City officials and developers came together Tuesday morning to kick off the construction of two privately built $500 million towers next to the Journal Square transportation center, a cornerstone in a long-term plan to revitalize the city’s one-time hub.
The fancy name given for the announcement was “Journal Square: The Renaissance.” The project won’t actually break ground until the end of the year, but the announcement was meant to mark the demolition of the deteriorating structures that once stood there, something the city had pursued for several years.
Longtime Journal Square businessman Lowell Harwood and Washington D.C.-based pension firm MEPT plan to build two residential towers, 43 and 61 stories, at the site. The two towers will include 1,615 new luxury rental apartments with outstanding river views and first class amenities, including a 40,000-square-foot rooftop terrace, fitness center, children’s play area, and swimming pool.
The towers will sit atop a seven-story base containing 70,000 square feet of retail and about 680 parking spaces. Signage and a dynamic public plaza will enliven the streetscape. The existing fountain, Christopher Columbus statue, and the little-used Neri Kiosk from Italy will be preserved.
After the announcement, Mayor Jerramiah Healy described the importance of the demolition.
“[The older buildings and shops] are gone, and something spectacular will be going up in their place,” Healy said.
Dignitaries at the ceremony said that One Journal Square will be built exclusively with union labor, and is expected to create approximately 800 construction-related jobs. In addition, the 70,000 square feet of retail, as well as the management of the residential and parking components, will generate approximately 300 permanent jobs.
‘Eyesores’ gone
The project may be the most significant transformation of Journal Square since the construction of the Journal Square Transportation Center in the early 1970s by the Port Authority.
The city has been trying for years to demolish some of the crumbling buildings in the area.
In November, 2004, a Jersey City Incinerator Authority employee said that when he was walking through a parking lot behind the buildings, he noticed pieces of concrete falling off a wall.
As a result, businesses ranging from a 99-cent store to grocery stores facing Sip Avenue had to be closed for inspections.
That led to Mayor Healy, just starting on the job after winning a special election, to proclaim the buildings “eyesores” and launching a legal battle against the Tawil family, owner of the buildings, to remedy the various violations.
Several buildings were torn down in 2006, and the Tawils ended up selling the land to Lowell Harwood. Harwood and the city worked together to start the revitalization of Journal Square.
Last year, the Journal Square Redevelopment Plan was formed to outline how to revitalize the Journal Square, adding 10,000 to 15,000 new residential units within a 244-acre area. The proposal also envisions development of thousands of square feet of commercial and retail space and 9 acres of park space.
But the plan was tabled by the City Council at a meeting last month, after members of the public spoke out against the plan, saying the plan would allow for skyscraper-type buildings, and usher in eminent domain that would force people from their homes.
City Council President Mariano Vega said the plan will be discussed again after the May 12 mayor/council election to wait until the “political silly season” is over.
The plan also has to be revised to deal with issues of height and density.
Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonrreporter.com.