Jersey City planning head Robert Cotter was beaming over three projects approved at Tuesday night’s Planning Board meeting, saying they are $300 to $400 million of development that when rented and/or sold will bring in “three-quarter of a billion dollars” in ratables to the city.
Approved were three residential towers on Washington Blvd. near the Doubletree Hotel that will see a total of 674 units built along with 767 parking spaces, as well as an addition to the hotel.
Also, the board approved the renovation of three buildings of the old St. Francis Hospital on McWilliams Place next to Hamilton Park. That project is expected to start later this summer, with demolition slated on a limited basis with construction to follow. This renovation will yield 225 residential units, 180 parking spaces, and 62,057 sq. ft. of retail.
The board also gave the go-ahead to the developers of the old American Can building on Dey Street near the city’s Journal Square area. What was specifically requested by the developers was to amend their construction plan to allow for a decrease in the size of parking spaces and creation of an area of open space.
The renovation of the factory building will be done in two phases, with construction expected to start later this fall. The developer, New York-based Coalco Construction Services, seeks to build 551 residential units with 480 parking spaces.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. St. Francis Hospital ready to go
It was only a matter of time before the St. Francis Hospital Redevelopment Project would be approved. The day before the Planning Board meeting, the city’s Historic Preservation Commission approved the site plan, but with conditions. They included making sure the façade of the hospital facing Hamilton Park complies with its location in a historic district, and making sure the entrances to the ground-floor retail be less noticeable.
The project will be done in three phases, with construction to be completed in three years.
The developers are Jersey City-based Exeter Properties, with brothers Eric and Paul Silverman at the helm.
There was a presentation by the project’s architect, Frank Demmerle, for the Planning Board. The project also calls for opening a section of Pavonia Avenue that had closed off for years when the hospital was a section of the old hospital was built on top of it.
There is also a second phase will entail constructing a nine-story 105-foot tall building on the site of an existing garage on Erie Street that will include 56 dwelling units, ground floor retail, and parking, and a third phase will include the construction of a 35-unit, five-story residential building on a vacant parking lot on Tenth Street, with no parking.
There are also plans to improve Hamilton Park by installing new lighting, changing the parking on McWilliams Place from head-on to parallel, and rebuilding the sidewalks.
At the Planning Board meeting, developer Eric Silverman was commended by the board for his constant effort in meeting with the residents living in the area to address their concerns.
He also received some criticism from residents for having too much influence over the redevelopment plan for his project, rather than being completely subject to a plan created by the city’s redevelopment agency.
Janice Monson, who has lived near Hamilton Park for almost 30 years, complimented Silverman as well.
“He has changed this plan over and over and he is working with us to redo the park,” said Branum. “We’re just waiting for him to just get it done.” Traffic concerns
The American Can Company building project, known tentatively as Canco, brought out several area residents to Tuesday’s meeting.
Their main concern is traffic as new residential units will be located in an area near Tonnele Avenue and Pulaski Skyway that is already congested with cars during morning and evening rush hour.
Luis Santiago is a resident of Brunswick Towers, a residential complex located on Liberty Avenue only a block away from the American Can Company building. Santiago, who is also the president of the condo association at Brunswick Towers, pointed out that his association met recently with the developers of the project to convince them to reduce the units they are building from 575 to 551. This was meant to decrease the burden of new residents bringing their cars into the area, since there is a less than one-to-one ratio of parking spaces to residential units for the project.
He was joined by other residents in the building, who like Santiago welcomed the project, but wanted to impress upon the city’s Planning Department that developments should have an equal amount of parking spaces to units. Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.