It all started with a one-dollar sale to a city agency.
Back in the early 1980s a billionaire shipping magnate named Daniel K. Ludwig had acquired some property on the Jersey City waterfront. The problem? The Army Corps of Engineers would not let him rebuild the rotting piers or build onto the water or adjoining land because it would hamper the natural habitat of migrating fish.
Long story short, Ludwig got tired of paying real estate taxes on a huge, largely underwater piece of property that would never be productive, so he sold it to the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency for one dollar.
The JCRA got the property because someone in the agency had worked in Ludwig’s shipping company.
“The process was to evaluate whether or not a marina would make sense there.” Robert Antonicello
________
But not now. In the last 30 years, soaring high rises, both residential and commercial, have turned the industrial waterfront into a modern commercial hub with financial services companies, chain hotels, and high-end restaurants.
Since the 1970s the river has gotten cleaner, and recreational boating has increased. Three marinas – Liberty Landing, Liberty Harbor, and Newport – already serve the public and the boating community, and the JCRA wants a fourth.
The land in question spans 32 acres at the foot of Second Street, running roughly to Sixth Street in front of Crystal Point and Avalon Cove and in front of Lefrak properties at Newport.
The JCRA is now talking to one developer about creating that fourth marina.
Fast forward
The project went through numerous twists and turns to get closer to fruition.
Between 2005, when a market study was commissioned, and the present, the property underwent a number of tests and inspections, including a site assessment, a visit from the New Jersey Department of Environment Protection, hydrographic survey, engineering survey, and sediment testing.
When Antonicello became director of JCRA, the agency began to take stock of the properties it owned. Ben Delisle, JCRA director of development, brought up the one-dollar, former Ludwig real estate.
They discussed the 2005 market study that was commissioned to analyze the cost of building a marina, sea wall, fishing dock, and amenities for the community.
“The process was to evaluate whether or not a marina would make sense there,” said Antonicello, “and to commit agency resources to hiring an engineer and looking at environmental conditions.”
In 2008 the agency advertised that it was looking for anybody interested in building a marina at that location to submit a “letter of interest and statement of qualifications,” which, Antonicello explained, is more casual than a RFP, or request for proposals.
At the same time, the City of Jersey City adopted an Open Space and Recreation Master Plan, which included the marina.
Subsequently, the agency heard from six firms and developers.
“Some had existing marinas on the Hudson, some did not. “Antonicello said.
At that time, the economy was in free fall, so it wasn’t until last summer that the marina issue again surfaced in a serious way.
“It was time to look back at the marina,” Antonicello said. “The economy was kicking back up, and we were thinking about doing a RFP.”
Antonicello said he wanted the process to be transparent and he wanted the agency to cast a wide net. That’s why they advertised as far south as the Asbury Park Press. “We wanted a shore presence in Monmouth and Ocean Counties,” Antonicello said. “We weren’t interested in just local distribution, and we were contacted from people as far away as Canada who had seen the RFP and knew it was out there.”
Part of the marina complex would be right in front of Crystal Point, the luxury residential high rise. JCRA and Crystal Point worked together so that the public would have access to the obligatory walkway in front of the property as well as the marina and its amenities.
Rough waters
Antonicello says he prides himself on transparency. He made a point of putting the letter of interest and RFP online and advertised the RFP in a broad range of media outlets.
Nevertheless, he said, one architectural firm “made a deliberate effort to scuttle the RFP process.”
The company is Design Concept Depot. That creative team was formed by venture capitalist and Jersey City resident Raphael D’Angelis, who recently disclosed his elaborate design for the marina complex in the local press.
In the story, D’Angelis said he submitted his proposal to the state Department of Environmental Protection rather than to the JCRA.
The reason? He said his design concept required building out onto the river, which is owned by the state, and the DEP is the regulatory body that approves projects that incorporate water rights.
He also said that his project was “outside the scope” of the JCRA’s RFP.
The story prompted Antonicello to fire off a letter of protest. He wrote, in part, “The RFP contained no language that would have precluded the project Mr. D’Angelis describes.”
According to D’Angelis, his plan would feature a mixed-use complex of high-end retail shops and restaurants, five-star hotel, front-office corporate headquarters, indoor/outdoor art park, 3,000-seat performing arts center, and 100-slip marina.
Antonicello continued in his letter, “Perhaps Mr. D’Angelis’s most disturbing reference was made regarding his submission to the NJDEP. We cannot fathom how the NJDEP would consider such a project without the input from legal and rightful owners of the property. Mr. D’Angelis failed to participate in the process and submit a RFP. In the absence of any pertinent information as required by the RFP, the agency was left with no other choice but to move forward .. with those respondents through its RFP evaluations.”
Begging to differ
D’Angelis told the Jersey City Reporter that he had no intention of “scuttling” the RFP process but he does disagree with the RFP itself. (To view the RFP visit http://www.thejcra.org/jcra_files/File/development_projects/jcmarina/JC%20Marina%20RFP.pdf)
While reiterating his point about New Jersey DEP jurisdiction over the land in question, D’Angelis also said, “I can’t work with the RFP the way it’s written for many reasons.
“The biggest problem is that they used data from 2005,” he said. As evidence he said the RFP noted that the nearby restaurant Michael Anthony’s was not open. It wasn’t in 2005, but is now.
Antonicello responded that D’Angelis was referring not to the RFP but to the 2005 market study which had been posted online to give prospective developers a historical perspective.
D’Angelis cited the lease as another big problem. “You can’t have a billion-dollar project with a 20-year lease,” he said. “I would never recoup the investment in 20 years. I would only accept a 99-year lease which is standard for a project of this size.”
Antonicello countered, “The conditions of the lease are negotiable. It’s a dialog.”
D’Angelis also said he had problems with the boat-slip rentals. “I cannot work with an RFP that dictates the pricing of the boat slips and approves what would be charged for rent.”
According to Antonicello, there were some restrictions on the size of the boats that could be berthed in the slips, but not the cost per foot.
Into port
Speaking of those boat slips, in the fall JCRA got a bite from a prospective developer.
“A firm with extensive background in marina development approached us,” Antonicello said.
That developer, Meisel Holding of Maryland, gave a presentation to the JCRA board on Tuesday.
A final decision will be made in about a month.
“They are marina developers and operators,” Antonicello said. “They own the capital and would build the thing.”
D’Angelis claims to be OK with the Meisel choice as marina developers and operators. He said his interest was not so much in the marina but in the “mall/conference complex” he wants to build in the area.
“We would approach Meisel and convince them to work with us,” he said. “It will be a win/win situation for the city.”
He added, “If the project I am promoting or something similar is not built, we as a city will be the biggest losers.”
Antonicello, for his part, contends that the project envisioned by D’Angelis is not realistic from both an environmental and financial standpoint.
Meisel’s marina project, he said, “will be a winner for Jersey City and the waterfront.”
Kate Rounds can be reached at krounds@hudsonreporter.com..