City of Jersey City

These are primarily focused on the waterfront and were part of the “legacy” land left after the collapse of railroads in Jersey City and in the case of Colgate Center and NOHO (north of Holland Tunnel) repurposed industrial land.

First the downtown historic districts, Hamilton Park, Van Vorst, Paulus Hook and Harsimus Cove are the oldest and perhaps the most important in the context of redevelopment of the City. These districts have been the cornerstone of redevelopment of the city and today are the most stable neighborhoods in the city.  The importance of these districts in the redevelopment of the city can’t be overestimated. More recently the city and residents have joined together to study and form other historic district in the city. The West Side Historic District being the most recent. (Bergen Hill is eligible of historic district status, but not designated.) The city has three areas designated or zoned as “arts districts”, they are the Powerhouse Arts District (PAD), Riverview Arts District and the Journal Square Arts District, that wraps the historic Loews theater.

These are neighborhoods that are moving in the right direction in terms of reinvestment of money or community leadership or both. In most, but not all, these are neighborhoods where the city has established a “redevelopment plan” and the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency (JCRA) has taken an active interest, with ongoing projects and designations. Harbor Place, McGinley Square and Greenville come to mind. And some, like Lafayette (Morris Canal) are rapidly transitioning from emerging markets to trending hot. The reason for the transition? In most cases, it’s one or two catalytic or game changing projects!

We show three developing markets on this year’s map. Two of the areas, Canal Crossing and Bayfront, are large 100-acre (40.47 ha) redevelopment zones that are posed for future growth in 2019. In the case of Bayfront, the City of Jersey City is acquiring the entire site from its partner Honeywell. The City presently owns a 39% interest in the project. In 2019, they will own the entire site. Given the city’s ability to change zoning, designate redevelopers, issue infrastructure bonds and PILOTs, the city should have no problem jump starting this project. In Canal Crossing, the Federal Department of Treasury has just designated Canal Crossing as an Opportunity Zone. This should help move this transit oriented redevelopment area forward in 2019.  And finally, Historic Bergen Hill’s southern tip, bordering Jackson Hill, is a developing market. We anticipate, in the next few years, as Monticello Ave continues its progress, that this area will transition as an emerging market, as the northern tip of Bergen Hill begins to redevelop.

These are neighborhoods that due to reinvestment, redevelopment, supportive community groups and institutions, are seeing real project starts and both Planning Board and Board of Adjustment activity enough to suggest, the neighborhood is trending hot. Three of these areas, are not in Downtown. One, the Village is located Downtown, is the beneficiary of being in the “path of growth” Downtown. However, the others, are direct creations of a tri-party agreement between the city, anchor institutions (New Jersey City University), the residents and the development community. In all three cases, its impossible to separate the redevelopment of these communities from the critical role of each of the partners. The hard work of the leadership of the Morris Canal CDC, along with the JCRA, the Division of Planning, the executive support of the Mayor and City Council, helped set the stage for the private sector to step in to redevelop Lafayette. They are all critical pieces to the redevelopment puzzle. The same is true for Journal Square, just substitute the New Journal Square Community Group for Morris Canal CDC. And in the case of University Place, the West Campus Redevelopment Plan, was sponsored by New Jersey City University (NJCU) in February of 2005 with ground breakings in 2017, thanks to State of New Jersey’s PPP legislation.  It’s no mystery that all three of these communities continue to trend hot and move forward.

This year’s map shows two areas where the game changing “halo” has had positive impact on the community at large. Once again, Journal Squared, the game changer in the “Square” has paved the way for many other projects in the Square and surrounding neighborhoods. The first tower has become an immediate landmark in the city, a visible reference point to the Central Business District (CBD), from around the city and county. The second tower, 70 story, is presently under construction and will be another exclamation point on the redevelopment of the CBD. All three of the “journal Squared” towers would not be possible without a Transit Hub grant from the State of New Jersey, for $33,000,000 and an aggressive PILOT from the city. A few miles south, Rivet, the 163 unit, mixed use project developed on University Place, by Claremont Development, has developed another “halo” in Jersey City, this time on the south west side of the city. Rivet, the first of seven projects that are being developed on the University Place were made possible by the innovative Public-Private-Partnership legislation of the State and a PILOT by the City. Rivet was not the first project on the West Side, but it is the largest and first project with a full amenities package built south of Montgomery Street.