Jersey City Rising

[tbal]

Soil testing took place today at 337 Third Street, which is within steps of 272 Newark Ave (which also seems to be on the verge of moving forward). A mid-sized 2-story building was demolished at the site last Fall. I don't have any idea as far as the number of floors or total number of units, but I'm guessing it will be either 4 or 5 stories considering the zoning deviations permitted at other nearby developments. The Newark Ave corridor is certainly taking off now. Hopefully, within the next year or so work will resume at each of 361 & 380 Newark Ave.

[JCMAN320]

Tbal great news. Newark Ave is really starting to heat up and JC's Restaurant Row is really starting to take shape. I can't wait for the streetscape renovation project to get started.

35-story tower for 110 First St.
452 units to rise across from former artists' building



Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer
02/01/2008

The Jersey City Planning Board on Tuesday approved the site plan for a proposed 35-story, 452-unit rental building on First Street in downtown Jersey City.

The building will rise across from the former artists' lofts at 111 First St., lofts that were eventually torn down after a long battle between the developer and the artists who worked there.

The same developers will now transform the vacant property across the street at 110 First St.

Both properties are owned by BLDG Management, run by New York City billionaire landowner Lloyd Goldman.

Presentations were given by the attorney and architect for the project, as well as the corporation counsel for Jersey City, Bill Matsikoudis. Also in attendance was City Councilman Bill Gaughan, who spoke in favor of the 110 First St. project.

Matskioudis spoke about the settlement that was reached in June 2006 between the city and Goldman. Goldman had filed a $100 million lawsuit against the city for blocking his intended demolition of the then one-million-square-foot 111 First St. building in order to build high-rise housing there.

The settlement resulted in both the 110 and 111 First St. properties being placed in a special zone that skirted around the zoning in the city's Powerhouse Arts District, which normally would have kept them low rise.

Specifically, the settlement called for the 110 First St. location to have one 40-plus-story tower with 345 units. Instead, the tower is shorter, but the number of units has increased.

Also, the project will have a nine-story parking garage, a landscaped deck and over 13,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor.

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JCMan Note of the Nite:
It seems to me that the building will have a large painting of some sort on the front of the building to add to the art district. The painting and entrance to the building will abut the sulpture garden near the lightrail being built along with the Athena. Even the Athena has a sclutpure in front of it and art work hanging in the lobby. Good to see. Wish the building was a little more creative but its being done with brick to fit in with the warehouse feel of the area.

[JCMAN320]

Insurance giant moving 800 to Newport Tower this year

Wednesday, February 13, 2008
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. will be moving around 800 employees from New York to the Newport Tower in Downtown Jersey City by the end of September, a company spokeswoman said yesterday.

The company, which is headquartered at 1290 Sixth Ave. in Manhattan, will occupy office space at the Newport Center Tower, said Lisa Tibbitts, assistant vice president of corporate communications at AXA Equitable.

"We expect 800 employees to move from New York to Jersey City by the end of the third quarter of 2008," Tibbitts said. "Twelve hundred employees will remain at the Avenue of the Americas."

She declined to comment further, but GlobeSt.com reported the tower owner, Manhattan-based Brookfield Properties, confirmed AXA Equitable has signed a 15-year lease for 245,000 square feet - the equivalent of around 10 upper floors of the 36-story tower.

The news service reported that the building is now 98.5 percent occupied. The Newport Tower, at 525 Washington St., was built in 1990 and has 1 million square feet of office space and 34,000 square feet of retail, according to the Brookfield Property Web site.

AXA Equitable is a subsidiary of the financial giant the AXA Group.

[JCMAN320]

County goals for '08: Greener, safer, more competitive

by Charles Hack Friday February 15, 2008, 2:45 PM

Making the county greener and safer and its workforce more competitive are among the top goals for 2008 for Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise.

"In the last century, outsiders often described Hudson County in very unflattering terms, with words like 'polluted,' 'distressed,' and 'corrupt,'" DeGise said in his State of the County address at the county annex on Pavonia Avenue in Jersey City. "Let's strive even harder to replace those negative words with new ones, like 'green,' smart' and 'safe.'"

He also stressed the need to cut costs if the county is to weather a looming economic crisis, building affordable housing, cutting homelessness and quality-of-life issues.

In addition to hoping to plant 10,000 trees, DeGise urged the freeholders to adopt a "road map" for expanding parks. And he challenged them to adopt regulations to encourage developers to include measures such as green roofs and retention ponds to reduce flooding and pollution.

Referring to a state 2002 report that found Hudson has lost more than half its wetlands since 1986, DeGise said the county will seek Open Space Trust and Green Acres funding to try to reclaim some of those marshes.

The top official in county government also announced that county will build more dog runs, starting with Washington Park in Union City, create a cricket pitch in Laurel Hill Park in Secaucus and construct an affordable nine-hole golf course in Jersey City's Lincoln Park by 2010.

On the subject of safety, DeGise noted that the Hudson County's Office of Emergency management has been acquiring equipment to better handle major emergencies, including a new "SWAT-style" vehicle designed to handle bio-terrorism, a low-grade nuclear attack or an armed hostage crisis, and a vehicle to improve communication between municipalities and agencies.

DeGise acknowledged that the OEM must improve communications systems with the public during an emergency, and said he would look for new technology to help.

To reduce congestion and improve safety in a more day-to-day manner, DeGise urged the freeholders to undertake a study on buses and infrastructure, aiming to reduce congestion and improve road safety by regulating rogue jitneys and increase and improve mass transit.

On making the county workforce more competitive, DeGise looked to both the county community college as well as its vocational/technical high schools.

As well as building two new floors on the Hudson County Community College's 48th Street campus in Union City for a career center, DeGise wants the freeholders to pledge to build a new unified campus for the Hudson County Schools of Technology, which has two high schools, within the next four years.

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JCMAN Note of The Nite:
I thought the cricket pitch was suppose to go in Lincoln Park considering its played there all the time. Hell even a few stores on Westside Ave. sell cricket equipment. I have to do futher investigating on this.

[tbal]

Glass paneling has started to scale the East Tower at 77 Hudson Street. Wow, it sure makes a difference. This pair of towers will really look amazing in a few months! I'm loving the aqua-tinted glass with the sky-blue paneling.

In addition, the West Tower has resumed it's upward rise, and the 17th floor slab was poured toward the end of the week. The East Tower currently stands at 34 stories, with 14 more to be constructed before it is topped off.

Looking Southeast:



Looking Southwest:



The base of the East Tower (don't worry, those bright spots on the brickwork are just reflections of light):



Mullions installed for glass cladding on the Southeast corner of the East Tower's base:



The West Tower, finally rising again:



And, one last one showing the East Tower rising near the Goldman Sachs Tower (taken from Columbus Plaza):

[tbal]

The Panepinto website has apparently been updated, and several projects that are still in the pipeline (perhaps under review by the Planning/Zoning Boards are listed. These include 558-560 Newark Ave., 412-418 Summit Avenue, 371 Warren Street (atlhough this may very well be 110 First Street), and Harborside Plaza buildings 8 & 9.

In addition, the renderings for 70-90 Columbus have been updated (I think).

Link: http://panepintoproperties.com/site.html

[tbal]

Work on the Aquablu seems to be progressing slowly. The first set of glass paneling has been installed on the Southern face of the building, and it looks alot like the facade of the Shore Club across the street.

View to the North:



Looking Northwest:



And...the new glass:



And...an advertisement on the fence bordering the site:



Hamilton Square is also progressing slowly, but this project has come a long way since work began. Most of the western facade has been completed, and it looks like masonry is being installed on the Southern face of the main building.

Looking Northwest, a small steel-framed structure has been attached to the main building, although once complete, it will be made to look like a smaller, independent building:



Looking Southeast along Hamilton Park East:



And, looking North:



Near Journal Square, there is still no activity at the site of the City Center/1 Journal Square project. However, our little friend at 197 Academy is still moving along:



Looking Southeast toward 197 & it's neighbor to the west:



And, one last view to the Southwest:

[JCMAN320]

Planning Board approval for massive Newark Bay redevelopment plan

by Charles Hack Thursday February 21, 2008, 11:11 AM

The Planning Board unanimously approved Honeywell's and Jersey City's vision to turn 100 acres of chromium-contaminated land on the Hackensack riverfront into a mixed-use development for tens of thousands of residents, workers and park visitors.

Project designer Anton C. Nelessen, of A. Nelessen Associates, outlined the Bayfront I Redevelopment plan that would replace old industrial buildings, vacant land, a concrete plant and the city's public works with homes on tree-lined streets, shops, restaurants offices, parks and a waterfront walkway.

The plan calls for up to 8,100 residential units, one million square feet of office space, 600,000 of retail space and 12,000 parking spaces.

The Hudson Bergen Light Rail would be extended from the West Side Avenue Station, bringing the entire area within a 10-minute walk from a station plaza on the northern end of the site, Nelessen said.

Incorporating an environmentally designed plan to cut back on energy and water consumption, the development would include green roofs and a network of bicycle paths.

Parking would be incorporated into the buildings, avoiding street parking.

Two blockwide parks, listed on renderings as Central Park and the Promenade, would cross the width of the site from a new boulevard along Route 440 west to the waterfront, with space available for playgrounds, dog parks, ball courts, a grass amphitheater and other amenities.

The development area stretches from Route 440 to Hackensack River and from the northern edge of Society Hill at Kellogg Street to Culver Avenue.

It is just part of a 1,344-acre Bayside Development Plan, completed in 2003, designed to revitalize the west side of Jersey City.

[JCMAN320]

Jersey City's first new park in decades

by Journal staff Thursday February 21, 2008, 1:11 PM

Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy, City Council members and community residents reviewed concept plans for Berry Lane Park last night at a meeting held at Monumental Baptist Church.

Bounded by Garfield Avenue on the west and Woodward Avenue on the east and running along the former Morris Canal, the proposed 13.5-acre park is to feature football, baseball, and soccer fields.

"We are on our way to creating the first municipal park in Jersey City in years - Berry Lane Park," Healy said. "We are pleased to have the community involved in this process and know that when completed, Berry Lane Park will be located in the Bergen-Lafayette section of our city and will the recreational gem of Ward F."

The city has already acquired 6.4 acres from Conrail and will contribute an additional 1.9 acres acquired through tax foreclosure. The Jersey City Redevelopment Agency is currently in the process of acquiring the remaining 5.2 acres.

The creation of Berry Lane Park will increase usuable open space available to Jersey City and Hudson County residents by over 9 percent and is one of the largest park projects to be undertaken in decades.

[JCMAN320]

Vote to redevelop area along Grand St.

Friday, February 22, 2008
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Jersey City Planning Board voted Wednesday to recommend City Council approval for designating a small area on the side of Grand Street opposite the Liberty Harbor North project as an area in need of redevelopment.

Under the Bright Street Redevelopment Plan, developers will be able to build four-story buildings containing offices, bars, art galleries and homes on a wedge of land bounded by Grand, Bright, and Barrow streets.

The plan also allows for three-family townhouses or four-story multifamily buildings north of Bright Street, on paved lots that now have several unoccupied trailers previously used as annexes for the old School 3.

In addition, the plan calls for restoration of the Passaic Hose Firehouse at 14 Bright St. for residential or retail purposes.

The plan also calls for a vacant plot of land next to the old School 3 building to be developed.

The Planning Board has agreed to remove the old School 3 building from the area in need of redevelopment plan. City officials had mistakenly believed the Board of Education had stopped using the building. But that isn't the case, city officials said.

School Board Member Gerald McCann thanked Planning Board members for not including the building in the redevelopment plan, noting it is slated to become the district's center for adult education.

CHARLES HACK

[Hamilton]

^^^^They let Gerry McCann get on the Board of Ed? I hope Jersey City doesn't slide back into its old ways.

For those who don't know, McCann was mayor until 1992, when he was convicted of 15 counts of fraud and tax evasion. He's been trying to run for office again since then, in almost every election, for all sorts of positions. Completely shameless. Completely unfit for any position of public trust. Let's hope he's beyond stealing from schoolchildren.

[JCMAN320]

Hamilton my mother works for the board of ed shes a teacher. She hates McCann and vice-versa. The Board Od Ed set somebody up to run against him, but he somehow won. Turst me the residents of the city do not want him there at all hes a nut.

[BrooklynRider]

[JCMAN320]

Beautiful picture of JC BKRider, thx.

Tea shop packs its bags after 3 years

Monday, February 25, 2008
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Those who enjoy a warm "cuppa" will be disappointed that Grove Street's pioneering tea shop closed yesterday after three years in business.

Streams of well wishers who came into the Janam Indian Tea Company yesterday to say goodbye, were treated to a tea-biscuit wrapped in a paper napkin while drinking freshly brewed black and herbal teas.

Owner Amy Dubin thought she'd be steeped in success - offering competitively priced tea, baked goods and pottery in a relaxed atmosphere decorated with items and furniture bought from local businesses, and a location close to the Grove Street PATH station - but said she just didn't draw enough customers to make it a go.

She's taking her business to Portland, Ore., but her regulars can continue to patronize her business as she'll continue selling items online at janamtea.com.

Customers at the shop's last day yesterday said they're sad to see the business go.

"She is so informed about her teas - she knows her stuff," Ray Calogero, a Jersey City Heights residents said.

Describing the tea as "awesome," Aman Thethi, a resident of Third Street, said Janam was a one-of-a-kind business in the neighborhood.

"It was a great place to hang out have a cup of tea," Thethi said. "I haven't been to a tea shop that is this popular."

Rachel Rood, a Hamilton Park resident made two stops in the shop yesterday to say good-bye.

"The chai tea is excellent but it's not about that," she said. "It's about the community."

[JCMAN320]

Critical vote tonight on west side plan

Wednesday, February 27, 2008
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

As part of a plan to develop roughly 100 acres of chromium-tainted land on the city's west side, the Jersey City City Council is scheduled tonight to designate the section an "area in need of redevelopment."

The creation of the Bayfront Redevelopment Plan - which promises up to 8,100 units of housing, 20 acres of open space, and thousands of square feet of retail and commercial space - flows from a settlement agreement between the city and the Morristown-based Honeywell International Inc.

As the successor company to Mutual Chemical, the company that polluted the land, Honeywell is now responsible for cleaning it up.

The development area is bounded by the Hackensack River to the west, Route 440 to the east, Kellogg Street to the south, and north to where the city's Department of Public Works complex ends.

Plans call for extending the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail into the development.

Route 440 between Kellogg Street and Communipaw Avenue is to be reworked to become the tree-lined "Jackie Robinson Boulevard," with four high-speed lanes (two in each direction) in the middle of the road, and two side roads.

Council members at Monday's caucus raised concerns about the truck traffic that uses Route 440 now continuing to barrel through when it's a new community.