JERSEY CITY | Projects and Construction thread

[Hamilton]

^^^ Fantastic news! But what a contrast to this other news from today:

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2...al_critic.html

Fulop initially reacted to Boggiano's opposition by labeling him an obstructionist. In October 2013, Fulop said Boggiano opposes his initiatives "just for the sake of saying no." But in recent months Fulop's public statements on Boggiano have softened. In his Ward C state of the city speech, Fulop pledged to work with Boggiano on one of the councilman's pet issues, revising the Journal Square redevelopment plan to discourage high-density developments in residential neighborhoods.

[C.]

Too important not to bump.

Originally Posted by CIA

Journal Squared is 22.8% leased (122 units) as of March 27, after being on the market for 24 days.

• Video Link

Journal Squared leasing starts out strong
More than 120 units gobbled up in opening weeks
By Mario Marroquin, March 27, 2017 at 4:00 AM

[C.]

Originally Posted by Hamilton

^^^ Fantastic news! But what a juxtaposition to this:

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2...al_critic.html

Rich Boggiano is an interesting guy. I use to think he was anti-development, but it's much more nuanced than that. He's not opposed to development, and is one of the biggest supporters of 101 Newkirk, even after it soared to 50 stories.

He does provide a strong voice to the community he serves, particularly the Hilltop neighborhood. If the community doesn't have a problem with a particular development, neither does Boggiano. If their is community opposition, he will fight it tooth and nail.

There really needs to be a pro-growth Journal Square chapter formed to counteract NIMBY BS to keep the current plan in place. There is enough supporters out there, but we're so disorganized.

[Hamilton]

The question is whether a couple of people who are angry enough to show up and complain really represent the community. There are sometimes even people with antiquated and often explicitly exclusionary or even racist views, too.

Anyway, that's why it's been heartening to see the support for new development at the New JSQ Association meetings. The 14-story tower on 232 Sip is all the way on the farthest edge of the JSQ Redevelopment Plan, yet the residents in the room, were still generally supportive. That's especially remarkable given that these types of meetings tend to attract an outsized share of NIMBYs.

I think Boggiano's Hilltop Neighborhood Association has alienated a lot of pro-development people, but they seem to be coming out for the New JSQ Association, which takes a reasonable and less adversarial approach.

[Hamilton]

Originally Posted by CIA

Too important not to bump.

Yup : . I'll say it again, very exciting news! It explains why Harwood seemed in such a rush to move ahead with its plans for the Arts District. When they presented their plans they repeatedly referred to details of the leasing at Journal Squared. Obviously they have some moles in the Journal Squared leasing office who told them how well it's going.

Also, according to the Hilltop Neighborhood Association group on Yahoo, the developers of 500 Summit Ave (the HAP tower) met with them again on January 30. A resident took down the following notes:

• The building will be 458 ft high - max 42 stories (JSQ towers are 700 ft high) - will be on the footprint on the parking lot and then a park behind it all the way to Baldwin Avenue.
• Luxury rentals
• It will have sustainable components
• The park would have 3 entry points - Summit Ave, East St and Baldwin Avenue, have a neighborhood center, playground and retail.
• The park will be a total of 800 ft. (3/4 acre when finished)
• The park will be given to the city but maintained by the building
• Parking (230 spots) would be under the building and portions of the park (it would be underneath) - available to building residents and community to use
• Proposed that parking would exit from Baldwin Ave and West St and spill onto Magnolia - that received a lot of negative feedback - they said they would look at Summit Avenue exit
• Once the building gets approved - it will take 2 - 3 years to finish
• They presented renditions of the building and the proposed park
• Feedback was given about the traffic, the security, where would the construction trucks go, how would deliveries be handled.

Not much new information, but surprised to see this long-dormant plan showing signs of life. Boggiano said in the Yahoo group that he's pushing to limit development at the site to 8 stories.

[limak116]

Ladies and gentlemen.... https://jerseydigs.com/journal-squar...-ave-proposal/

[C.]

Originally Posted by limak116

Ladies and gentlemen.... https://jerseydigs.com/journal-squar...-ave-proposal/

Nice!

[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?

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by CIA

Nice!

Manhattanization at its finest. JC is blooming wildly. Now... we just need Newark to go through a super boom. And it will happen! Just watch.

Just need the NIMBYs to go away though and not ruin a good thing.

[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.

[C.]

Originally Posted by chris08876

Manhattanization at its finest. JC is blooming wildly. Now... we just need Newark to go through a super boom. And it will happen! Just watch.

Just need the NIMBYs to go away though and not ruin a good thing.

Does anyone have the time and resources to start a pro development community organization on facebook. We need to organize! 808 Pavonia is good, but falls short of the full potential envisioned for the area in the Journal Square 2060 plan. Hartz Mountain is too timid. We need someone that can see the potential and take the necessary risks to deliver something incredible.

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by CIA

Does anyone have the time and resources to start a pro development community organization on facebook. We need to organize!

We should get a beer summit one day in the city going. We can get yimby himself, walpole, vg, ried, and anybody else who wants to join.

Organization first starts with some good whiskey or beer.

[Hamilton]

Does anyone have the time and resources to start a pro development community organization on facebook.

Yeah, we should really work toward this. In the meantime, it's important for us to show up and be heard at community meetings and planning board meetings, especially for projects close to our homes. Of course, it's good not to overdo it by beiing too strident or comment in favor of every single project in JC. But a bit of pushback on the typical NIMBY tripe goes a long way.

If you want help sometime with organizing anything, CIA, just let me know! PM me. Beer sounds like a great step!

[Hamilton]

Speaking of community involvement, the New JSQ Association is having a meeting on Wednesday, April 5 at 2737 Kennedy Blvd (Starting Points) to discuss the following projects:

2 projects sponsored by the Namdar Group:

• Homestead Assemblage – a proposed mixed-use ground-up development on multiple sites located in Journal Square between Newark Ave and the new Journal Squared Building. The developer is proposing to deliver a pedestrian promenade starting from Newark Avenue and leading directly to the PATH entrance under the new Journal Squared Tower. The pedestrian promenade will be a cobble stone, pedestrian-only, street lined with restaurants and retail shops on the ground floor and a mix of other uses on the upper floors to include commercial, office, Residential, and a Hotel Development on the upper floors. There are a total of five buildings proposed in the Homestead Assemblage, with building heights ranging from 18 to 25 floors.
  
• Central Avenue Extension – a proposed mixed-use ground-up development to be located on the corner of Newark Ave (626 Newark Ave) and the proposed Central Avenue Extension. Hudson County has been planning to extend Central Avenue for about 10 years to better help support the connection of the Heights Community to Journal Square Transportation Center. The developer is proposing to construct and deliver the Central Avenue extension street as designed by Hudson County and seen on the Journal Square 2060 Redevelopment Plan. The project is proposed to include 3 mixed-use towers with ground and second floor retail along with offices on the tower base floors and residential units on the upper floors. The buildings are proposed to range in height from 23 to 27 floors.

The other projects are:

• 500 Summit Avenue - across from the former Burger King site. The proposal is for a 42-story residential building with ground floor retail and interior parking. The proposal also calls for the construction of a public park and community space.
  
• 28 Vroom Street – a five-story residential building with twenty-four units with balcony and outdoor space for the residents

It seems everyone's found out about the quick leasing at Journal Squared, and is ready to jump on the bandwagon. It's nuts!

[Hamilton]

Here are renderings of 28 Vroom (I think CIA might've posted them before) from the architects' website:

[chris08876]

I've noticed some of these low rises are heavy with the brown/dark brown brick facade. Quite like it. Gives it an old world charm. Hoboken seems to be getting a couple that are similar to 28 Vroom in terms of the facade.

[C.]

Originally Posted by Hamilton

Speaking of community involvement, the New JSQ Association is having a meeting on Wednesday, April 5 at 2737 Kennedy Blvd (Starting Points) to discuss the following projects:

2 projects sponsored by the Namdar Group:

• Homestead Assemblage – a proposed mixed-use ground-up development on multiple sites located in Journal Square between Newark Ave and the new Journal Squared Building. The developer is proposing to deliver a pedestrian promenade starting from Newark Avenue and leading directly to the PATH entrance under the new Journal Squared Tower. The pedestrian promenade will be a cobble stone, pedestrian-only, street lined with restaurants and retail shops on the ground floor and a mix of other uses on the upper floors to include commercial, office, Residential, and a Hotel Development on the upper floors. There are a total of five buildings proposed in the Homestead Assemblage, with building heights ranging from 18 to 25 floors.
  
• Central Avenue Extension – a proposed mixed-use ground-up development to be located on the corner of Newark Ave (626 Newark Ave) and the proposed Central Avenue Extension. Hudson County has been planning to extend Central Avenue for about 10 years to better help support the connection of the Heights Community to Journal Square Transportation Center. The developer is proposing to construct and deliver the Central Avenue extension street as designed by Hudson County and seen on the Journal Square 2060 Redevelopment Plan. The project is proposed to include 3 mixed-use towers with ground and second floor retail along with offices on the tower base floors and residential units on the upper floors. The buildings are proposed to range in height from 23 to 27 floors.

The other projects are:

• 500 Summit Avenue - across from the former Burger King site. The proposal is for a 42-story residential building with ground floor retail and interior parking. The proposal also calls for the construction of a public park and community space.
  
• 28 Vroom Street – a five-story residential building with twenty-four units with balcony and outdoor space for the residents

It seems everyone's found out about the quick leasing at Journal Squared, and is ready to jump on the bandwagon. It's nuts!

I read your post yesterday and wow, just wow. That retail lined cobblestone path connecting to PATH sounds really cool. No wonder they're looking to revise the Journal Square plan. It's about to go nuclear.

[Hamilton]

I looked at the JSQ 2060 plan again closely, and I don't think that either the Homestead Assemblage or the Central Ave Extension project are allowed as-of-right under the plan. I'd be curious to see the particulars, but all of the Central Ave Extension site and most of the Homstead Aseemblage are zoned for 65' max...

I can't imagine either of them happening under the current political climate. Especially the Homestead Assemblage, which is next to some 3-story brick row houses and Victorians on Van Reipen Ave; that's an easy target for NIMBYs especially when a variance or rezoning would be needed in order to build these. But it's possible that the developers already worked something out with the councilman and mayor... after all, the county has been trying to get this Central Ave Extension built for a long time, and so they may see it as a worthwhile tradeoff.

Perhaps we'll find out more on Wednesday.