[macmini]

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

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525 units at Grove Street station

'Grove Pointe' to include renovation of PATH Plaza

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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

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New Pictures


Trump Plaza

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Gulls Cove

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Grove Pointe

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A

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Columbus Plaza

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700 Grove

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Renderings for Power House

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** Deleted for copyright infringement **

- Dylan Leblanc

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Quandary for Office Tenants: Downtown or Jersey City?

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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.”

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Renderings of Monaco 1, 2 and Sanremo

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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.

[colemonkee]

The Monaco towers look nice.

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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."

[macmini]

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]

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]

The Cliffs Condo's now in progress

6 months ago
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Now
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[macmini]

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

[Scruffy]

Those monaco towers are slick. I hadn't been paying attention to JC in a while, its good to see Trump is already above ground. as uninspiring as the design is.

the metropolitan looks promising. But the last time i got excited by a 900 foot upstart i was shot down. (Ivana in Las Vegas) hmm, they even look alike...

[macmini]

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]

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]

VIACOM FLIRTS WITH JERSEY

September 20, 2006 -- MACK-Cali Realty Trust is negotiating with Viacom to build a 1.8 million foot headquarters in Harborside on the Jersey City Gold Coast, but don't bet on it.

Viacom, as we advised you in July, has also been dallying with various city property owners, including Trinity Church for a Hudson Square site, as well as with SL Green Realty Trust, which owns its current headquarters at 1515 Broadway.

SL Green is likely making its own pitch to keep them in that 1.754 million foot skyscraper where SEC filings show Viacom occupies 1.376 million feet. It currently pays $49.50 a foot and leases start to roll in 2008.

According to the CoStar Group, 1515's current asking rent is $75 a foot while competing new buildings have stickers of $80 to $100.

But with a plethora of tenants kicking towers, SL Green won't necessarily be at a loss to backfill the space, even if a Jersey move becomes a critical loss to the city.

Michael Laginestra, vice chairman of CB Richard Ellis, is overseeing negotiations for the media company's spatial needs, that could include moving MTV out of its popular Times Square studio at 1515. He continues to decline interviews.

Neither SL Green nor Mack-Cali would comment through their spokespeople and a spokesperson from the city Economic Development Corp. did not call back with a comment.

The news of the possible Jersey office development - without the name of the tenant - was mentioned in yesterday's "Buy" report on Mack-Cali from Merrill Lynch analyst Steve Sakwa to clients.
But it's no wonder Viacom is talking Jersey - they are not the only ones seeking space.

Pumped up from plumped earnings, the financial service giants are plotting their next office expansions - and also finding there's no place left at home.
Lehman Bros., Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns are all pounding the turf, along with numerous corporations and law firms, real estate execs say, trying to lock down critical trading floors and elbow room. But as the industry has been warning, the neon lights now read, "No Vacancy."

At last week's RealShare conference at the Roosevelt Hotel, speakers wondered why Long Island City's neophyte office market has fizzled - Met Life is locking up a 600,000 foot lease to bring execs back to Midtown at 1065 Ave. of the Americas - and are concerned vacancies along the Jersey shore will catch many expansions - as it already has with Citigroup.

That's because even with around 10 million feet coming at the World Trade Center, and future prospects along 42nd Street; on Eighth Avenue, where Boston Properties has sites; in Harlem, where Vornado just bought 1800 Park Ave.; in the Hudson Yards and the Penn Station area, the buildings can't be delivered soon enough at a competitive cost.

"We're running out of existing space but there are plenty of sites," insisted Steve Spinola, President of the Real Estate Board of New York. The problem, he says, is that city union labor could add to mounting construction costs while new office towers will be assessed property taxes at a minimum of $25 a foot.

Jersey taxes come in at under $5, says Jersey-based broker, Seena Stein, principal of Newmark Knight Frank. "It would be wonderful for the Jersey City market," she added of a possible Viacom relocation.

Yet Goldman Sachs is still kicking itself over building in Jersey and never filled that tower, instead constructing a new headquarters at the World Financial Center. Moody's finally signed with Larry Silverstein at 7 WTC for 600,000 feet, while U.S. Customs and the state have agreed to locate to over 1 million feet of the Freedom Tower.

It appears that working in trendy Manhattan wins over the employees who can merely swap jobs to competitors, whether the bosses like the numbers or not.

lois.weiss@nypost.com

[Jeffreyny]

If Jersey City's cross river neighbor, Manhattan isn't careful, this so called 6th NYC. borough will surpass Manhattan itself in building the regions tallest building!
Way to go JC. It's becoming a really beautiful place.

[Thskyscraper]

Whoa, JC has a nice skyline developing. Can you imagine in a few years how the area will look with Brooklyn, Queens, and JC building up and Downtown getting bact the WTC.:slob:

[Jeffreyny]

It will make it increasingly more difficult to view Manhattan's skyline when entering the city until you get to the river fronts.

[Derek]

jersey city is hot

[macmini]

New 30-story Goldman Sachs tower approved - Community concerns over noise & lights

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

Ricardo Kaulessar
Hudson Reporter staff writer 09/29/2006

ADVOCATING FOR 50 HUDSON – Goldman Sachs executive Timor Galen speaks on 50 Hudson St at a Jersey City Planning Board meeting on Sept. 19.
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.

Residents concerned about communication

However, the Planning Board's approval, while unanimous, was anything but overwhelming. They heard a number of residents also aired their concerns over Goldman Sachs not meeting enough with the community.

Gerry Bakirtjy, president of the Historic Paulus Hook Association (HPHA), a Downtown Jersey City neighborhood group, said while the HPHA supported past Goldman Sachs projects, the association could not support this one.

Bakirtjy said the residents had concerns about the type of outdoor lighting to be used for the proposed plaza, how security will be handled at the proposed plaza, and noise from generators at the building.

Other residents called for changes to the electrical and mechanical systems in the building to cut down on noise.

Dorcey Winant, another Paulus Hook resident, requested that the Planning Board put off voting for the project until a future meeting for the community to study the plans for the project further.

Goldman Sachs executive Timor Galen said in the meeting that he would work with the residents to tend to most of the issues, but felt the changes to the electrical and mechanical systems would be difficult.

Galen said the project would be on a five-year schedule because of the "complexity" of the project.

The Planning Board called for Goldman Sachs to meet with the community when they are ready to construct the building's electrical and mechanical aspects.

The board also called for other conditions to be met by Goldman Sachs before construction is completed, such as providing samples of the materials to be used for construction. They also told Goldman Sachs to come back before the Planning Board before construction officially starts to review their site plan.

Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com

[macmini]

New pics by tbal via wiredny

Grove Pointe looking down East down Newark Ave
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Main entrance
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at 77 Hudson, molds for footers have been constructed, so vertical construction may begin soon
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The tower crane at Columbus Plaza was being taken down for now, until the start of Phase II
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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:
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/NewarkAve1.jpg

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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[macmini]

In the Region | New Jersey

A Patchwork Project, by Design

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/10/08/realestate/08njzo.600.jpg
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]

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]

$20 million disaster response center
Groundbreaking occurs for new police, fire communications hub

Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer 11/10/2006

It's a project to cost over $20 million and be built in an area of Jersey City overrun with prostitutes and old industrial buildings.

But according to Mayor Jerramiah Healy and other city officials, the new, state-of-the-art Jersey City Public Safety Communications Center, located at the intersection of Cornelison and Bishop avenues, will be worth the cost and welcome in a downtrodden area.

"As we go forward, this city will be in a much better position to have all our police, fire, and first responders be able to communicate together," said Healy said at a groundbreaking ceremony for the center on Monday.

The two-floor, earthquake-proof communications center will house all police, fire, and Emergency Medical Services communications under one roof, which will enable dispatches to be processed faster to ensure a quicker response. It will also serve as a training facility for all the city's Public Safety departments.

City architect Glenn Wrigley said construction on the center is expected to start in January and will take place over an 18- to 24-month period. Thus, the center will not open for at least two years.

The funding for the communications equipment was provided by a federal $12 million grant to the city following Sept. 11, 2001, and approximately $10 million will come of the city's capital budget.

City Councilwoman Viola Richardson said the presence of the new center will "put the good prostitutes out of business" but, more importantly, will bring a heavy police presence into an area she represents.

"We are the last ones to get service but if the services are here, then we will score a quicker response," said Richardson.


Bringing public safety together

Representatives from the police and fire departments and other officials at the ceremony emphasized the importance of the center.

U.S. Congressman Steve Rothman (D-9th Dist.) said working with U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez and former U.S. Sen. and current N.J. Gov. Jon Corzine to get the federal funds was the "least we can do as elected officials."

Police Chief Thomas Comey said Healy asked him to work with the Fire Department and the city on designing the center "for the future and to design for today."

"This building will someday save lives," said Comey. "We have integrated technology where now police, fire, and hopefully EMS will sit in the same command center in supervisory levels where we will be able to give the fire department real time video feed before they ever get to the scene of a fire."

He also said they will also be videos provided to police before they go to the scene of a crime.

Fire Department Director Armando Roman said the project was several years in the making.

"As is the case with so many worthwhile projects, it takes the combination of the right time, the right motivation, and the right leader to get things moving forward," said Roman.

Roman said the communication problems that occurred on 9/11 between the New York City fire and police departments brought about a communications center such as the one in Jersey City.

Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com

[macmini]

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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(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]

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]

The Westin Jersey City is starting to take shape, and 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.

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[macmini]

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]

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
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/JCPics10049-1.jpg

Trump Tower I is beginning to rise at a faster rate. (For the record, the parking structure still has openings along its East side, so that second tower is still looking like its going to happen):
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/JCPics10030.jpg

Looking at the rising tower from Greene Street
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The eastern most edge of the towers has been poured
http://newyorkssixth.com/newyorkssixthphotoblog/dec162006/trump12163.jpg

Montgomery Greene Getting Detail Work
Awning glass has been installed at the corner of Montgomery and Greene Streets
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The retail section of Columbus Plaza is starting to look quite massive above Columbus drive
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Workers continue to install windows on Columbus Tower I (it looks like all brickwork on the tower is now complete)
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/JCPics10012.jpg

http://newyorkssixth.com/newyorkssixthphotoblog/dec032006b/columbustower1203-1.jpg

The morning commute down Christopher Columbus Drive is interupted by construction cones. The parking deck and low rise portion of the Columbus Tower complex is beginning to take shape, as can bee seen looking east along Colubus Drive.
http://newyorkssixth.com/newyorkssixthphotoblog/nov272006/columbustower271.jpg

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rove Pointe's unique facade continues to climb the sides of the tower
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Looking east down Christopher Columbus Drive
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http://newyorkssixth.com/newyorkssixthphotoblog/nov222006/grovepointe2.jpg


The Columbus Tower, one block to the east, is also rising at a rapid pace. Below, both towers come into view
http://newyorkssixth.com/newyorkssixthphotoblog/nov222006/grovepointe10.jpg

As the Grove Pointe Tower takes shape, workers also begin rehabilitating the PATH station entrance and the park at the intersections of Newark, Grove and Columbus
http://newyorkssixth.com/newyorkssixthphotoblog/nov222006/grovepointe5.jpg

photos taken by tbal from wirednewyork & newyorksixth

[macmini]

delete

[macmini]

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.

[Lecom]

Great construction updates. Thanks for posting those.

[macmini]

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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. if (window.print) window.print(); if (_pdata){ sendpdata(); } if ( (document.cookie).indexOf('v1st')>=0 && (document.cookie).indexOf('GTC=')

[macmini]

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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The Westin Jersey City Hotel is starting to become very noticeable when driving down Washington Blvd:

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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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Looking east from Jersey Avenue, the Liberty Harbor North Skyline is beginning to look like a little city:
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Below, the first two eight story towers in Liberty Harbor North. The development will get taller as it gets closer to the Morris Canal.
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Heading east down Grand Street, this is the first new street past the sales office. Note the curb has been poured here as well, though not the sidewalk.
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Furthermore, workers are now laying the framing for the curb of a road running alongside the southern section of the development, parallel to the light rail line.
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The Trump Tower is really sprouting quickly above the low skyline of its neighbors. The view along Morgan Street at the corner of Morgan and Washington
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The main tower from the south west corner of Grove and Columbus. Compared to the stark vertical lines of Columbus Tower, which is not much taller, Grove Pointe looks short and squat. Like a little teapot.
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Old Meets New: Grove Pointe touches older buildings along Newark Avenue at the Grove Street PATH Station.
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Looking down Columbus Drive, the parking deck of Columbus Tower I is working its way toward completion:
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/1-17.jpg

Exterior work on Grove Pointe is also wrapping up:
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/1-16.jpg

One last look at Grove Pointe, looking down Bay Street:
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/1-12.jpg

[macmini]

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]

Views from in the 1.5 mil penthouse @ the Waldo Lofts

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You can see A & Trump going upfrom the condo and Manhattan

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http://newyorkssixth.com/newyorkssixthphotoblog/nov302006/waldo293.jpg

[macmini]

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]

In the Region | New Jersey
High Altitude, Higher Price

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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.

[Lecom]

Great updates, mac. Thanks.

[macmini]

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

[macmini]

North Jersey gains from tight N.Y. office market

Tuesday, February 13, 2007
By KEVIN G. DeMARRAIS -- The Record

As goes New York, so goes North Jersey's commercial real estate market.

And that's good news west of the Hudson River because demand for office space in Manhattan is exceeding the supply, and the overflow is ending up in Bergen and Hudson counties.

"I'm not saying that we won't perform well unless New York does, but our performance benefits when New York tightens," said Matt Dolly, director of research and marketing at GVA Williams New Jersey in Parsippany.

Thanks to a strong fourth quarter, after nine months of reduced activity, the outlook was positive for the office market heading into 2007, Dolly said. "It seems like some of the spillover from New York City is starting to happen."

That is expected to start showing up in rental rates, said William Hanson, president of NAI James E. Hanson in Hackensack.

"Leasing prices in North Jersey haven't changed dramatically," Hanson said. "But prices have been going up in New York only the last six months, and that should help the market over here. It's not a great market, but if you want office space, it's not a bad market."

The retail market is strong as well, said Andrew Merin, vice chairman of Cushman & Wakefield Inc.'s Metropolitan Area Capital Markets Group.

Retail properties are "among the most sought-after in the Garden State," Merin said. "Vacancies remain in the low single digits, and consumer spending has helped retailer performance."

Last year produced mixed results in the region.

In Bergen County, the commercial vacancy rate rose to 18.93 percent by the fourth quarter from 17.01 percent 12 months earlier, according to the GVA Williams market report.

Even so, the asking rent for Class A space -- the most modern, technologically advanced facilities -- also rose, to $25.60 per square foot from $24.57 in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The vacancy rate also climbed in Passaic County, to 23.14 percent from 20.25, but the average rental slipped to $21.21 from $21.76.

But those prices are bargains compared with rates in Manhattan, where prime space is going for more than $60 a foot in midtown and around $40 in lower Manhattan.

That's basically a matter of supply and demand, as well as pressure from Real Estate Investment Trusts, or REITs, industry insiders say.

"The market is being largely driven by investments," Hanson said. "It's still a good place to invest money."

REITs are buying "everything in sight," said Ron Bar-Nadav, associate director of Studley Inc. in Rochelle Park. "Hedge funds are pushing REITs to buy more. They're sitting on too much money, buying product for more than it would be worth."

They can do so knowing the tight market means they can charge premium rents.

Even without the REITS, "the New York commercial real estate market is very robust, and that is going to define our economy in 2007," said Gil Medina, executive managing director at Cushman & Wakefield's New Jersey office.

"The New Jersey economy is being influenced by two different forces, pushing in different directions," Medina said. "Job growth has not been very robust; in fact it's been pretty weak. So on one hand, the state economy has been sluggish."

What growth the state has had has been in such fields as leisure, hospitality, arts and entertainment, accommodations and food, health and education, he said. "That growth is not in areas that would populate commercial buildings," and that hurts the real estate market.

"On the other hand, the economy of New York City, operating under a whole different set of rules, has really been robust. Because northern New Jersey is so much integrated into the regional economy, impacted so much by New York City's economy, it, more than any other part of the state, is in the throes of these conflicting forces."

The first beneficiary is the New Jersey waterfront, especially Jersey City, which is often called the sixth borough of New York City, Dolly said. "It's just another stop of the PATH."

With Manhattan vacancy rates at their lowest in five years, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup led the movement across the river.

Of the six leases for more than 100,000 square feet signed in New Jersey in the fourth quarter of 2006, four were along the Hudson, including Citigroup's subleasing of 365,000 square feet at Newport Office Center in Jersey City.

In addition, Deutsche Bank decided to consolidate operations from locations throughout the metropolitan area, renewing for 90,000 square feet and expanding by another 191,920 square feet there, Cushman & Wakefield reported.

But there was also movement elsewhere in North Jersey, including Newark. Overall vacancy rates there have dropped below 11 percent, helped by the law firm Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger & Vecchione taking over 111,828 square feet previously occupied by the FBI.

Among other big transactions was Travelport -- formerly Cendant Travel Distribution Services -- moving within the Parsippany market by leasing 120,000 square feet at Morris Corporate Center III. And Passaic County got a boost when Hoffmann-La Roche expanded its presence in Clifton by leasing 72,838 square feet on Broad Street.

E-mail: demarrais@northjersey.com
Reply With Quote

[macmini]

Hudson Square/ Metropolitan

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.The Metropolitan will be 755 feet (230m) and it should break ground later this year.

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

[macmini]

Famed architect unveils design for 111 First St.

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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.

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[Visiteur]

Dear God, please put a stop to that monstrosity.:yuck:

[phillyskyline]

LOL, cutting edge???

[Derek]

that sucks!

[JACKinNYC]

I give it points for being different. I subtract hundreds of points for it being stupid.

[macmini]

Jersey Ave. expressway plan eyed


Thursday, March 01, 2007 By COTTON DELO

JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Garnering little attention since former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler's administration, the contentious Jersey Avenue expressway proposal is back on the table.

The expressway is one potential measure to alleviate Jersey City's traffic woes identified by the Jersey City Regional Waterfront Access and Downtown Circulation Study - a nearly two-year undertaking spearheaded by the Division of Planning.

The third of four scheduled public meetings on the findings will take place tonight at 6 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 280 Grove St., and concept drawings of potential projects will be displayed.

The expressway plan calls for connecting Downtown Jersey City with Liberty State Park by extending Jersey Avenue over the Morris Canal basin.

According to Naomi Hsu, a transportation planner with the Division of Planning, the study explores potential roadway and transit improvements to be implemented by 2020, and recommendations will be submitted to the city and the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority - which funded the study - by April.

"Now that we have a sense of where development might occur and with what intensity, that's informing our traffic policy," she said.

Other potential improvements are flyovers of Center and Merseles streets over Montgomery Street, an extension of Merseles Street south to Wilson Street and a ramp off the New Jersey Turnpike providing direct access to Newport via 11th Street.

Hsu says analysis to determine which projects are most feasible and likely to yield positive results - based on criteria like cost and timeframe - must now be undertaken before the final report is submitted.

Some residents maintain that a Jersey Avenue expressway would jeopardize an urban oasis.

"Such a road would inevitably turn Phillip Street (on the western side of the park) into a highway, and then commuters would use the roads of Liberty State Park as a shortcut," said Sam Pesin, president of Friends of Liberty State Park.

COTTON DELO can be reached at cdelo@jjournal.com

[macmini]

Waiting on Embankment ruling

Wednesday, February 28, 2007
By COTTON DELO
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The fate of Downtown Jersey City's Sixth Street Embankment continues to hang in the balance, pending a decision by the federal Surface Transportation Board that had been expected by the end of last year.

Long coveted by local activists for open space, the half-mile-long elevated stone structure and former rail freightway was sold by Conrail to developer Steve Hyman - who reportedly wants to raze it to build two-family houses - for $3 million in 2005.

The STB will rule on whether the property was "legally abandoned" prior to the sale, and if not, the title would revert to Conrail, and Jersey City would get another crack at purchasing it.

In an earlier step in the city's protracted legal battle to acquire the Embankment, state Superior Court Judge Maurice Gallipoli essentially upheld the sale while ruling with the developer in a case brought against him by the city in July.

The STB decision would take precedence, however.

According to Jennifer Meyer, president of the Embankment Preservation Coalition - the group that petitioned the STB in February 2006, along with the national Rails-to-Trails conservancy and Assemblyman Lou Manzo - a decision had been expected in late 2006.

She expects the city to try to acquire the property through eminent domain if the decision goes against it.

"We feel the city should be able to buy it whether the STB rules favorably or unfavorably," explained Meyer, who said her group's priority is to have the city acquire the site as quickly as possible.

The coalition has conducted extensive fundraising of monies earmarked for open space, she said.

But there's another potential use for the landmarked historic site.

Mayor Jerramiah Healy laid out his vision for a new Light Rail spur connecting Secaucus Junction and Newport via the Bergen Arches and the Sixth Street Embankment in his State of the City address last week.

The Light Rail spur is conceived as a complement to the creation of open space at the site, according to Jersey City Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis.

"In my view, such a plan would be the winner for everyone because you'd have park space plus the addition of mass transit that would take away the reliance on cars in the region," he said.

In the event of an undesirable ruling by the STB, the mayor and the City Council would need to evaluate whether to pursue eminent domain, Matsikoudis said. Another recourse would be an appeal to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

COTTON DELO can be reached at cdelo@jjournal.com

Website:http://www.embankment.org/whitesite/main2.html

[macmini]

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

[macmini]

BNP Paribas to Open Support Functions Headquarters in Jersey City, New Jersey

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BNP Paribas is delighted to announce it will open an office in Jersey City, New Jersey. The Bank has signed a 15 year lease with Brookfield Properties effective January 30, 2007. The office will become the North American Support Functions Headquarters of BNP Paribas’ Corporate and Investment Banking business. Employees will begin relocating from the third quarter of 2007.

The new office space is located in the Newport Tower, 525 Washington Boulevard. Newport Tower was built in 1991 and designed by architects Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Whitelaw.

Commenting on the opening, Everett Schenk, head of Territory in North America said, “I think this is a critical step for our development in the US as we are forecasting significant organic growth in the coming years. We are very happy to be moving to a great building and location in Jersey City to help support this growth.”

BNP Paribas is forecasting staff levels in the NY area approaching 3,000 people by 2012 from the banks current staff of approximately 2,400 people.

About BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is a European leader in banking and financial services, and ranks among the world's top 15 banks by market capitalization. It has more than 140,000 employees, 14,000 of whom are based in the United States. The group occupies leading positions in three significant fields of activity: Corporate and Investment Banking, Asset Management & Services and Retail Banking. It is present in 85 countries and has a strong presence in all the key financial centres. Present throughout Europe, in all its business lines, France and Italy are its two domestic markets in retail banking. BNP Paribas enjoys a significant and growing presence in the United States and leading positions in Asia and in emerging markets.

[macmini]

FROM NOTHING TO SOMETHING

Thursday, March 01, 2007
By DORINE BETHEA
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

NJCU West Campus just the start of proposed expansion

Once an old brownfields site is cleaned and redevelopment finished, New Jersey City University will open its new West Campus.

Stretching from Route 440 to West Side Avenue, it will add more housing for students and others, offer retail and commercial space and, maybe, become the permanent home for the city's Visual and Performing Arts High School.

The 22-acre site is in a historically industrial area and NJCU plans to redevelop the land that Baldwin Steel Co. once occupied into an urban campus that is convenient for walking and accessible to public transportation.

"It will give people an opportunity to live in a place where a car isn't always a necessity," said Howard Buxbaum, NJCU's vice president for administration and finance. "We see it as a revenue producing investment for the university."

NJCU's expansion is part of larger economic development plans for the city's west side. It is expected to be a catalyst for the Jersey City Bayside Redevelopment plan, a larger-scale project intended to revitalize the area. The Bayside plan covers a 75-acre area between Communipaw, Bergen and Stevens avenues and Newark Bay.

"All of that land was for industrial use. One by one industry closed or moved," Buxbaum said.

The university has been acquiring land in the area for many years and is now using some of the property for parking.

The West Campus is bounded by Carbon Place on the north, West Side Avenue on the east and the Home Depot on Route 440 to the south. Buxbaum said many portions of the project are still in the design phase. It is being designed to encourage pedestrian traffic and to take advantage of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system.

"We're actually going to build streets and roads on the site," he said.

Buxbaum said it will be at least a year before NJCU begins construction on the first of three expected phases. The initial phase will include housing for students and non-students, retail shops and some parking. At least 100 residential units will be built for roughly 300 students during the first phase - a $150 million investment.

Student housing has been scarce at NJCU for a long time. Only 3 percent of the university's 9,000 students live on campus, Buxbaum said.

"There is a demand for that even among our existing student body," he said.

An arts center would also be built in the project's first phase. Buxbaum said NJCU's performing arts program has needed a better facility for a long time.

Jersey City's Visual and Performing Arts High School, which has been on NJCU's campus for 15 years, is lobbying to relocate to the West Campus. The school serves nearly 300 students, who interact with NJCU faculty and use other resources at the university.

"It certainly is a very unique opportunity that we hope to pursue," said Nancy Healy, a supervisor at the school. "There are a lot of reasons now that we want to remain on campus."

If NJCU becomes the school's permanent home, it could serve 400 students. The school is relying on the state Schools Construction Corp. for funding and the agency has still not made a decision.

"Our first choice is on the campus of NJCU," Healy said.

Buxbaum said NJCU expects to receive state and federal aid to fund the entire project, which in today's dollars would cost up to $350 million.

The state Department of Environmental Protection lifted its moratorium on approving chromium cleanups last month. That allows NJCU officials to begin determining the manner in which it will clean up the site.

"It is a positive development for us," Buxbaum said. "It could have held us up if it hadn't come."

[macmini]

Mack Cali is getting ready to construct HARBORSIDE PLAZA 4

http://www.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/406293.jpg

From the March 13, 2007 Jersey City Planning Board Meeting Agenda:

Case: P01-098.1 Final Major Site Plan
Applicant: Cali Harbor side (Fee) Associated L.P.
Attorney: Glenn Kiencz, Esq.
Address: Hudson Street & Columbus Drive
Block: 10 Lot: 20
Zone: Exchange Place North Redevelopment Plan
Description: Plaza 4, Harborside Financial Center, 1,067,000sf office tower with 600 parking spaces and ground floor retail.


Two new buildings, one 30 stories, the other 17 stories, are being proposed for the parking lot infront of Target in Newport

13. Case: P06-179 Preliminary Major Site Plan
Applicant: Newport Associates Development Company
Attorney: Charles Harrington
Address: 75 Fourteenth Street
Block: 20 Lot: 3.10
Zone: Newport Redevelopment Plan
Description: New mixed-use building with 341 dwelling units and 16,261sf of retail space. 29stories tall atop a 1-story retail base.

14. Case: P07-021 Preliminary Major Site Plan
Applicant: Newport Associates Development Company
Attorney: Charles Harrington
Address: 45 Fourteenth Street
Block: 20 Lot: 3.15, 3.16
Zone: Newport Redevelopment Plan
Description: New 17-story mixed-use multi-family building with 146 residential units and 5,833sf of ground floor retail.

In other news, a new 9-story building is being proposed for a lot near The Beacon....looks like that part of Jersey City is now starting to take off!

16. Case: P06-079 Preliminary and Final Major Site Plan
Applicant: Boca Co., LLC
Attorney: George Garcia
Address: 205-211 Baldwin Avenue
Block: 1878 Lot: 5A, 5B, 6, and 7
Zone: Central Business District
Description: Construction of new 40 unit 9 story residential building.

Finally, it seems that the Millennium Towers proposal has resurfaced. This was a tower complex planned for 18th Street to built over the light rail line with the addition of a new station. The Millennium Towers renderings had existed for a number of years, but seemed like the project was going nowhere. Also, its seems there is an explanation for the recent razing of buildings on 16th Street between Coles and Jersey. The Millennium Towers it seems will be using the space as a parking lot-- presumably only for the duration of construction.

From the Planning Board Agenda:

"Case: P07-009 Preliminary Major Site Plan Interim Parking Lot
Applicant: Millenium Towers, LLC
Address: 677 Grove Street
Block: 294.5 Lot: PL-A
Zone: Jersey Avenue Redevelopment Plan
Description: 436 space parking lot

Case: P07-006 Preliminary Major Site Plan Interim Parking Lot
Applicant: Millenium Towers, LLC
Address: 803 Jersey Avenue
Block: 328 Lot: 1-6, 9-12, 29-32, PL-A
Zone: Jersey Avenue Redevelopment Plan
Description: 289 space parking lot"

[macmini]

In the Region | New Jersey
Home Turf

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FAIRWAY VIEWS A $30 million glass-walled clubhouse is being built at Liberty National, a $150 million golf course near the Port Liberte development in Jersey City.

By ANTOINETTE MARTIN
Published: March 25, 2007

IT’S a beautiful place,” Donald Trump said of his Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, about 50 miles west of Manhattan. He considers the links so lovely, in fact, that he wants to reside there in perpetuity.

Last month, Mr. Trump made headlines, at least in the golf world, by submitting plans to a local zoning board to erect a structure on the 525-acre course that could one day become his family crypt. The plan was later withdrawn — Mr. Trump said the timing was premature — but he noted that he had not abandoned the idea of spending eternity on the course.

As usual Mr. Trump, the real estate magnate, is on top of a trend, or perhaps over the top of it. Crypts beside the links are not exactly becoming common, but golf and New Jersey real estate are frequently tied together.

A handful of golf communities in New Jersey make club membership automatic for residents, as is common in Florida and California. These include resort areas like Crystal Springs in Hamburg, in the northwest part of the state, which is building homes along the periphery of its six golf courses; home buyers pay a premium for sites next to the links.

Greenbriar Oceanaire, a development in Waretown, in Ocean County across Barnegat Bay from Long Beach Island, which will eventually have 1,400 single-family homes on 888 acres, has a 38,000-square-foot clubhouse that opened four years ago.

A growing number of developments, in fact, seem to be promoting the advantages of a site near a public or private golf course, even if a buyer has no interest in swinging a club.

Michael Darata, the project manager for the sprawling Port Liberte development in Jersey City, said he didn’t think any residents of Port Liberte were members of the $150 million Liberty National course that opened last summer on 160 acres of former landfill sandwiched between the development and the Hudson riverfront. The course, said to be the most expensive ever built in the United States, is considered a likely site for a P.G.A. event in the future.

Given the $500,000 membership fee at Liberty National, local residents will probably never swell the ranks, Mr. Darata said, though “we heard one or two were thinking about it.”

Even for nonmembers, “there is the inherent prestige of living near a golf course,” Mr. Darata said. “There is the open space, the preservation of views — in the case of Port Liberte, panoramic views of Manhattan across the river — and the excitement and glamour of the types of events that go on at a world-class golf facility like this one.”

A $30 million glass-walled clubhouse with a striking modern design is under construction at Liberty National. Three residential towers now being built at Port Liberte will overlook the course and have the clubhouse as a new point of “visual interest,” Mr. Darata said.

At Crystal Springs, lavish new amenities are continuously being added to attract nongolfers, and to entertain golfers during New Jersey’s off-season for golf, said Andrew Mulvihill, who heads development there. A seventh course is under construction, and an eighth is a distinct possibility, Mr. Mulvihill said.

Developers have also recently added a spa and a huge Adirondack-style clubhouse with a restaurant and 50,000-bottle wine cellar. They are planning two water parks and another spa.

At Crystal Springs, a majority of residents are either retired or second-home owners who visit their resort abodes only on weekends and vacations, according to Mr. Mulvihill. The Greenbriar Oceanaire, being built by Lennar, is age-restricted: at least one buyer per unit must be 55 or over.

In more urban areas, where the population tends to be younger and working full time, golf is also a popular amenity these days — but it’s often fake golf.

At the Trio condominium development in Palisades Park and at the Trump Plaza condo tower now going up in Jersey City’s arts district, one of the hottest new amenities available is a virtual form of the game.

Using a golf simulator program, residents can choose a world-famous course they would like to play, and bring up videos of the course, which are projected onto the walls of a 18-by-20-foot room outfitted with fake grass, a tee and lasers tracking the speed and trajectory of the ball when it is struck. The video shifts to where the ball has been hit, so the golfer can play on.

“We’re always looking for ways to make our projects more special than the next guy’s,” said Dean Geibel of Metro Homes, the company in a partnership with Mr. Trump on the Trump Plaza tower. “One of the nicest things you can do is put in one of these golf simulators.”

Mr. Geibel said many home shoppers were smitten with the idea of being able to go downstairs and tee up after work, or when it’s pouring outside. “A golf game takes five hours,” he said. “Who’s got five hours nowadays — especially if you have kids?”

Of course, it’s not the same as sinking one’s cleats into real turf and feeling the breeze in your hair, Mr. Geibel conceded. “I tell you what, though,” he said. “It’s not bad.”

Even Mr. Trump enjoys the virtual version of his favorite sport, according to Mr. Geibel.

[macmini]

Trump Plaza

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At Columbus Tower I, the glass is being installed on the retail section of the building:

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Loading docks are almost completed along Steuben St. for the Columbus Drive retail:

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At Grove Pointe, the main entrance is nearing completion:

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All photos by tbal from NY Wired & Newyorksixth.com

[macmini]

Forms for the foundation of the east tower (condos) are being put in place, so I'm guessing that the foundation will be poured this week:

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The foundation for the west tower (rentals) was poured over this past week, an it appears that the first walls of the tower may be constructed this week:

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a photo looking up Washington Street toward Trump, Athena, and the Westin Jersey City Hotel, as well as a pic of what remains at 111 First Street:

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The demolition continues at 111 First Street

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Westin Hotel

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The Athena Tower, A, from Hudson Street looking West with the Portofino Tower to the right

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[macmini]

Inside the old can factory

American Can Company will be 551 condos

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FROM THE INSIDE – This is a model of a kitchen and living room as seen in the sales showroom for Canco Lofts.

What do you do with a huge vacant factory building that's nowhere near the waterfront?

If you are the New York City-based developer Coalco New York, you turn the former American Can Company - a million-square-foot building that can be seen from Routes 1 & 9 in Jersey City - into 551 condos and call them Canco Lofts.

Coalco started the second largest building conversion project in Jersey City (the other taking place currently with the old Jersey City Medical Center) last fall and is scheduled to open a sales showroom in the near future.

The Canco project is located at Dey Street near Journal Square.

Coalco Construction Services was formed in 1997 as a subsidiary of Coalco International, a global investment and development company with experience in the United States, Central European, and Russian real estate markets. The Jersey City project is their first in the city and in Hudson County.

A look back at American Can

The American Can Company, known back in the day as Canco, was responsible for making aerosol cans, milk cartons, and glass bottles with brand names such as Dixie and Marathon. The company built the factory in 1929 for $5 million. It employed over 3,000 people, many of whom were bitter over the closing.

Then-Mayor Paul Jordan, as quoted in a 1979 New York Daily News article, called its 1974 closing "the cheapest shot" during his administration.

The company then moved its operations to Connecticut and New York.

After the Jersey City closing, a succession of tenants occupied the complex. The first two buildings were slated for use as a cyber hotel, until the Internet boom of the 1990s went bust at the end of the decade.

Construction, amenities

The renovation of American Can will be done in two phases. The developer seeks to build 202 condominiums and about 160 parking spaces in the first phase, and then add 349 more condos and about 300 parking spaces in the second phase.

There will be three levels of parking inside the building.

Work for the first phase started last fall, according to Coalco Director of Marketing Edward Yorukoff. Much iron work and internal sprinklers were removed and oversized elevator shafts were shrunk down. Yorukoff estimated that this phase will be completed by March 2009.

When the entire project is completed, one-, two-, and three-bedroom lofts, ranging in size from 640 to 1,663 square feet, will be on sale from over $200,000 for a flat, to about $650,000 for a two-story penthouse.

The lofts will have such attractive features as 14-foot ceilings that increase to between 17 and 24 feet in the penthouses.

Donation and tax abatement

Coalco President Mikhail Kurnev presented a donation of $65,000 to the Jersey City Museum on Wednesday as part of a deal reached with city officials to justify receiving a 30-year tax abatement last year.

Kurnev said he found out the building was for sale in 2005 and has gotten only positive feedback about working in the Journal Square area that's starting to be revitalized.

"We think that it's a wonderful project, a beautiful building, very well located, and close to transportation," said Kurnev.

When asked if the magnitude of such a project was the reason Coalco was granted the tax abatement, Kurnev said it wasn't for his benefit.

"Abatement is something that is not in any way beneficial to developers," said Kurnev. "It's beneficial for future, prospective customers."

Kurnev said the abatement also was needed as the condos "will not command top prices like on the Jersey City waterfront" and had to be affordable.

Yorukoff said that the abatement doesn't go into effect until the building conversion is completed.

Tax abatements are granted by the City Council to exempt a developer from regular, fluctuating property taxes. The deals are an incentive to help a developer build in a blighted area, but some believe that the city gives out too many, and because the money goes directly to the city budget but not the county or school budgets.

Usually, a developer gets a separate deal to make Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTs) to the city over 20 or 30 years.

Looking ahead

Yorukoff said the second construction phase is immanent because of demand - more than 1,000 people signed a preview list to check out the building.

"I would like to say we could see that far down the road," said Yorukoff. "I would say we have ample interest to go to phase two."

After the conversion, there's still more to come on the property. Yorukoff said a low-rise warehouse adjoining the main building and a parking lot located directly across Dey Street could be developed into 600 more condos, which city zoning would allow for.

"Nobody really looked at that building as residential conversion," said Kurnev, "so it took some vision on our part to see that building converted into residential lofts."

Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com

[macmini]

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]

Jersey City's Skyline at Night

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Manhattan & Jersey City

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Jersey City's growing skyline

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[James Bond Agent 007]

^
Great shot! Keep us updated!

[Scruffy]

[QUOTE=macmini;2769334]

Manhattan & Jersey City

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4944/img3017uu7.jpg

QUOTE]

From this angle, the skylines look comparable. Twin cities kind of. very cool looking. It just sucks about the top third of Goldman sachs. From this distance it looks like what i guess the birdcage like second proposal for the freedom tower would have looked like.

[Scruffy]

Hey does anyone have a render of what that second goldman sachs tower was going to look like?

[macmini]

Hey does anyone have a render of what that second goldman sachs tower was going to look like?

They have yet to release any renderings of the new GS building.



Model of urban future: Jersey City?

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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]

Newport plans on agenda

Tuesday, April 10, 2007
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Ellipse, one of three new residential projects the LeFrak Organization announced in June, is scheduled to go before the Planning Board tonight for preliminary site plan approval.

At the northern edge of LeFrak's Newport, the Ellipse is to consist of a 45-story multi-family building with 352 residential units and new three-story townhomes with 11 units built on the existing pier.

In addition, the project includes an extension of Hudson River Waterfront Walkway, a future "cultural/educational center," 4,000 square feet of ground floor retail space and 230 parking spaces in a garage with an open space roof, officials said.

"The pier will have a lot of open space on it, including walkways on both sides, even though that is absolutely not required," said Jamie LeFrak, managing director of the LeFrak Organization. "This (project) has been on the (city's Newport Redevelopment) master plan for 22 years."

LeFrak shot down notions the "cultural/educational center" would be called "the LeFrak Museum," as some have suggested.

"The use is completely undetermined," LeFrak said. "That (creating a LeFrak Museum) is just not something that crossed our minds."

The center is planned to be a single-story structure with a 20-foot ceiling and water views, LeFrak said.

In addition to the Ellipse, the LeFrak Organization announced in June plans to build a Westin Hotel, which is nearly completed on Washington Boulevard, and the Aqua Blue 355-rental unit project - all in the northeast quadrant of the Newport development.

Tonight's meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., City Hall, 280 Grove St.

[macmini]

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.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/05/16/sports/16golf.1.190.jpg
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]

$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]

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]

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]

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.

[NEWARKNJREP]

delete

[MJPhilly]

Thanks for the updates Mac.

My brother lived in Dixon Mills for a few years. The places are pretty nice, and I'm sure they'll make expensive condos. Cool views of JC and NYC too.

http://www.skyscrapersunset.com/galleries/panoramas/05s.jpg (http://www.skyscrapersunset.com/galleries/panoramas/05.jpg)

[NEWARKNJREP]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pmarella/598017901

FOUND A NICE PIC...WANTED TO SHARE...SHOWING PROGRESS...SEE TRUMP...GROVE POINT

[macmini]

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]

Jersey City waterfront & Downtown

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[James Bond Agent 007]

^ Nice pics!

[macmini]

$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.

[macmini]

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]

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]

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.

[Lecom]

"New York's Sixth"... Hell, JC is more of a New York borough than Staten Island, both in location and in spirit.

[macmini]

Two 48-story buildings a go

Planning Board demands dog run for phase II of Columbus Towers

Ricardo Kaulessar -- Hudson Reporter -- 08/03/2007

The Jersey City Planning Board approved the second phase of 50 Columbus Drive at their meeting on July 24. While the first phase, a 35-story tower, is near completion, the second phase will include two 48-story towers and a hotel.

The project, also known as Columbus Towers, is located on a long stretch of Christopher Columbus Drive between Marin Boulevard and Warren Street, in the Exchange Place area.

The site is being developed by PKG Associates, a company operated by local attorney and builder Joseph Panepinto in partnership with Hoboken-based Applied Companies.

Upon completion, 50 Columbus Drive's three towers will house 942 rental units, a 144-room hotel, 1120 parking spaces, and over 12,000 square feet of ground floor retail.

The first phase of the project, a 35-story tower with 392 units and 804 parking spaces, is near completion. Rentals are scheduled to start this month.

The second phase will be two 48-story towers with a total of 550 units, the hotel, retail and 316 parking spaces.

The board voted unanimously (7-0) to allow the rest of the project to go forward, but added some conditions, including creating access to the nearby Marin Boulevard entrance to the PATH and ensuring a dog run is built at the 50 Columbus site.

Where's the dog run?

At the meeting, several representatives for the project made a presentation of the 50 Columbus preliminary site plan to the Planning Board.

A preliminary site plan is used for new construction and additions located on land zoned for commercial and residential use. Any project built in a redevelopment area, as is the case with 50 Columbus Drive (in Exchange Place North), usually gets first approval and later comes back in front of the board for final approval.

After the presentation, the board approved the project with six conditions that have to be met by the developers.

Among them was putting in a dog run.

Board Commissioner Roseanne Petruzelli pointed out there was no place within the site plan for a dog run. Board Chairman Michael Ryan said there is supposed to be at least one dog run on the premises.

At the meeting, the developers' attorney Nevis McCann claimed 50 Columbus will be "pet friendly," when asked whether or not pets will be allowed.

But McCann said there was no room for dog run.

"The dogs will have to walk the streets like everyone else," he said. And another of the developers' attorneys, Francis Schiller, said a surface parking lot designed for the second phase of the project would be built in the location where the dog run was to be placed.

But the developers' representatives later agreed they will look for space on the site for a dog run.

Also, the board insisted upon an entrance from the lobby of the hotel that will allow guests and residents of 50 Columbus to gain easier access to the Exchange Place PATH station.

Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com

[macmini]

24 YEARS IN THE MAKING

Saturday, July 28, 2007By LYSA CHEN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

More than 20 years after the original plans were drawn, Jersey City's massive Liberty Harbor is ready to become a reality.

The first residents of the Jersey City's newest Downtown neighborhood are expected to move in by the end of the summer, bringing to an end the first phase of a development that first went before the city planning board as Liberty Harbor North in 1983.

"We're literally weeks away from human beings living, socializing and participating in life at Liberty Harbor," said Peter Mocco, the project's developer. "People are going to be moving in, going to restaurants, going to retail stores and taking advantage of our waterfront."

Jeffery Zak, project manager and developer, said 700 units of housing and approximately 20,000 square feet of retail are nearly complete, and 80 percent of the condos offered for sale since October 2006 have already been sold. Now developers are just waiting for a few finishing touches on the project's first phase of construction before residents can move in, Zak said.

"All finished surfaces, streetscapes, bluestone sidewalks and decorative pavings are being installed at this moment, so the project visually is really coming to life," he said.

The 80-acre Liberty Harbor - which will take a total of about 15 to 20 more years to fully complete - was heralded in the 1980s as a cross between New York's Greenwich Village and the Upper West Side. It was also hyped as the project that would lead the way in the redevelopment of the Downtown area.

Liberty Harbor is bordered by the Morris Canal to the south, Marin Boulevard to the east, Grand Street to the north and Jersey Avenue to the west. Different versions of the plan had been under discussion for 20 years before it finally came together in 2003. The original plan called for the project to cover 3,000 acres.

Leon Yost, a member of the Jersey City planning board, said it is rewarding to see the project finally come to fruition.

"It's been excruciatingly long," he said. "There have been plenty of people who said it wouldn't happen, and it's happening."

Bill Bromirski, a member of the planning board throughout the project's early stages, agreed.

"The project has overcome a lot of adversity," he said.

Bromirski, who sat on the board for more than 30 years, said he was involved in many of the city's redevelopment projects that are just now starting to sprout up.

"It took a while for them to catch on, but they're going to be here for a long time after we're gone," Bromirski said. "I'm very proud of everything I did."

Liberty Harbor, in particular, is something to be proud of, Mocco said, describing it as the "most unique project in the country right now."

Mocco said the city is focusing on the look of the project, which currently has more than 18 different architects designing buildings and drafting plans. The goal is to create "really nice neighborhoods and livable streets," he said.

Bromirski said he has noticed the project's attention to detail during his walks past the construction area.

"Each building is not uniform, so everything is extra special," he said.
Half of the first phase's housing units are rentals which will range in price from $1,500 to $3,000 per month, Zak said. The other half are condos ranging from $275,000 to $600,000, he said.

board, will add 1,000 residential units and 80,000 square feet of retail, Zak said. Construction will begin next year, he said.
Reply With Quote

[macmini]

Plan for Square towers revised
Wednesday, August 08, 2007

The twin-tower development proposed for Jersey City's Journal Square is changing shape.

Originally proposed as two towers of more-or-less equal size, the latest design for of the mixed-use development to be built on the block adjacent to the Journal Square Transportation Center calls for a south tower between 35 and 40 stories and a north tower stretching 55 to 65 stories, according to the developer.

The City Council is scheduled to introduce the change at its meeting scheduled for 10 a.m. today at the Mary McLeod Bethune Center, 140 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

"Both towers have been designed to maximize views and unit layout," said Liz Opacity, spokeswoman for MEPT Journal Square Urban Renewal, LLC, the developer. "And the height difference is for aesthetics when you are looking at the towers."

Lowell Harwood, managing partner of Jersey City-based Harwood Properties - a partner in the limited liability company formed to undertake the development - said Monday the design change was made at the request of his development partner, Washington D.C.-based Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT), a national real estate equity fund.

MEPT referred all questions to Opacity.

Even though there is no change in the 1.2 million gross square footage of the development, Planning Director Bob Cotter said the design change would likely add more units to the projects, a number originally pegged at 1,034.

But, Opacity said, the developers are "still assessing the market and working on architectural drawings to determine the number and layout of units."

The $400 million development, to include multiple levels of parking and retail, is still considered a rental project, Opacity said, but "the feasibility of the condominiums will continue to be explored."

Jersey City Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Robert Antonicello predicted existing structures on the entire block would be leveled by the end of the year so construction can begin.

McDonald's, at 15-16 Journal Square, still hasn't relocated.

KEN THORBOURNE

[macmini]

New Condo Complex Sets City Record for Penthouse Sales
Published: August 13, 2007

By Kelly Sheehan, Online News Editor

Jersey City, N.J.—K. Hovnanian Homes has sold two penthouse condominiums to one buyer for $6 million. The units are part of 77 Hudson, a new condo complex located in Jersey City, N.J.

The sale sets a new record price for a penthouse sold in the city. The penthouses, on floors 48 and 49, total 4,188 square feet.

Designed by New York-based architect firm Cetra/Ruddy, the community is currently under construction and is slated for completion in May 2009. Upon completion, it will feature 420 condos.

Units are priced from the $500,000s to $3 million, and they will include floor-to-ceiling windows as well as washers and dryers. About three-quarters of the residences will feature views of Manhattan’s skyline.

The community will feature a glass curtain wall façade, and will feature amenities such as a roof deck, dog park, pool, fitness center, café, lobby with art gallery, community lounge, game room, private dining room, screening room, virtual golf area, business center, barbeque area, hot tub, jogging path, massage room, yoga and Pilates studio, sauna and steam rooms, and party room. Residents will also have access to concierge services, state-of-the-art security systems, Wi-Fi in public areas and grocery delivery services.

[macmini]

Lehman Brothers Expands on Jersey City Waterfront

Financial Services Firm Increases Occupancy at 101 Hudson to 270,000 SF
Global financial services firm Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. has renewed and expanded at Mack-Cali's 101 Hudson St. office tower in Jersey City, NJ.

The firm is extended a deal for 8,741 square feet for seven years and inked a 62,763-square-foot expansion, which runs through January 2018. The new lease increases its total occupancy in the 1.25 million-square-foot building to more than 270,000 square feet.

Robert Alexander, Michael Geoghegan and Andrew Sussman of CB Richard Ellis New York handled the deal for Lehman Brothers. Christopher DeLorenzo and Thomas Savoca represented Mack-Cali in-house.

The distinctive 42-story high-rise was constructed in 1992 on an entire city block on the Jersey City waterfront. Other tenants in the building include National Union Fire Insurance Co. and Merrill Lynch & Co., according to CoStar information.

Mack-Cali acquired the property in 2005 for $329 million.

[macmini]

http://www.therealdeal.net/breaking_news/2007/08/17/1187390042.php


August 17, 4:40 pm
Penthouse condo sets Jersey City record

A $6 million penthouse purchase in a K. Hovanian tower has shattered the record for Jersey City's most expensive condo, tripling the city's previous record.

The buyer, whose name has not been released, purchased the penthouse units on the top two floors of a 48-story tower at 77 Hudson Street, Hovnanian announced today. Samuel L. Jackson reportedly set the previous record of $2.3 million for a penthouse in the Beacon that he bought in February.

The combined 77 Hudson Street units are 4,188 square feet. The two-tower glass-façade development, slated to open in May 2009, is rising a block from Goldman Sachs' Jersey City tower.

The buyer is a married Manhattan businessman with children, who liked the short commute from Jersey City and 77 Hudson's Manhattan-style design and views, said Eve McGrath, a Hovanian spokeswoman.

Hovanian has touted the project's location, a mile from Ground Zero, and its roof deck, party rooms, pools, dog parks, café and Fresh Direct room. A 14,200-square-foot indoor spa/fitness center features a yoga room, massage room, steam and sauna areas, screening room, game room and virtual golf.

These amenities are similar to the Trump Organization's two-tower project, just steps away in the Powerhouse Arts District. The Beacon, a mega-complex in the old Jersey City Medical Center, a less gentrified neighborhood, has promoted its resident-only parks, stores and shuttle buses.

After launching restricted sales two weeks ago, half of 77 Hudson's 100 released units have sold. Prices for the 420 condo units start in the upper $400,000s. Another tower has 480 rentals.

The development, designed by New York-based Cetra/Ruddy, is near the Exchange Place Path Station, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail System and the New York Waterway Ferry.

Tom Graham, a project executive, has said the Paulus Hook neighborhood offers a mix of old brownstones and new waterfront towers. By John Celock Copyright © 2003-2005 The Real Deal

[macmini]

September 2007
Jersey City developers bet on Newark Avenue
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/09/14/realestate/600-njzo.jpg

Building boom moves inland, reaching final frontier of gentrification
By John Celock

Grove Pointe, a condo project on top of the Grove Street PATH Station, is the anchor of Newark Avenue's revival.

The gentrification of Jersey City is making its way to Newark Avenue, a corridor long described as the final frontier.

Home mostly to discount stores and factories, Newark Avenue was largely overlooked as developers and buyers focused instead on the waterfront neighborhood of Paulus Hook and other downtown areas. As Jersey City's building boom shifts inland, developers have begun to look at the corridor, sandwiched in between the family neighborhood of Van Vorst Park and Hamilton Park, which draws a younger professional population.

Boosters say its time has arrived, though it's not a universally shared view.

"That is the next spot to take off," said Jonathan Schwartz, third-generation owner of Millennium Homes, which seeks to develop buildings along Newark Avenue, where at least 700 new residential units are planned.

This is a turnaround from just a few years ago when the area sat still, resting in the shadow of the new high-rises of the Powerhouse Arts District in the far western portion of Jersey City's downtown.

Grove Pointe, a 700,000-square-foot, 525-unit project being developed by SK Properties, is the anchor of Newark Avenue's revitalization and sits on top of the Grove Street PATH Station. The mostly rental two-tower building had units ready for occupancy at the end of July, with 90 percent of its 67 condos sold last summer. The building contains a total of 458 rental units, along with 20,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor. Condo prices range from $500,000 to $800,000.

Jonathan Kushner, a principal at Bridgewater-based SK Properties, said the building is mainly drawing young professionals from Manhattan, Brooklyn and suburban New Jersey. The Grove Street PATH Station serves both Midtown and Lower Manhattan, which is a five-minute ride away.

Ji Yoo, an agent with the Armagno Agency, said more young prospective buyers ask about Newark Avenue. She said apartments there run between $300,000 and $500,000 for one-bedrooms and $350,000 to $700,000 for two-bedrooms, some of which are renovated from their original construction. She said prices are in line with parts of downtown Jersey City.

Lauro Arantes, an agent with Weichert Realtors, is not as sanguine as Yoo. He said the area has promise, but few of his clients are looking there, preferring the established downtown neighborhoods and the new development in Liberty Harbor.

"It will take a while," Arantes said. "I have never had clients looking to move there. It is the ugliest part of downtown Jersey City. It is the last part of downtown to be revitalized."

Kushner said the company has been working with the city to redevelop the area surrounding the PATH Station, including a redesign of the station's entrance plaza, and the creation of a pedestrian walkway, which will be open to bus traffic only during rush hour


An avenue in transition

A walk down Newark Avenue finds vacant lots and discount stores dotting the south side of the street, while the north side has newer facades and retail stores. Bob Cotter, Jersey City planning director, said redeveloping the southern portion is a priority. He said the upper floors of many retail buildings and former warehouses could be converted into residential units.

Historically an Italian-American neighborhood, it started to slide 30 years ago as small neighborhood stores closed and many residents moved to the suburbs when crime rates climbed.

Development, particularly in the retail sector, is starting to reverse the trend, says Kushner.

"The city has devoted to making it a place for nightlife," he said. "Part of living in an urban center is coming here at night and walking. It is about having everything at your fingertips."

It's Greek to Me, a restaurant, recently opened across from an upscale art gallery. Two Vietnamese restaurants opened along with LITM, a combination restaurant, bar and art gallery. Two 99-cent stores and a cut-rate clothing store remain, but brokers and local residents have said there are fewer discount stores than a few years ago.

Grove Street, which runs south from the eastern end of Newark Avenue, now has several upscale restaurants, offering Cuban, Middle Eastern and Asian cuisine. As retail space there fills up, Newark Avenue gets the overflow.

Arantes said he is currently working with a client looking at a corner space on Newark Avenue for a new restaurant. Rents have climbed to about $7,000 a month for retail storefronts, making the strip one of the most expensive markets in downtown Jersey City. He noted that the Starbucks planned for the ground floor of Grove Pointe has served as a beacon for new retailers.

"They know it will turn," Arantes said of his retail clients. "They want to be pioneers."

Treetop Development recently purchased a long vacant plot of land on the corner of Newark Avenue and Jersey Avenue, and plans to soon break ground on a 76-unit, two-building complex with 3,500 square feet of retail space.

Adam Mermelstein, a principal at Treetop, said marketing is aimed at buyers who are priced out of Manhattan and other parts of Jersey City. One-bedrooms will start at $375,000 and two-bedrooms will start at $495,000, with a projected completion date of September of 2008. These prices run slightly below new construction in more established parts of downtown Jersey City, where prices start in the low $400,000 range for one-bedrooms and around $600,000 for a two-bedroom.


A traffic twist

The New Jersey Turnpike serves as the western end of the corridor and development is taking hold in this area. The Matzel & Mumford Organization, a unit of homebuilder K. Hovanian, is starting sales on a building abutting the turnpike in the middle of August. The 54-unit midrise building is starting in the high $300,000 range. The turnpike has long been considered the dividing line between the gentrified downtown and the rest of Jersey City.

Newark Avenue will see more traffic under a plan by city officials to turn Christopher Columbus Drive into the city's new gateway. It runs parallel to Newark Avenue, into the city's new gateway. Planning director Cotter said the city has placed new signs on the turnpike directing downtown drivers onto Columbus Drive, which meets up with Newark Avenue in front of Grove Pointe. Columbus Drive is lined with warehouses and many of the buildings on the south side of Newark back up to Columbus. Realtors call increased traffic along Columbus a boon for the area.

"We are seeing big changes," Yoo said. "People are taking pride in Newark Avenue. There are new stores and restaurants opening up all the time."

http://www.therealdeal.net/issues/SEPTEMBER_2007/1188596323.php

[macmini]

Towering inferno
Fire director: Standpipe 3 floors short of fire
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
BY MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The top floor of the unfinished highrise condominium building known as 77 Hudson on the Jersey City waterfront caught fire last night, setting off a spectacular blaze that sent yellow flames into the sky and was visible from Manhattan.

The K. Hovnanian condos on the top two floors of the building were recently purchased for a city record $6 million. The building, at Greene and Sussex streets, was projected to be 49 stories.

The blazing fire on the 17th and 18 floors popped and crackled and threw burning embers as firefighters sent jets of water onto the blaze. Emergency vehicles clogged the streets and Light Rail service was disrupted.

The building's standpipe only went up to the 14th floor and firefighters originally planned to fight the blaze from there, but the flames proved so intense they were ordered to pull back, said Fire Director Armando Roman.

Firefighters fought the blaze from the ground floor, with some directing their hoses from the top of ladders on fire trucks.

Residents on Greene Street, between Sussex and Grand streets, were evacuated because of the falling embers, Roman said. He said seven or eight families were affected and shelter was set up for them at School 16 on Sussex Street.

K. Hovnanian Homes opened 77 Hudson for VIP sales in August, with more than 300 appointments set for the initial sales release of condos. Approximately 50 percent of the 100 residences released were reported sold in August. An ad in The Jersey Journal's Weekend Urge last week listed studio apartments at the building as starting in the $400,000 range, with one-, two-, and three-bedroom condos ranging from the $500,000s to $2.75 million. Occupancy was slated for the summer of 2009.

The first alarm was at 8:48 p.m. and quickly accelerated into three alarms.

No injuries were reported. Several square blocks were closed off by police as spectators gathered.

Roman said the top floors were all wood forms. Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said: "It's worrisome because we should have learned from our mistakes," referring to Liberty Towers, which is one block away on Morris Street. That building also was the scene of a top-floor fire while it was under construction. That 2002 fire was on the 29th floor and the standpipe only went up to the 23rd floor.

http://blog.nj.com/hudsoncountynow_impact/2007/10/z77hud1.jpg

http://blog.nj.com/hudsoncountynow_impact/2007/10/z77hud3.jpg

[macmini]

FINAL APPROVAL
Planning Board gives go-ahead to Square skyscraper project
Friday, October 05, 2007
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The two-tower development planned for the old Hotel on the Square block in Journal Square has received final site plan approval from the Jersey City Planning Board.

In a 7-0 vote on Tuesday, the board gave the $500 million mixed-use project a unanimous thumbs up.

"The new buildings are quite impressive, very stylish," said Leon Yost, the board's vice chairman, yesterday. "These are going to be icons for Jersey City."

The 1,500-unit project is to consist of a seven-story base with retail and parking, and two residential towers rising from the base - a 58-story north tower and a 38-story south tower. Construction is scheduled to start in the spring.

The development team is comprised of three entities: The Multi-Employer Property Trust based in Bethesda, Md., a national real estate equity fund that invests union pension funds; Harwood Properties, based in Jersey City; and the Fairfield, Conn.-headquartered Becker + Becker, an architectural, planning, preservation and development firm.

With $6.2 billion in assets, MEPT is expected to self-finance most of the construction.

"When pension funds start investing in your town, you know you're on solid ground," said Planning Director Robert D. Cotter. "They have deep pockets and need guaranteed return over the long haul. They are looking for sure things."


The New Rendering
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/renderingofproject-1.jpg?t=1194465451

[Lecom]

Nice, such a development will really help Journal Square develop its own skyline, which now largely consists of only one, though a nice, old and a large, highrise complex.

[mello]

Holy Crap does anyone have renderings of what the Hoboken/Jersey City skylines will look like in a couple of years?

That would be awesome to see.

[macmini]

Holy Crap does anyone have renderings of what the Hoboken/Jersey City skylines will look like in a couple of years?

That would be awesome to see.
Some one made a rendering of what JC would look like in a couple of years but I have to find it again. Only difference in Hoboken is the W Hotel other then that it still looks the same.

New blog on JC Construction http://jcconstruction.blogspot.com/

Found a great photo on flickr taken by hammernet you can see progress on the condo side of 77 Hudson.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2379/1880506907_a9d5148197_b.jpg

[njbeliever777]

I am so excited to see all the happenings in the near future. Jersey City is turning out to be like a real city. All these highrises that going up. I wouldnt be suprised by the 2010 census that Jersey City reaches 300,000

[vanman]

I was in Jersey City for the first time earlier this month. I was definitely impressed by all the new buildings and harbour as well as the much older,established dense neighborhoods. It looks like it would be a great place to live. I took a few pics.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/NYC/Picture176.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/NYC/Picture184.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/NYC/Picture170.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/NYC/Picture148.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/NYC/Picture169.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/NYC/Picture167.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/NYC/Picture161.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/NYC/Picture155.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v643/vannmann/NYC/Picture171.jpg

[macmini]

City council OKs 100-acre development deal on west side

by Ken Thorbourne Thursday January 10, 2008, 12:59 PM

http://blog.nj.com/hudsoncountynow_impact/2008/01/large_bayfront.jpg
A rendering of a development project that was approved Wednesday night.

The Jersey City City Council has approved a tentative settlement with Morristown-based Honeywell International Inc. that promises to spur the development of thousands of housing units, plus commercial, retail, and open space on the city's west side.
The deal, negotiated over the course of a year by city officials, settles at least three lawsuits filed by the city against Honeywell and a counter-suit against the city filed by Honeywell, the successor company to Mutual Chemical, which polluted roughly 100 acres of land with chromium, a known carcinogen.

"I look forward to the west side of the city being developed," said Ward D Councilman Bill Gaughan, joining with colleagues Wednesday to unanimously approve the agreement. "This is a landmark project."

City President Mariano Vega called the deal, which still must be approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection and the courts, a "historic settlement." The biggest initiative of Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy's administration, the deal would spur up to 8,000 units of housing, along with more than 1 million square feet of commercial and retail development. Twenty of the 100 acres would be open space.

Honeywell would be named the "master redeveloper" and charged with cleaning up the tainted sites and selling development rights.

The city, which owns 41 of the 100 acres, would reap 40 percent of the revenue from land sales. This amounts to $60 million to $150 million coming into city coffers over the 20-year period, city officials said. When fully built, the project will contribute $50 million a year to taxes, officials said.

Initial plans called for relocating the Jersey City Incinerator Authority and Department of Public Works to land owned by Edwin Seigel at the PJP landfill site. But Ward B Councilwoman Mary Spinello objected and the city is looking at alternative sites. Honeywell is chipping in $13 million toward relocation, officials said.

The Municipal Utilities Authority, also located on the tainted land, would remain on site, but it would be rebuilt to take up less space, officials said.

This deal also offers an immediate payoff for an administration trying to cope with this year's budget that ends June 30.

Honeywell has agreed to upfront payments of $15 million this year and $10 million next year, money that would come out of the city's 40 percent share on the land sales.

[macmini]

Photos from tbal on wired New York

77 Hudson
The condo side of the building continues to rise as the rental side loose floors after the fire.

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/1508011.jpg?t=1199477062

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/1508013.jpg?t=1199477081

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/121407008.jpg?t=1200121255

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/111807021.jpg?t=1200121358

Liberty Harbor Phase I
Phase I of the huge project is almost complete

http://www.libertyharbor.com/images/slideshow/1.jpg

http://www.libertyharbor.com/images/slideshow/3.jpg

http://www.libertyharbor.com/images/slideshow/4.jpg

http://www.libertyharbor.com/images/slideshow/9.jpg

http://www.libertyharbor.com/images/slideshow/13.jpg

Another midrise building with a concrete structure is rising at the end of a cluster of low-rise buildings close to the Jersey Ave Light Rail station:

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/1508009.jpg?t=1199477040

Overview of the Phase II area

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/1508006.jpg?t=1199476838

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/1508007.jpg?t=1199477018

Liberty National Clubhouse
The clubhouse should open in 2008. While the club is private, the word is that there will be an upscale restaurant in the clubhouse, open to the public.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z175/acxent/clubhouse003.jpg

[njbeliever777]

wow. looking good. jersey city is really becoming a major hub. does anyone else have photos of trump tower. or any more news on supertall construction?

[macmini]

wow. looking good. jersey city is really becoming a major hub. does anyone else have photos of trump tower. or any more news on supertall construction?

For more pictures of the Trump Tower & and other Towers under construction in Jersey city you can go to. http://newyorkssixth.com/newyorkssixthphotoblog/index.html and http://jcconstruction.blogspot.com/



OK for 3 towers in arts district
Thursday, January 17, 2008
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Jersey City Planning Board last night gave its unanimous approval to the Toll Brothers plan to build three high-rise towers around the Manischewitz property in the Powerhouse Arts District, pleasing developers but disappointing artists and conservationists.

In voting 8-0 to recommend that the City Council approve an amendment to the Powerhouse Arts District Redevelopment Plan that would allow for building residential towers of 30, 35 and 40 stories, it determined the proposal is consistent with the Jersey City Master Plan.

"We worked very hard on the project and are obviously very pleased with the decision," said James C. McCann, attorney for Toll Brothers. "I think it will change the Powerhouse Arts District in a good way."

Toll Brothers is offering to build a 550-seat performing arts theater with gallery space and 25,000-square-foot Provost Square in return for allowing it to build 950 apartments in the three high-rise towers, and for the right to knock down two warehouses and all but the façade of the former Manischewitz plant. The builder could also be allowed to dedicate less housing to artist's live/work spaces.

The decision left around 70 members of Powerhouse Arts District Neighborhood Association and other preservation groups which turned up at Middle School 4 on Bright Street last night disappointed but vowing to fight on.

"We have nothing against the plaza, but at what cost?" asked Jill Edelman, president of the Powerhouse Arts District Neighborhood Association, after the meeting. "We bought into a very specific plan, which we have seen succeed, and we are the beneficiaries of that success."

There was no public comment at the meeting, but a few shouted their objections to the Planning Board.

Toll Brothers and the Powerhouse Arts District Neighborhood Association made their opposing presentations at a five-hour meeting in November.

The neighborhood association did, however, win one small victory when the developer said he would reuse Provost Street cobblestones in the plaza - but not old railway tracks.

Under the proposal, Toll Brothers can market 10 percent of the housing to "working families" rather than artists for the first 180 days after the units are built. Half of those could be built off site. Just 12 units will comply with requirement for live-and-work loft space, and one of those will be dedicated to artists.

Robert Cotter, director of the Planning Department, spoke in favor of the plan, saying that it would create a vibrant theater and arts district.

[njbeliever777]

nice projects being approved. what do you think the population will be in 3-5 years?