JERSEY CITY | One Journal Square | 710 FT×2 | 64 + 64 FLOORS (1,723 Units)

[chris08876]

Jersey City won’t give Charles Kushner subsidies, but his brother got them

The mayor of Jersey City, Steven Fulop, has made it clear he doesn’t want to give Kushner Companies a dime of subsidy to build their luxury residential towers at 1 Journal Square. But he didn’t feel that way about giving money to Charles Kushner’s rival brother, Murray.

Kushner Real Estate Group, the firm led by Charles’ estranged brother Murray, received $40 million for its own redevelopment proposals at Journal Square, Bloomberg reported. That project, called Journal Squared, opened last year.

Kushner Companies expected to receive the same treatment, but that changed last year, as protestors lined up to express their outrage that the city would move to subsidize the family of the President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Though Charles Kushner recently said Fulop, a Democrat, admitted that his decisions on the 1 Journal Square project were intentionally discriminatory, a Fulop spokesperson told Bloomberg she was not able to confirm this conversation ever happened.

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TRD

[chris08876]

Kushner firm wins records dispute against Jersey City

A Hudson County judge ruled Friday that the Fulop administration must hand over documents requested by Kushner Companies related to the developer’s stalled Journal Square project, a plan that is at the center of a separate legal proceeding in federal court.

Judge Francis B. Schultz’ five-page decision, which also slaps Jersey City for not devoting enough resources to answering public-records requests, comes as the administration faces renewed criticism over its transparency.

The ruling stems from a complaint the Kushner firm and its partner, KABR Group, filed against the city in September after it told them their document requests were “overly broad” and would have disrupted city government if the city fulfilled them.

But Schultz found the city made “no real effort” to find the requested documents and he ordered the city to deliver them to the developers within 20 days.

"None of the three requests required discretion or 'research' on the part of the defendants and these are not the type of documents which would have required a search that would have interrupted agency operations," Schultz said.

Because the judge identified the developers as the prevailing party, the city will be on the hook for their legal fees unless the city appeals and wins.

“It’s a sad day when a public official like Mayor Fulop, and the city he controls, is found to have blatantly violated the law, contrary to the oath of office he took," said the developers' attorney, Joseph B. Fiorenzo. “We will now find out what the city, and Mayor Fulop, have been hiding concerning the political machinations surrounding the award of tax abatements in Jersey City.”

City spokeswoman Ashley Manz said the city will likely appeal. Taxpayers should not have to pay for a “pointless and futile fishing expedition,” she said.

“The Kushners' sense of entitlement is embarrassing for them as they are so detached from reality that they think they can bully a city into giving them money,” Manz said. “It is absurd and isn’t going to happen in Jersey City.”

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https://www.nj.com/hudson/2019/01/ku...rsey-city.html

[chris08876]

N.J. Supreme Court won’t hear $2 million tax case out of Jersey City

The New Jersey Supreme Court last week declined to weigh in on a lower court’s ruling that requires Jersey City to repay $2 million to the developer behind a failed tower project in Journal Square.

An appellate panel in August ruled that it was grossly unfair for the city to take the $2 million — a prepayment of the payments-in-lieu-of-taxes the developer planned to owe the city — and it need to be given back. New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said on Jan. 14 the decision would not be reviewed by the state’s highest court.

The developer, Multi-Employer Property Trust, never constructed the project, planned for a property adjacent to the Journal Square PATH hub that was later purchased by Kushner Companies and KABR Group. Those developers have their own tower project that is also stalled.

MEPT declined to comment. A request for comment from Jersey City was not immediately returned.

The MEPT project was a two-tower plan that received 30-year tax breaks from the city in 2009. The city asked for $2 million upfront to help close a budget shortfall. MEPT asked for the money back when the project fell apart.

The appellate panel ruled last year that state law does not permit cities to require prepayment of PILOTs in exchange for abatements.

MEPT also sought a return of $710,769 it contributed to the city’s affordable housing trust fund. The appellate panel ruled that state law allows municipalities to condition the awarding of tax abatements on contributions to housing trust funds.

The property in question remains vacant as Kushner Companies — run by the family of Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser — and KABR Group allege in federal court that Jersey City and Mayor Steve Fulop put a stop to the project because of Fulop’s animus toward Trump. Fulop has denied that charge.

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https://www.nj.com/hudson/2019/01/nj...rsey-city.html

[C.]

I'm no longer a Jersey City resident, but this was my favorite proposal since I lived in Journal Square. I think the curse is true and it will not be redeveloped anytime soon.

[chris08876]

Jersey City Loses Latest Battle With Kushner, Ordered to Pay Legal Fees

The bloom of spring hasn’t been particularly rosy for Jersey City’s lawyers, as the city will be forking over $137,000 in legal fees following a double dose of bad news at the courthouse.

The first setback happened just as the calendar turned to May and stems from the blockbuster Federal lawsuit filed by Kushner Companies last year. The case alleged that anti-Trump bias from the city was the root cause behind the company’s stalled One Journal Square project, and Kushner had filed a request for records from the city regarding various tax abatements that were granted to other developers at the time.

After the city told Kushner their request was “overly broad,” the company filed an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) lawsuit and won a favorable ruling from Judge Francis Schultz in Hudson County Court. The city will have to turn over the requested records and is liable for legal expenses because Kushner was the prevailing party, and Schultz ruled on April 29 that Jersey City will have to pay Kushner’s legal fees of $95,000.

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Jersey Digs

[citybooster]

Enough already, either the city has to make it worth the Kushner's while to go away and sell or somehow they have to work with the Kushners to get this damn thing built. It's in no one's interest to leave this place a gaping block of nothing. Stop with this crap already... I loathe just about everything Trump related, but this is about the future of the centerpiece of 21st century Journal Square and it's an embarrassment this is just playing along and nothing gets done.

[Crawford]

100% agreed with the above. The city needs to work collaboratively with the developers. Put aside the politics and the fact that the family is loathsome. Get it built.

[Skyguy_7]

This is big government/partisan politics at its worst. Harassment of private citizens for no apparent reason other than pophobia of the "other side" and rUsSiAn OliGArChs. The result: a scar on the cityscape where there would otherwise be a vibrant block of shops, homes, jobs and people to fill them.

[citybooster]

As for the above post, there are a lot of valid reasons to not lt the developers control everything... thankfully we aren't an exclusive enough place to build sky high towers that cost $50 million plus that more likely would be pied a terre arrangements for shady billionaires like the aforementioned Russian oligarchs... there's room for that in New York City but what we do need here is something that the above poster also states, something that will transform and make truly livable with apartments and shops and cultural venues nearby... bring life to a once shoddy area now even worse off because it's one big lifeless empty lot. I won't make any other political references outside of the main point of this forum, but things are a lot more complex then... government always bad, business always good.

[chris08876]

Credit: @Kevin__Bing

[chris08876]

Kushner’s controversial One Journal Square project receives approval to bring 1,700 units to Jersey City

After sitting vacant for over a decade, a large site in Jersey City’s Journal Square will soon be home to two 710-foot towers with over 1,700 units of housing. The Jersey City Planning Board on Tuesday approved Kushner Companies’ controversial One Journal Square project, signaling the beginning of the end of this development saga. The approval came after the city and the developer reached a settlement agreement last October over a lawsuit filed in 2018 against the city by Kushner Companies, run by the family of White House advisor Jared Kushner, that claimed officials stalled the project over “anti-Trump” sentiment.


Designed by Woods Bagot Architects, the skyscraper complex measures about two million square feet and consists of two 52-story towers rising from one 10-story podium. In total, there are 1,723 units of housing, 883 parking spaces, and space for retail and commercial use. Older plans had called for two 849 foot tall, 56-story towers with 1,512 residential units and a 56- and a 79-story tower with a total of 1,725 units.

Amenities at One Journal Square include a full-sized basketball court, pool, roof terrace, dog run, dining areas, and a landscaped public plaza surrounding the building.

“Kushner is excited to reach this milestone needed to get this pivotal project off the ground and make 1 Journal Square a reality,” Jenny Bernell, executive vice president of development for Kushner, told NJ.com in a statement. “We look forward to continuing a great collaboration with Jersey City.”

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6SQFT

[mrnyc]

i can't wait until he builds this so we can storm it!

[chris08876]

I'm content with the 1,723 units. On a philosophical note, in rendering land, those folks are not social distancing and no masks!

There's also two Japanese twins.



But its good for the neighborhood. I remember what this area use to be before the boom, it was a dump. Parking is annoying in this area though.

[Busy Bee]

Of all the iterations, is this the worst base?

Also can we burn this son of a bitch trump on the ashheap of history already?

[jbermingham123]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Of all the iterations, is this the worst base?

Also can we burn this son of a bitch trump on the ashheap of history already?

yeah i would say trump's base is definitely the worst base

as for the burning.. they say the fire of hell is just an ancient representation of how the universe (natural selection) seems to "burn away" all the ill-adapted variations of things.. trump is, in my most humble opinion, an ill-adapted variation, if you will

[NYguy]

https://jerseydigs.com/new-rendering...roundbreaking/

[rgarri4]

From my 3d model.

[Zapatan]

Nice! What are the really high ones near it?

[rgarri4]

808 Pavonia Avenue Towers and 30 Journal Square. There's actually a few towers missing in the area that I haven't gotten around to building.

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

Nice! What are the really high ones near it?

Part of the Journal Squared development. Note that the tallest is in Phase II, which was recently built.

1 more tower remaining in that complex.

I'm hoping URL P2, and P3 rise eventually (Urban Ready Living).

Edit: yeah what rgarri said, but presently, Journal Squared P2 is the highest in the area via completion.