Jersey City Rising

[New Guy]

Why JSQ is not being developed -- to answer JC Mans posted article.

Does anyone notice what almost happened in the last 24 hours? There was a meeting between Bernaki, Paulson, Bush and some members of the Senate. They will not disclose details but apparently we just came about one click away from the second Great Depression.

I know its hard to notice though all the McCain vs Obama vs Palain vs Hillary stuff the news was covering, but this was extremely serious.

We had 5 major institutions fail in one one week (two of them quasi-government which should NEVER have happened). Two more are 'on' death row as I type this...dudes, this is bad.

Banks are not lending...no liquidity..no Jersey City JSQ condos getting sold.

I saw a ticker on the news last week. It litterally said "Banks stopped lending". At first I blew it off and then I processed it and said..what the..f? Banks apparenty will not lend to each other because no one trusts what 'bad' assets the other guy has on his books. Its like a poker game in the Good the Bad and the Ugly where Tico will not deal to Blondy and Blondy will not deal to Angel Eyes...its insane...but this is BANKS.

This is not a Jersey City problem. This is much deeper, but it effects JC none the less.

Good news though. Bail out happened. Next three weeks pivitol. Wait and watch. Its not wall street, its the banks. If it suceeds -- Jersey City Rises again in two years. If not, we have much bigger problems.

[JCMAN320]

IDEA TO BUILD ON
Sale of 'development rights' a win-win, Jersey City says

Monday, September 22, 2008
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City is exploring a unique vehicle to generate more money for historic preservation and other projects by making developers pay if they want to build bigger buildings.

A $50,000 grant from the state Office of Smart Growth will fund the study of "transfer of development rights," officials recently announced.

So far only used in the state to preserve farmland in Burlington County, transfer of development rights enables one property owner to sell unused development space to another owner.

For example, city officials could sell development rights based on the fact that City Hall on Grove Street is smaller than surrounding buildings. It is the same with the Powerhouse building, which the city is in the process of acquiring from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and wants to turn into the entertainment and retail center of an arts district.

Money generated from those sales could pay to renovate City Hall, and stabilize the crumbling Powerhouse, officials said.

"We don't have enough money to do everything we want to do," said city Planning Director Robert Cotter. "Plus, we have the market to actually sell development rights. If we do it, they will sell."

City officials said they are using San Francisco as a model, where the sale of development rights is used primarily to rehabilitate and restore historic structures.

This study should take a year and would involve the designation of "sending" and "receiving" zones, officials said.

"We made the (grant) category available and reached out to various urban centers, however, Jersey City was the only one that took the initiative in this case and we highly commend them for it," said state Department of Community Affairs spokesman Chris Donnelly.

James McCann, a prominent real estate attorney in the city, called the idea "potentially positive."

"I think it is another vehicle to use as an economic tool for the city to achieve some of its goals for historic preservation, and private developers can benefit from the additional density," McCann said.

Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy founder John Gomez, who writes a weekly column for The Jersey Journal, believes the idea could be a boon for preservationists. "But the city would need to make sure the money goes into the restoration of the resource and not into the coffers of the person selling the transfer rights," Gomez said.

[JCMAN320]

JERSEY CITY CITY COUNCIL
Newark Ave. on agenda, but walkway out of plan

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

The paseo appears to be passé - or perhaps, kaput.

Jersey City City Council members indicated Monday they are prepared to introduce a redevelopment plan for the eastern end of Newark Avenue at tonight's council meeting - minus a proposed walkway, or paseo as city planners called it, between Christopher Columbus Drive and Newark Avenue.

The cost and headache of seizing the burned-out lot at 141 Newark Ave. to put in the amenity just wasn't worth it, council members said.

Besides, the owners - Larry Perlaki and Paul Del Forno - told council members Monday they are prepared to build a six-story building, with 10 residential units and a bar and restaurant on the ground floor.

The owners first raised a ruckus about plans to take their land at a council meeting two weeks ago. Several City Council members said it was the first time they became aware the redevelopment plan included taking someone's property through eminent domain. An old three-story building on the property burned to the ground last October.

The overall plan takes in two square blocks along Newark and Christopher Columbus Drive between Grove Street and Jersey Avenue. The goal is to spark retail and commercial development in the area. The paseo would have cut through the block between Grove and Barrow streets.

Tonight's meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., at Middle School 4, 107 Bright St.

KEN THORBOURNE

[JCMAN320]

Ready to build at JCMC

Wednesday, September 24, 2008
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Jersey City Medical Center broke ground yesterday for a new $22 million facility that will house an ambulatory surgery center, an imaging center, a pharmacy, and at least 25 private practice doctors' offices.

Best of all, as Lynn Schundler, chair of LibertyHealth Systems Inc., the hospital's parent corporation, pointed out: "It won't cost the hospital or taxpayers a dime."

The facility is being built by a private developer, the Milwaukee-based Landmark Healthcare Facilities LLC.

According to Landmark president Nick Checota, the building is already 75 percent rented out. It is expected to be finished by next September.

The hospital will retain ownership of the land and will be paid roughly $100,000 a year by Landmark for a ground lease, officials said.

The new facility will go a long way to helping the hospital attract and keep private practice physicians, said LibertyHealth president and CEO Joseph F. Scott.

"We're going to make the Medical Center a very special place," said Scott, who became LibertyHealth's chief executive last December. "We are putting the building blocks in place. And if we do it utilizing someone else's capital, that's even better."

The five-story, 75,000-square-foot addition will be behind the hospital along Jersey Avenue.

Forced by cuts in state aid and diminishing reimbursements for Medicaid and Medicare patients, LibertyHealth - which also runs the Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center in Secaucus - has been going through a reorganization process for more than three years.

As part of that effort, LibertyHealth closed Greenville Hospital in Jersey City earlier this year. But it has also beefed up specialties, such as high-tech infant care and adult surgery, in hopes of attracting more well-to-do Downtown residents.

"What's been important to this hospital is admissions, admissions, admissions," Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy said to the 100 hospital employees and city officials gathered at yesterday's groundbreaking. "This facility that we are breaking ground on today is going to take a huge step in addressing that issue."

[JCMAN320]

Beacon developers: Market is right to stick with condos

by Ken Thorbourne/The Jersey Journal
Wednesday September 24, 2008, 3:25 PM


Jersey Journal file photo

The Beacon development in Jersey City has decided to stick with condos after recently flirting with the idea of switching to apartment rentals.

The government's recent takeover of mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae is apparently already reversing the fortunes of one Jersey City developer.

Metrovest Equities, the New York company that's converting the old Jersey City Medical Center into a residential complex, announced today it's withdrawing its application to the City Council to change its next six tax abatements from condos to rentals.

The change in the abatements for the Beacon was expected to be adopted at tonight's council meeting.

"Our intent all along was to continue to develop and market the Beacon as a world-class condominium development that has enjoyed tremendous sales success," George Filopoulous, president of Metrovest Equities, said in a statement.

"The concept of applying for a new abatement came up in June when the sluggish housing market and sub-prime mortgage crisis made it very difficult to secure financing for future condominium development," he added.

"However, because of the length of the process and the recent positive changes in the lending market, we no longer need to travel down that road."

Filopoulos cited last month's government backing of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as a vital step toward a market recovery, evidence of which he said he is already seeing at the Beacon.

"We sold 90 percent of the first phase of 315 homes at the Beacon," he said. "After closing 75 percent of them, the remaining buyers were unable to obtain the necessary financing, and prospective buyers were faced with the same challenge. We virtually stopped marketing the homes for the next eight months.

"However, today's improved lending landscape for qualified buyers and the ability to obtain up to 95 percent financing led us to re-introduce the balance of the homes, and we've received an exceptional response from the public," he added.

The existing abatements call for payments to the city of 12 percent of gross annual revenue for the next 30 years. The change to rentals would have yielded "a couple hundred dollars a year" less to the city, according to Business Administrator Brian O'Reilly.

Ultimately, the Beacon will comprise of 1,200 market-rate units with 80,000 square feet of retail space.

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae now hold or guarantee about half the country's mortgages.

[JCMAN320]

Jersey City expected to give OK to landmark Episcopal church

by Ken Thorbourne/The Jersey Journal
Wednesday September 24, 2008, 5:08 PM

The battle over the fate of St. John's Episcopal Church in Jersey City is expected to reach a new level tonight, as the City Council is set to introduce an ordinance to confer landmark status on the 137-year-old Summit Avenue church.

Due to a dwindling congregation, Episcopal Diocese officials closed the church in 1994 and hoped to demolish the Gothic Revival structure so they could sell the land for top dollar.

But preservationists waged an energetic battle to save the church, convincing the Planning Board in December to vote 6-0 to recommend that the council give the church landmark status.

Tonight's council meeting is at 6 p.m., Middle School 4, 107 Bright St.

[66nexus]

Can anyone post pics of the current skyline? (or does anyone have any on hand?)

[JCexpert558]

Sorry about it being in Black and white


http://www.flickr.com/photos/stankus/2882203649/

[citybooster]

No problem,JCexpert..still looks great even in black and white!

Will the City Center project and the Monaco project(which had received certain adjustments to their previous abatement agreement to suposedly make development certain) be an indefinite casualty of the credit crunch?Or with either or both of these projects see the light at the end of the tunnel by spring 2009,and get done?

[JCMAN320]

Hilltop neighbors get peek at Square renewal plans

Wednesday, October 01, 2008
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Home seizures and overtaxed city services led the list of concerns Monday night when two Jersey City officials briefed members of the Hilltop Neighborhood Association on plans to redevelop the Journal Square area.

"Absolutely, scout's honor," Planning Director Robert Cotter told a nervous questioner who asked if he could guarantee homes wouldn't be taken as development plans move forward.

Joined by Jersey City Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Robert Antonicello at the meeting, held in the basement of St. Joseph's Church, Cotter gave an overview of several signature projects slated for the struggling center of the city.

The biggest of these projects is a $400 million, mixed-used development planned for the block next to the Journal Square Transportation Center.

Earlier this year administration officials rejected terms of a 30-year abatement the developer - MEPT Journal Square Urban Renewal, LLC - had sought. But MEPT has submitted revised plans to the city, lowering the cost of the project, officials said.

Antonicello said he expected construction to begin this year or early next year.

The city officials also mentioned plans to place office and/or residential buildings along Summit Avenue where the Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, and Verizon building now sit.

One resident in the 100-person crowd asked about increased city services, including new schools, to accommodate the newcomers.

Pointing to the Newport development as an example, Antonicello said urban professionals buying Jersey City real estate consume surprisingly few city services. At Newport, the city collects $35 million in taxes each year and shells out only $10 million in services, he said.

The city will unveil an overall plan for the area in about three weeks, Antonicello said. The goal is to have the City Council adopt an "area in need of rehabilitation" plan by the end of the year, he said.

Association President Richard Boggiano questioned the wisdom of erecting a parking facility across the street from the administration building on Newark Avenue that's emerged as part of the plan being developed by Belle Mead consultant Anton C. Nelessen. "They are crazy," Boggiano said. "No, not in our area."

Kelley Sander, an associate planner with Nelessen's firm, said yesterday the idea is to consolidate several city parking lots with county parking already on-site. But "there's no firm proposal," she said.

---------------------------------------------------

Mister Boggiano that is the right thing to do is build a garage. Good urban planning!!

[lammius]

Tony Nelessen's firm is good at doing that community-based "visioning." So I'm sure what they have or will come up with will reflect what they've heard from residents, business owners, etc. in the community. They did the vision for the West Side redevelopment too, I believe.

That's a great tidbit about City Center. I wonder what they're value engineering they're going to be doing to lower the cost of the project.

[JCMAN320]

Condo complex takes energy-efficient bow

Thursday, October 02, 2008
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Green was the color of the day in Jersey City yesterday, as the ribbon was cut on the m650 Flats - a 22-unit condo complex on Montgomery Street with a high emphasis on energy efficiency.

The developer, Brunelleschi Construction of Pompton Plains, has converted an old warehouse at 650 Montgomery St. - across the street from the Beacon, at the old Jersey City Medical Center - into a modern complex with a 14-space robotic garage, a "virtual doorman" that can be programmed to recognize guests and residents, and an iPod docking station in each apartment.

The environmentally conscious builder has installed tankless hot water heaters, bamboo floors and high-efficiency windows.

Thousands of bricks taken from a wall in the ground floor were cleaned up and reused throughout the building, said Alfonso Carrino, joint owner of the development company.

"It's going to give a nice boost to this neighborhood and to our city," Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy said about the development.

Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson welcomed the building into the neighborhood, saying there is a "dire need" for this type of development in her ward.

"We built as green as we could," Carrino said. "We didn't have to do this. We could have spent a lot less money, but we didn't. We built everything to the highest possible standards."

The complex is still awaiting a Certificate of Occupancy from the city, officials said. Bridget Cleary, the realtor for the property, said four units are sold.

The units are one-and two-bedroom apartments and range in price from $380,000 to $705,000, the developer said. Maintenance fees are mostly below $500 a month, with parking included, Cleary said.

-----------------------------

Pictures here:
http://jcconstruction.blogspot.com/

[JCMAN320]

Jersey City gets $2.1M from HUD to help with foreclosures

by Paul Koepp/The Jersey Journal
Friday October 03, 2008, 7:03 PM

Help is on the way for Jersey City homeowners facing foreclosure.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced it is giving the city $2.15 million as part of its Neighborhood Stabilization Program, a nearly $4 billion effort to prop up the areas hit hardest by the subprime mortgage meltdown.

"We are pleased that the federal government has recognized the need to assist homeowners in Jersey City who are facing tough economic times," Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy said in a statement. "We plan to be proactive and utilize these funds for homeownership retention."

According to HUD statistics based on a national delinquency survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association, 6 percent of mortgages in Jersey City are in some stage of foreclosure, above the statewide average of 4 percent and the national mark of 4.8 percent.

The city was selected for the grant, along with Bergen County, Newark, Paterson and Union County, because a significant number of subprime mortgages have been issued here. The announcement was made Sept. 26.

The money is not part of the $700 billion bailout package signed into law by President Bush today.

Overall, $64 million will be doled out in New Jersey. The state's "abandonment risk" is considered low by HUD because most foreclosed properties are resold, but Jersey City's risk level is "medium."

City officials have been holding seminars in each of the city's wards to educate residents buying their first home about available programs and resources available to them, and will have a public meeting in the coming weeks to determine how to use the money.

[JoeSas]

I believe Crystal Point(e) has topped off. Leave off the 'e' for enormous.

[citybooster]

When will the monaco project break ground?