JERSEY CITY | Journal Squared Phase 2 | 759 FT | 72 FLOORS

[Nexis4Jersey]

Originally Posted by Thundertubs

This NEEDS to be accompanied by more PATH service. It's way too crowded as is. Unfortunately, the stupid Port Authority is borrowing money to build office towers...



It's a subway. You swipe your card and ride it places.

Aside from the upgrade underway or was underway to boost capacity by 50,000 you can't do much other then build another crossing like the Gateway Project proposed by Amtrak and develop in areas that can handle the strain. The Hoboken Network of the PATH is under capacity , develop in or near that station or Newport to off set the Journal SQ and Newark lines which are at capacity....or build a new tunnel which is highly unlikely. There was a proposal to Extend Regional Rail into Lower Manhattan just after 9/11 but this was quietly sweep under the rug , it would have relieved the PATH , N/Q/4/5/6 lines at half the cost of the SAS and Gateway Project....it would have given all the Suburban riders direct access to the Wall Street job hub without mixing with the Urban areas thus freeing up capacity...

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

Your right , this area really doesn't have the Infrastructure road or transit wise to support these monsters these buildings would be better for Downtown Newark or Downtown Jersey City. The Original plan was 2 towers now its 3? This isn't the first project in that area , all have failed or gotten kickbacks then failed... The Neighborhood wanted something smaller like a mid rise , not a supertall which I can agree with.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this project is slightly farfetched.

[summersm343]

Originally Posted by NYguy

Journal Square and environs...


Eating in Translation





Dan Beards





Projectionist

Thanks. I've been to Journal Square. I know there are very few highrises... at least not nearly enough to warrant a 70 story building.

[Thundertubs]

Originally Posted by babybackribs2314

I thought it was just strip malls. I don't think many people work, shop, eat and live there. I doubt any of my friends in NYC have been there.

Not being insular, it's just a totally random place and I don't see this development jump-starting growth. It's just not an accessible neighborhood nor an in-demand location.

source

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Thanks. I've been to Journal Square. I know there are very few highrises... at least not nearly enough to warrant a 70 story building.

Well then you're in luck. There are like five towers in that rough 60-70 floor range coming to Journal Square.

No need to worry about this tower feeling lonely; it will have plenty of similarly tall friends.

[Inkoumori]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Building tall for the sake of building tall is unnecessary.

Except when there is a housing shortage and fewer people owning cars perhaps?

We're talking 400' to 700' buildings at a transport hub, hardly ego-driven supertalls.

[Nexis4Jersey]

Originally Posted by summersm343

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this project is slightly farfetched.

Journal SQ is the area of the city where people who don't make 80-200k live but work in NYC or Newark and it needs to stay that way... Jersey City is slowly eroding at the hard working class neighborhoods and thats a sad thing....where will those people go... Where already seeing people leaving JSQ for Newark...which is good Newark needs the support...but what happens when even Newark becomes to expensive. This region is way to expensive as a whole , we don't need to price out even more working class areas for honestly no reason other then greed. Theres still tons of undeveloped land in Transit saturated areas better equipped to handled the added traffic , like the backside of Newport , Canal Crossing , Exchange Place & Newport. I'm not anti-Development , I'm not a NIMBY , but lets be reasonable here does JSQ need a massive tower like that? It would stick out as a sore thumb....and burden the community....

[Inkoumori]

A highrise does not = higher rents

But, we also don't want to become another Detroit (NY as a whole). I don't know what the fix is, but Journal Square can handle 5k or so new inhabitants without destroying its character.

[aquablue]

Originally Posted by summersm343

No need to be rude. Do you know anything about urban development? Because it is clear you don't. When in an area with low highrise density, it is important not to over saturate the area with a development too large. I understand that it is close to a transit hub linking it to Manhattan, but even so, there is a limited market of people willing to live in Jersey City... most people who can't afford Manhattan just opt for Brooklyn. Even Jersey City is becoming extremely expensive these days and it has an uncertain future. Like I said, something in the 300-400 foot range would be a better bet and a much more financially stable project. There is to live in Journal Square, but there is a bigger desire to live on the Jersey City waterfront... there is already an established highrise community there instead of one just trying to get off the ground. This development could singlehandedly destroy that momentum. This should be proposed on the waterfront and a smaller development should be proposed here.

IDK if you just don't understand this or if you are just being short sighted because the height of the building is making you drool.

Well, now your the one who is being rude.

It does seem ambitious and perhaps you are right that it is a foolish risk doomed to failure, but I'm sorry, but these are just generalities, your personal feelings and anecdotal experiences and boiler plate stuff everyone has heard about development. However, they do not always apply to every project. You do not have the data, the forecasts, the projections that the developer has, neither do you have access to the pro-forma that he has surely done. Without specific reasons why this project is a poor idea and backing it up with specific quantitative data that highlights the risk involved, your opinions are just opinions, or perhaps simply fears. You may have good reasons to doubt the feasibility of this project, but they don't tell me anything other than your are basing this on the past. The past trends are not always correct in predicting the future.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by summersm343

Yes... I am aware, but those developments started with smaller scale highrises. You don't start with a 70 story tower...

Not that it matters, but if you bothered to read, you'd see they aren't. And there's a 42-story tower going up accross the street.

[aquablue]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

Journal SQ is the area of the city where people who don't make 80-200k live but work in NYC or Newark and it needs to stay that way... Jersey City is slowly eroding at the hard working class neighborhoods and thats a sad thing....where will those people go... Where already seeing people leaving JSQ for Newark...which is good Newark needs the support...but what happens when even Newark becomes to expensive. This region is way to expensive as a whole , we don't need to price out even more working class areas for honestly no reason other then greed. Theres still tons of undeveloped land in Transit saturated areas better equipped to handled the added traffic , like the backside of Newport , Canal Crossing , Exchange Place & Newport. I'm not anti-Development , I'm not a NIMBY , but lets be reasonable here does JSQ need a massive tower like that? It would stick out as a sore thumb....and burden the community....

That is a socialist or anti free-market stance IMO. This maybe a food hardy risk by the developer or a stroke of genius. However, that is what the free-market is all about, risk and reward. However, I do not agree that we must keep certain areas for certain income levels save some affordable housing/public housing. That would just hinder the flow of change that most cities require to renew themselves. Otherwise cities will stagnate and die. It may be cruel, but otherwise we are not a capitalist society, but a socialist one.

This is just the way the cookie crumbles in this day and age. US cities are becoming more like Latin American cities, where the lower classes are pushed outside the inner core by wealthier citizens. The age of the inner city ghettos is slowly being reversed through pure capitalist processes where location is king over all other factors.

[CCs77]

It seems that this one is breaking ground this very year!!!!!!
They will begin with the shorter tower for now...
Not sure for those huge tax abatments, but still...

35-year tax break proposed for three-tower Journal Square project
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2...e_project.html

The $600 million, three-tower residential project that Jersey City believes will transform Journal Square is set to receive a 35-year tax break, in addition to $10 million in bonds issued by a city agency that will pay for infrastructure improvements in the area.

Construction on the $240 million first tower, which will rise 54 stories and include 540 rental units and ground floor retail space, is scheduled to begin by the end of the year. KRE expects to complete it in two years.

“It's going to change, obviously, the entire landscape in Journal Square,” Fulop told The Jersey Journal.

This isn’t the first time a Jersey City mayor has promised a Journal Square renaissance. In 2009, then-Mayor Jerramiah Healy said a twin-tower project on a lot directly across from The Jersey Journal office was imminent, but that property remains empty. Healy has said that project stalled because of the economic downturn.

“The public has seen groundbreakings before that didn't come to fruition,” said Fulop. “People are going to see steel coming out of the ground very, very soon.”

[NYC2ATX]

SHUT YOUR MOUTH!

I'm dying..

[Hypothalamus]

Fantastic news and what a prime location! This is true gentrification. Let Jersey rise!

[dc_denizen]

This is going to be insanely prominent given Journal Square's hilly location. Great news!

[CCs77]

Although it may seem like a setback, it is more like they want to assure some things related with the Loew's Theatre, because the deal includes a contribution of the developers to that landmark theatre.

Jersey City delays introduction of ordinances for $600 million Journal Square development project

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2...t_project.html

Jersey City has delayed introduction of ordinances which would create a 35-year tax abatement and issue a $10 million bond for infrastructure improvements in the area of a proposed $600 million, three-tower residential project that will transform Journal Square.

Tonight the council did adopt an ordinance the city says will revamp and streamline the way it works with filmmakers, making it a "premier destination" for New Jersey film productions and bringing tens of millions of dollars in revenue to local businesses.

“There has been some delay to finalize the ordinance to ensure it was fully prepared for the Local Finance Board,” Jersey City Corporate Council Jeremy Farrell told council members tonight of the three ordinances related the development project which were to have their first reading at tonight’s council meeting.

Farrell said Mayor Steven Fulop’s administration also wants to first “meet with the Friends of the Loew’s Theatre because the ordinance includes a $2.5 million contribution to the (Landmark) Loew’s (Jersey Theatre) which will be held in trust and we are committed to assuring Loew’s management that it will be a first-class place, a world class place.”

The ordinances related to the development are now to be introduced at a special meeting to be held on Oct. 31 at 9 a.m. in the city council chambers on Grove Street.
The deal is the first market-rate project since Fulop implemented a new policy regarding the tax breaks he says will encourage development in areas outside the already lucrative waterfront.

Construction of the $240 million first tower, which will rise 54 stories and include 540 rental units and ground floor retail space is expected to take two years to complete. Farrell assured council members that the project will remain on track for a December groundbreaking.

[chris08876]

This is fantastic. JC has come a long way since the early 90's. Not to mention it will complement the river views. What are the heights of all three towers?

[CCs77]

Originally Posted by chris08876

This is fantastic. JC has come a long way since the early 90's. Not to mention it will complement the river views. What are the heights of all three towers?

I think they have never released the height of the towers in terms of feet or meters. Looking at the images I am posting bellow, I can count about 75 apparent (I don't know how many actual floors there are, but as in the case of 432 Park, I think it is more useful to use the apparent floor counting) Similar developments along Jersey City's waterfront have a floor height of about 3 meters or 9 to 10 feet. this could be a little higher.
There are other renders that shows more floors, about 85, But I think these are the latest, so assuming 75 apparent floors, each one has to be a least 3,2 meters 7 10,5 feet in order to surpass the 238 meters/ 781 ft Goldman Sachs Tower. I'd say that the tallest tower could be between 240meters/ 787ft (with 3,20 / 10,5 ft floors) to 277 meters / 910ft. (with 3,7 / 12ft floors)

Anyway, it is practically approved

City Council gives tentative OK to tax break for Journal Square towers

http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/inde...ntative_o.html

A measure approving a long-term tax break for a proposed three-tower development in Jersey City’s Journal Square neighborhood was given initial approval by the City Council last week.

The deal would give KRE Group, the developer behind the $600 million project, up to 35 years before it would have to pay conventional taxes on the towers. The measure, which needs one more vote before it is finalized, was passed unanimously at a special Thursday morning council meeting.

Some more pictures of the development

[CCs77]

Maybe this one already broke ground? at least according to the president of Kushner Real Estate Group, the developer on an interview on the NYT.
And with respect to the timeline, he said that they expect to build the other two in three and five years, so it seems it is not the 2029 date. and more like 2019-20.
The article is from november 26th.

The 30-Minute Interview
Jonathan C. Kushner

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/27/re...yapl86WY4RlvOQ

Mr. Kushner, 35, is the president of the Kushner Real Estate Group, which owns and manages more than 12 million square feet of commercial property in the New York area. It is involved in several projects in northern New Jersey.

The company, based in Bridgewater, N.J., is the successor to SK Properties, which his father, Murray Kushner, helped found in 1979.

Q. How is business?

A. It’s great — it’s better than it’s ever been since I started working full time in 1999.

We made a shift in the early 2000s to go from being suburban builders in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to being also urban builders. We’ve built an urban brand and we have about 12 projects in different stages — from Bayonne, Jersey City, West New York, Hoboken and Fort Lee — along the Gold Coast of New Jersey. All of our locations are transit-oriented, where you can walk to mass transit and be in Manhattan.

Q. Most of what you’re doing now is residential.

A. The lion’s share of what we’re doing is residential in focus and rental apartments. Our current holdings consist of about six million square feet of office, warehouse and retail space and roughly 10,000 apartments. In addition to that we have over 7,000 apartments in different phases of design and construction.

Q. Let’s talk about some of these developments.

A. We’re under construction on 18 Park in Jersey City; we’re about 75 percent complete. That’ll be opening in March or April. It’s 550,000 feet and it’s 422 apartments, all rentals, plus 30,000 feet of retail. And at the base of that building we’re building a new Boys and Girls Club.

We just broke ground on Journal Square, a three-phase, 2.4-million-square-foot project. The first phase is a 640,000-square-foot residential tower — 54 floors and 540 rental apartments, next to the train station. The other two phases are probably three and five years out; we’re going to build one rental tower at a time. The second tower is going to be 70 floors and 700 units, and the third tower will be 60 floors and 600 units.

And we’ve also just broken ground this summer in Fort Lee for the Hudson Lights, a one-million-square-foot mixed-use project we’re doing with Tucker Development. It’s 142,000 feet of retail, 276 rental apartments, 470,000 feet of office space, plus 2,000 parking spots. We’ll be delivering Phase 1 24 months from now. The office building will come in the second phase.

We’re in construction drawings on 235 Grand and 101 Grove — 688 rentals in two towers, a 45-story tower and a 10-story tower. That project will have stunning views. We will probably break ground the summer of ’14.

Q. Why the focus on Jersey City?

A. It’s all about transportation. If you live in Jersey City and work downtown or even Midtown South, you get to work quicker from our buildings than if you lived on the Upper East or West Sides and the rents are half.

BTW, Marc Kushner, one of the architects that designed these towers, as well as other projects of KRE Group, is the brother of this guy.

[CCs77]

$666? some satanical priced towers


Demolition underway in Jersey City to make room for $666 million residential towers

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2...al_towers.html

Major demolition is underway in Journal Square, where several buildings, including two large, five-story, brick buildings are being devoured by demolition machines to make way for a $666 million residential towers project.

The buildings being leveled will transform Pavonia Avenue’s south side from Summit Avenue to McLaughlin Funeral Home a swath of empty lots.
Traffic continues to flow in both directions on Pavonia and only the sidewalk on the south side of the street has been closed to pedestrian traffic.

At 2:50 p.m. buses and cars were passing some 15 feet from the five-story buildings that are partially torn down. Summit Avenue is functioning normally.

The project is to include a 54-story tower with 540 units; a 70-story tower with 700 units; and a 60-story tower with 600 units. The developer is KRE Group, headed by Murray Kushner. Construction of the first tower is to take three years to complete. The final tower is expected to be complete in 2029.