A Jersey City business that served the neighborhood for almost 50 years could soon be replaced with a historic restoration and addition project that would include some retail space along Palisade Avenue.
For half a century, the corner of South Street and Palisades Avenue has been home to a modest building with a sign reading Moe’s Bait and Tackle Shop. The business, certainly unique within such an urban area, closed up shop in 2019 and was put up for sale by owner Mauro Mazzilli.
The L-shaped property, officially designated with the address of 10-14 South Street, hit the market asking $2.3 million but never ended up finding a buyer. The land has not changed hands and is owned by a company called 243 Bushwick LLC, an entity registered out of the historic Van Vorst House at 531 Palisade Avenue.
The proposed development for the site has been designed by MVMK Architecture and would rise 56 feet at the highest point. The project would tear down the building located along Palisade Avenue but preserve and expand a three-story rowhouse along South Street, with the new portion of the continuous structure utilizing a mostly modular brick façade.
The 10-unit development would include a lobby to be entered on South Street and garage parking for nine cars plus 27 bicycle spaces. The apartments in the building would skew larger, as the development would include two two-bedroom units, four three-bedrooms, and four four-bedroom spaces.
All of the top floor units would include individual private roof decks surrounded by an extensive green roof. The proposed development calls for an underground rainwater detention tank to alleviate flooding and 1,004-square feet of retail would sit along Palisade Avenue at the building’s corner.
The proposed development is seeking variances related to rear yard setback, maximum building coverage, and interior parking space standards. The application is currently scheduled to be heard by Jersey City’s planning board during their March 8 meeting.
