JERSEY CITY | Projects and Construction thread

[C.]

Protestors at Journal Square fighting the tax abatement for One Journal Square. Citing Trump, Kushner. Part of larger organized effort by someone.

[citybooster]

Screw that... as much as I'm no fan of the guy in the White House, the Kushners represent the best chance to get things moving here and whoever has the agenda to start nipping at the heels of One Journal Square hopefully nothing wil come out of it. And Kushners, get busy on One Journal Square for goodness sakes... the other Kushners are very close to starting the second and largest tower at their own Journal Square transforming project, Journal Square. I heard they were going to start soon but we've heard that music for years since the Harwoods promised to transform the Square with nothing to show for it. You've got the money, now get busy!

[limak116]

I wonder if the delay has anything to do with this.... http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2..._by_judge.html

[C.]

Originally Posted by limak116

I wonder if the delay has anything to do with this.... http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2..._by_judge.html

My sense is now. This is still at the FAA for approval and has recently gotten a design change. There is also an awarding of a tax abatement vote planned for tonight.

[Hamilton]

Hudson county population estimate for 2016: 677,983, an increase of ~4,200 (or 0.5%) from the estimate for 2015. Estimates for 2015 were revised downward by 1,000 from the ones provided last year.

http://www.recordonline.com/news/201...nsus-estimates

[C.]

I was looking at a website with an incorrect aspect ratio for Journal Squared, and it hit me how much this building looks like 432 Park. The coming 70 floor building should be interesting on the skyline.

[Dariusb]

Originally Posted by CIA

I was looking at a website with an incorrect aspect ratio for Journal Squared, and it hit me how much this building looks like 432 Park. The coming 70 floor building should be interesting on the skyline.

How tall is this bad boy?

[C.]

55 Jordan Avenue (26 Tuers Avenue, 535-545 Mercer Street), 16 floors, 267 dwelling units (53 units affordable), 4,340 sq ft of retail space, approved!
165-169, 173 Academy Street, 18 floors, 176 units, 3,560 sq ft of retail space, 17,220 sq ft of office space, approved!

That's some very nice infill coming to Journal Square. Nice to see some mixed-use and office space coming too. The rule of thumb is roughly 300 sq ft per worker for office space so that should be good for about 55 office workers or so. The new residents and workers in the retail and office crowd should encourage more retail to be attracted to the area. Existing businesses should also see a nice bump in patronage.

[C.]

Journal Squared is first in and is leasing about 5 units a day. By the end of June this year, they should be fully leased up if this pace continues. It should become easier to lease as the area becomes more established and more retail options open up.

Journal Square is getting a lot of publicity, especially since it's a way to escape the city income taxes while still being in Manhattan in 15 minutes by PATH train. The future is so bright, we're going to need sunglasses.

[Crawford]

I don't doubt many of the NIMBYs are racists, and am almost certain they hold antiquated viewpoints.

Let me guess, here are their concerns:

1. Not enough free parking spaces for me and my buddies, who like to pretend this is rural Pennsylvania instead of a transit-rich, walkable neighborhood.
2. Buildings are too tall; who would actually build a tall building in the middle of the biggest metropolitan center in the Western world?
3. I hate all change because I'm old and the neighborhood looked different in 1958. I also miss stickball and typewriter repair stores.
4. I don't like "outsiders", especially different races, religions, cultures and viewpoints.
5. I have nothing better to do with my time than try and stop progress; plus I'm jealous of people who are upwardly mobile.

I have no doubt that each of these viewpoints will be expressed. And it has nothing to do with Jersey City; NIMBYs will have the exact same comments in Brooklyn, California, wherever. I've been to such meetings and have heard utterly vile, bigoted statements, and absurd misunderstanding of neighborhood changes.

The problem is that only like 1% of a neighborhood gets involved in these meetings and it's almost always old folks who are angry and have nothing better to do with their time. I've been to meetings in Brooklyn where the neighborhood activists are almost all Italian even though the neighborhood hasn't been Italian in 50 years. They had the meetings in the neighborhood Senior Center, and the senior residents basically were the only ones who showed up. These are actually the people voting on such things at the neighborhood level.

I remember some 90 year old lady screaming about "stop the Spanish people from coming!". I was confused until it was explained to me she wasn't talking about Spaniards, but Latinos, except Latinos started entering her neighborhood in the 1950's. Welcome to 2017, lady.

[Hamilton]

Its completely true that neighborhood groups and community boards often end up with these sort of problems. But like I said twice already here, what I've seen from our new association is a much more inclusionary tone and much more reasonable and respectful discourse than i expected from seeing how other groups operate. In general people understand the need for new housing, for reinvigorating the empty storefronts in the area, and for making the streets safer and more pleasant. They understand its a give and take.

And people with the group are trying to reach out to the parts of the community that tend to be underrepresented at these sort of things. It's a lot less alienating and more welcoming than the vast majority of neighborhood groups, such as Hilltop. Its actually really exciting. I encourage everyone to join.

[Oron Zchut]

Hi guys - trying to figure out where the Homestead Assemblage is. Is it essentially an extension of Homestead Place all the way up to Newark Ave?

[Hamilton]

[double post]

[Hamilton]

^^^ Yes. The proposed pedestrian plaza is the purple line leading north from Pavonia Ave on this map:


If you look in Satellite View on Google maps, you'll see parking lots on either end of Homestead Place. And on the north side of Van Reipen Ave where Homestead Pl ends, you'll see an empty lot and a Victorian house. The Victorian house has since been demolished (the empty lot also had a Victorian house until about 4 years ago). North of that, on the south side of Cottage St, is a medical office building with a driveway to its west, and a synagogue to the west of that.

Then from the north side of Cottage St, a driveway leads to a municipal parking lot on the south side of Newark.

Presumably the assemblage includes the parking lots on Homestead, the vacant lots on Van Reipen, the medical offices on Cottage, and the municipal lot on Newark.

[JCResident_Now&4Ever]

I'm not going to argue with Hamilton and CIA, I agree with some of the things you've brought up but it's pretty funny how opinionated you both are about about the area. Given the fact that I am a minority under the age of 40 who has lived in the area over 35 years.... .Now i am not the poster boy for the area ... but I'm pretty sure I am not who you describe us to be.

Contrary to your belief... many of the proposed ideas have been brought up in the past and I can tell you - the residents and home owners didn't object then and could care less about a large building being made in the area - I will say it again - Homeowners and residents do not care about what is being built. As a tax payer we care about other things.

Here are the list of things people really care about:

1. Safety - more people more police and emergency services needed (just in case) - do we have enough police and fire fighters to support these large buildings which will not pay taxes?

2. Parking - Let's get real - the only reason we care about parking is because it's a problem already for an area that is not at full capacity with the proposed buildings. Yes we could think of ideas to combat it but until those ideas are proposed with the construction plans - then it's an issue. I'm ok with building Muni Parking centers .... because we know if you can afford $2700 for 2 br apt - you can afford $200 a month in parking.

3. Tax Abatement - I really care about the fact that the reason many projects have been pushed the last 5 years are the tax abatement that is received from developers - Granted that is a good way to increase development within the area but not when the current residents and homeowners are having their properties tax assessed over the summer.

4. Local Schools - I'm assuming that some of the population will be attending schools in the area? Or are the develops assuming no one living in this area will need to go to public schools. Since there are tax abatement for every building being built ... what about residents who send their kids to schools in the area?

Everything else ... we care less about - go ahead and build a 90 story building.... we don't care.

You see - I noticed your comments are insensitive to the people who live in the area - its easy to accuse us of being racists and non cooperative to everything. But given the area is very multi cultural - I can attest - we are not racists or antiquated - we welcome a future for the area. We've seen our neighborhood go through ups and downs... and trust i'm not shy to speak up for my neighborhood people but I will not allow others to falsify our image.

Maybe the people pushing their agendas and not wanting to listen to the people of the area .... maybe they are the racist and maybe they are the ones who don't care about the people in the area and will enjoy the gentrification of them? Who knows?

[Hamilton]

You keep acting like I made a negative sweeping comment about the people who live in the area. But I didn't. Don't accuse me of saying things I didn't say.

Originally Posted by JCResident_Now&4Ever

it's pretty funny how opinionated you both are about about the area.

Why is it funny that I'm opinionated about my neighborhood? I'm a resident of the neighborhood too; it's my neighborhood too. We all have a right to live here and have our opinions.

but I'm pretty sure I am not who you describe us to be.

Then I'm not talking about you. And like I said, I'm not talking about most people in the area. Don't take it personally, especially if it doesn't apply to you. I was talking in general about the kind of people who resist any and ALL change in general. I NEVER described the residents of the area negatively. How many times do I have to say that I think it's great that people at our community meetings are actually reasonable and not reflexively against every change? How many times do I have to say that people in our area are MORE REASONABLE than at other neighborhood associations? Why do you keep ignoring this and acting like I'm making blanket statements about the people of our community? I'm not.

Contrary to your belief... many of the proposed ideas have been brought up in the past and I can tell you - the residents and home owners didn't object then and could care less about a large building being made in the area - I will say it again - Homeowners and residents do not care about what is being built.

Like I said, I'm glad that not many people in our neighborhood association aren't reflexively against change. But go take a look at the Hilltop meetings...they tried to build a 6-story building over on Perrine and Boggiano said it would "bust up the neighborhood" and said that anyone who wants to build "tall buildings" (6 stories) on side streets 5 minutes away from the PATH station need to "get the hell out of our neighborhood." He even said that the construction of apartment buildings is "busting up the neighborhood"...as if people who live in apartments can't contribute to the neighborhood. So you might not care if they put up a 90 story building, but some people in the neighborhood flip out if they even put up even a SIX story building, two blocks from the PATH, close to other apartment buildings that have been up for years. THAT's the sort of attitude that I was calling antiquated and exclusionary. They showed up at city meetings until the city voted it down. But that's not even going to stop the building, just cost the taxpayer thousands of dollars in lawsuits because the building was as-of right so the developer will sue the city. He'll win, and then he'll put up his building and get the judge will order the city to pay his legal fees. The same thing happened with another building Boggiano and the Hilltop people opposed. The city lost five times in court...and those lawyers weren't cheap. If you disagree with that, then we're on the same side.

You see - I noticed your comments are insensitive to the people who live in the area - its easy to accuse us of being racists and non cooperative to everything. But given the area is very multi cultural - I can attest - we are not racists or antiquated - we welcome a future for the area. We've seen our neighborhood go through ups and downs... and trust i'm not shy to speak up for my neighborhood people but I will not allow others to falsify our image.

I NEVER said "the people who live in the area are antiquated and racist" or anything derogatory about the people in the area in general. That would be pretty funny, because I LIVE IN THE AREA, so I'd have to be saying it about myself. I love my neighborhood and the people here. I said that some NIMBYs (a word for people who reflexively resist any and all change in a neighborhood) tend to be antiquated and have racist views. My comments are only addressed to the people who ARE automatically opposed to everything. One more time: I don't think that applies to our community association; and it probably doesn't apply to you. I don't know why you keep taking things the wrong way or assuming that they're about YOU in particular or about all of us residents of the neighborhood.

We're probably neighbors, and we probably both want our neighborhood to be the best that it can be. We seem to agree on a lot--particularly the need to invest in our infrastructure so it keeps up with growth, and making sure developers contribute their fair share to that. I'm glad that our neighborhood is pushing for more parks, schools, sewers, and transit capacity. We disagree on some points, but many of your concerns sound reasonable, just like the vast majority of people at our community meetings...so don't take offense. I'm glad most people at our meetings talk about what we can do to make sure our neighborhood can absorb the growth, and not just using that as an excuse to oppose everything.

The reason I care about people who want to keep everything exactly the way it is, is because we need to build more housing to keep people from being pushed out of the neighborhood as new, wealthier residents move in (which they will do, whether we build new buildings or not). I want there to be enough housing for everyone.

[Hamilton]

Updates:

Homestead Pl and Central Ave Extension

• This project does require a rezoning in order to happen.
• They probably won't have trouble getting the rezoning. They've shown it to several councilmen, as well as the City Planner, and all were very enthusiastic. And at the neighborhood meeting, everyone who spoke was supportive of the plan and very excited about it. It seems like a slam dunk.
• The plan Homestead assemblage is actually 4 towers with heights ranging from 18 to 25 stories. In addition, there would be two more towers at the Central Ave Extension site on the northwest intersection with Newark Ave.
• The sites under consideration for the Homestead project are: The vacant lots on the north side of Van Reipen Ave across from Homestead Pl where two houses once stood; the synagogue on the south side of Cottage Pl; and the municipal parking lot on Newark Ave. But the rezoning will also cover the two horrible McLaughlin Funeral parking lots on Pavonia Ave. Apparently they can't get them to sell, but hopefully the rezoning will encourage them to redevelop these eyesores.
• This project would result in a pedestrian extension of Homestead Pl to Newark Ave, inspired by Stone St in Manhattan
• The developer, Namdar Group, does not control the municipal parking lot on Newark Ave. The JCRA will issue a Request for Proposals to sell this lot, and they will submit a proposal involving a hotel on that site, to include a parking garage to replace the existing lot.
• Here's a conceptual rendering, looking south toward the Journal Squared tower in the background:
• 

500 Summit Ave

• The developer, HAP, says that they're fully financed and ready to start digging, as soon as they get approvals.
• In fact, they've already closed the parking lot on the site.
• But approvals are the hard part...the city settled litigation with them several years ago to allow them to erect a 42-story tower as-of-right, but the current councilman is vehemently opposed to the tower, and has persuaded the city to renege on its agreement. That has resulted in renewed litigation...the city lost the first round, but they've appealed to NJ Superior Court, so who knows how long it will all take to play out in court. It's kind of frustrating that, of all the projects in the Square, the project that has seen the most pushback and opposition is the one most ready and eager to get shovels in the ground.
• As has been mentioned previously, they would construct a 42-story, 458-ft tower with a .75 acre park/playground, ~700 apartments, and ~260 parking spaces.
• The architect, CetraRuddy, is the same one that created the previously released renderings, so I don't think the design has chagned much. Here are the renderings of the base:
• 
• 

[JCResident_Now&4Ever]

I should be actually thanking both of you CIA and Hamilton - Because of my discovery of your opinions - I've been going door to door in the Redevelopment Zone (not the between Tonelle and West Side Folks) and letting the poor racist and old people know what are the opinions held by those who promote growth in the community.... it isn't growth ... it's $$$ that they want..... it's ok .. .thanks guys... keep up the good work...

[C.]

Originally Posted by JCResident_Now&4Ever

I should be actually thanking both of you CIA and Hamilton - Because of my discovery of your opinions - I've been going door to door in the Redevelopment Zone (not the between Tonelle and West Side Folks) and letting the poor racist and old people know what are the opinions held by those who promote growth in the community.... it isn't growth ... it's $$$ that they want..... it's ok .. .thanks guys... keep up the good work...

Have fun with that.

You've got to be a troll. If not, I'm going to be at the next Journal Square Neighborhood Association meeting. Please come talk to me.

[JCResident_Now&4Ever]

Its funny - I'm part of the association also and I paid my dues .... so i'll make sure I talk to you.