarters is not fully occupied and that Goldman Sachs is currently building its new world headquarters near New York City's Battery Park.

But Goldman officials say that their company is expanding rapidly, and they will build when the market makes it feasible.


Went from 50 to 30

The plan for the new tower went into motion last year when the City Council at its Aug. 16 meeting approved changes to the Colgate Redevelopment Plan, allowing for the construction of a 50-foot office tower by Goldman Sachs at 50 Hudson St.

The redevelopment plan also allowed for an open-air plaza with the 21,000 square feet of retail space. Previously under the plan, an atrium would have been built.

But even at that time, there were questions about Goldman Sachs seeking to build a new, taller building at a time when their 30 Hudson St. location was then filled at half-capacity.

At that meeting, Goldman Sachs executive Timor Galen said the new tower for 50 Hudson St. was necessary to redistribute the workforce between New York and New Jersey.

The Jersey City Planning Board, at its meeting on Sept. 19 of last year, approved a shorter 30-story office tower for 50 Hudson St. They also approved a public plaza between that new building and Goldman Sachs' existing 30 Hudson St. building.


Goldman will need more space

Peter Rose, spokesperson for Goldman Sachs, said last week that their proposed office tower is advance planning on the part of Goldman Sachs to prepare for future expansion.

Goldman Sachs operates offices in 46 cities in the United States and in other parts of the world.

Rose pointed out that since 1999, when shares in the company were first offered on the stock market, the firm has grown from 9,000 to 28,000 employees.

"We're very serious about preparing ahead of time," Rose said. "Over the past years, we always believe we end up needing more space sooner than later."

He also said they intend to be the sole tenants of the buildings they occupy, which is why they have reached only 65 percent occupancy at their 30 Hudson St. location.

Rose said if Goldman Sachs gets the abatement, they will do a study to find out when it will be economically feasible for them to start building. They may look six to 10 years into the future in that study.

"We do the economic analysis and we find it's very difficult to start building immediately," Rose said. But Rose noted that they are already paying taxes on the property, regardless of when they build.

According to the current abatement agreement, they pay a current tax of $165,000 annually on the undeveloped land. The new agreement calls for $2.2 million to be paid each year to the city from time of completion to the year six of the abatement. After that, the payment will increase every few years until the abatement ends.


Putting on the charm

Goldman Sachs advocated for the abatement at the council caucus last month.

Dino Fusco, director of global real estate operations for Goldman Sachs, noted that the firm has been a "good neighbor" in Jersey City with their support of various community events.

They said they established a strong presence in the city with their 30 Hudson St. building, and a new building will be necessary once 30 Hudson St. is fully occupied by - by his estimate - 2009, and the new world headquarters in New York City is completed in 2010.

"With the completion of our world headquarters building in Battery Park across the river, Jersey City is going to be more strategic for Goldman Sachs," Fusco said.

Fusco may have revealed why Goldman Sachs will probably receive the abatement, as he complimented the city's "tax enhancement" program for keeping Jersey City "competitive" with lower Manhattan.


Not everyone is convinced

City Councilman Bill Gaughan got to the point during the caucus when he asked: "How long will it take to build this building?"

An architect for Goldman Sachs said that after construction begins, it could take three years to build the tower.

Gaughan also wanted to know how many construction jobs and jobs after construction will be available for Jersey City residents.

In fact, a recently passed ordinance forces certain projects to agree to use a percentage of Jersey City residents in their construction. The Goldman Sachs project falls under this agreement.

A consultant for Goldman Sachs, Rutgers University professor Joseph Seneca, saidd the project will produce 274 construction jobs for Jersey City residents. There will be 3,811 jobs during construction.

He said that when the building is finished, 413 of Goldman Sachs' 3,496 permanent jobs at 50 Hudson St. will be local residents.

Last week, City Councilman Steven Fulop, who represents the Downtown area of the city where the 50 Hudson St. site is located, said the abatement should have had a stipulation that requires Goldman Sachs and other developers to build once they receive the abatement.

Fulop said that some developers get an abatement for a project, then stall on development for years or sell the property for a higher price than purchased originally.

"The reality is, the developers should be building," Fulop said. "Instead, the city is in the business of giving abatements that increases value of the property, but [do] not actually see the development taking place."

[nygirl1]

Jersey City Has A Serious Skyline....its Much Better Than Most Of The Other Mid Size Cities On This Site...of Course It Feeds Of Nyc...and So What...so Show Some Respect....it Also Has A Functional Subway,with The Path Being An Underground System...how Many Other Cities Have A Skyline Like Jc(still Growing)and A Subway???

Why do you capitalize mid sentence?

[NYguy]

Why do you capitalize mid sentence?

He's gone...

[NYguy]

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1184567491117880.xml&coll=3

Company lowers the estimate of residents to work at new tower
New tower will create local jobs but goals are lower than before

July 16, 2007
KEN THORBOURNE

Goldman Sach's proposed second office tower at 50 Hudson St. will prove a boon for local job hunters, according to Joseph J. Seneca, a Rutgers professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.

During the estimated three-year construction phase, the $560 million project will generate the equivalent of 274 one-year construction jobs - or 11 percent of all the direct construction jobs - for Jersey City residents, according to an economic impact analysis Goldman paid the university to conduct, Seneca said.

The project will create 17 other indirect construction jobs for local residents as well as the equivalent of 213 one-year jobs created by the construction, Seneca said.

Once the building is occupied, Jersey City residents should land 413, or 12 percent of the 3,440 financial jobs at the facility - jobs paying on average $156,000 a year, Seneca said.

Though significantly lower than the 51 percent goals the company agreed to seven years ago, they are still above the figures Goldman has achieved at 30 Hudson St.

Like 30 Hudson St., the proposed new tower will be filled mostly by workers already on the payroll, Goldman officials said.

Goldman is building a new headquarters at Battery Park City across the river in Manhattan, which is slated to open toward the end of 2009.

The company is shedding leases in Manhattan with the goal to consolidate its metro area operation at Battery Park and its two Jersey City towers. No date has been set for construction to start on the proposed Jersey City tower.

[NYguy]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/29/business/29jersey.html?ref=nyregion

Jersey City Landlords Prosper in New York’s Shadow

By J. ALEX TARQUINIO
August 29, 2007

Although a few companies in other industries have begun moving in, office real estate in Jersey City is still very much an annex of Wall Street. Since modern towers started springing up along its waterfront in the 1990s, its fortunes have usually risen and fallen with the ebbs and flows in the financial markets.

In the last year, rents there have risen smartly, although not nearly as much as the rise in Lower Manhattan. Landlords are asking $36.85 a square foot on average for Class A office space in Jersey City now, up almost 14 percent from a year ago. During that time, average asking rents in Lower Manhattan rose more than 25 percent, to $50.59, according to Cushman & Wakefield, a real estate services company.

Brokers say the Jersey City office market is tight right now, especially along the waterfront, where most of the Class A towers have been built within the last 20 years. The waterfront has 24 office towers holding 14 million square feet of space. That is significantly more than the 14 top-quality office buildings holding 8 million square feet in Downtown Brooklyn, another business district within easy reach of Wall Street.

There are no development projects in sight in Jersey City, and the best-known buildings have had a flurry of lease signings recently, putting their occupancy rates above 90 percent.

For example, several companies recently took space at 10 Exchange Place, a 30-story, 700,000-square-foot office building. This includes a lease for 36,000 square feet that Opera Solutions, a global business consulting firm, signed in April, and a lease for 73,000 square feet that Rabobank International, a large Dutch bank, signed in May.

The building now has an occupancy rate of 92 percent, and is asking rents around $40 a square foot annually, said James J. Gillen, who is responsible for real estate in the New York metropolitan area for Invesco, a global asset manager based in London. Invesco manages 10 Exchange Place for a German institutional investment fund.

“Our building has all of the things you would want in a modern New York City building,” Mr. Gillen said, “and it is right at the foot of the stairs of the PATH train,” the commuter line running between Northern New Jersey and Manhattan.

Some global financial giants are carving out a bigger presence in Jersey City, but most of them are supplementing operations in Lower Manhattan.

Beginning last year, Deutsche Bank, a large diversified German company, signed a series of leases totaling almost 400,000 square feet at Harborside Financial Center, a Jersey City office complex with more than 3.6 million square feet in six office buildings. Some 300,000 square feet of that was new space, while 90,000 square feet was a renewal.

Lehman Brothers Holdings, the New York investment bank, recently signed a lease for more than 71,000 square feet at 101 Hudson Street, a 42-story, 1.25-million-square-foot office tower along the waterfront. This brings the total space Lehman leases in this building to more than 270,000 square feet.

And BNP Paribas, a financial company based in Paris, signed a lease this year for more than 110,000 square feet in Newport Tower, at 525 Washington Boulevard. This was the largest single lease signed in Jersey City this year, according to Cushman & Wakefield, whose brokers worked on both sides of the deal.

This week, BNP Paribas began moving in the first of 600 workers it plans to relocate from Manhattan. The company, which has about 2,400 employees in New York, plans to increase its local staff to around 3,000 employees by 2012. Larry Sobin, the chief operating officer of BNP Paribas North America, said 1,000 would be in Jersey City and the rest in the regional headquarters at 787 Seventh Avenue in Manhattan.

Mr. Sobin said most employees moving to Jersey City had jobs in departments like accounting, technology and human resources that support the capital markets and investment banking groups, which will remain in Manhattan. “We plan to take advantage of new technologies, like videoconferencing,” to make the arrangement work smoothly, he said.

Although lower costs are undoubtedly the major draw in Jersey City, many executives also want to decentralize their operations across the metropolitan region for security reasons, according to Patrick Murphy, who heads the suburban business for the CB Richard Ellis Group, a commercial real estate brokerage company.

A number of regional disruptions, both large and small, have occurred since the terrorist attacks in September 2001. A power grid failure caused a blackout in 2003. In July, a steam pipe exploded near Grand Central Terminal in Midtown. Also this summer, a tornado struck Brooklyn and a fatal fire broke out in the vacant Deutsche Bank Building, which is being dismantled near ground zero.

Mr. Sobin said the difficulty of getting people off the island of Manhattan during a crisis was one factor in BNP Paribas’s decision to put part of its operations in Jersey City. “In the event there’s a crisis, we want to make sure that the bank continues operating,” Mr. Sobin said. “We already have a data center in a different location in New Jersey and a backup data center in a suburb of Philadelphia.”

Brokers say the rise in rents in Jersey City is largely an indirect effect of the soaring rents in Lower Manhattan. But they expect the tight space and the lack of new construction to add to the pricing pressure.

But if developers decide to construct buildings in New Jersey, they have one big advantage over their counterparts in New York City, said Bob Alexander, regional chairman of CB Richard Ellis. They can build much more quickly. “If it’s built to suit, Jersey’s going to be able to put it up quicker than in New York,” which is notoriously slow in granting permits, he said.

He estimated that an office tower could be completed 12 to 18 months faster than in New York City. So, he said, developers did not feel the same pressure to build “on spec” — without a major tenant already signed up — in a strong real estate market. They prefer to sign an anchor tenant first and design a building to suit its specifications.

There is certainly room to grow. For example, enough land exists for three new buildings, totaling 3.5 million square feet, at Harborside Financial Center, said Mitchell Hersh, the president and chief executive of the Mack-Cali Realty Corporation, a real estate investment trust based in Edison, N.J. Mack-Cali owns most of Harborside Financial Center and 101 Hudson Street, among other buildings in Jersey City.

Mr. Hersh said that initially he would like to build a million-square-foot building at Harborside, in Plaza 4, at Exchange Place and Christopher Columbus Drive. He said he was in preliminary talks with a few potential tenants that have offices in Midtown Manhattan and are “examining very carefully the options of moving significant parts of their work force, for obvious reasons of cost savings.”

But Mr. Hersh said he had no plans to build anything that size until he was able to prelease about 350,000 square feet. “I have been reluctant to build on spec,” he said.