The redevelopment of a surface parking lot on John F. Kennedy Boulevard near Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Jersey City recently moved forward when members of the city’s planning board voted to approve a site plan for the project.
Officials greenlit a proposal to erect a five-story mixed-use building with 17 units and ground-floor commercial space at 1721-1723 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, during the board’s regular meeting on September 9.
Ben White, an attorney representing the applicant, YM Kennedy LLC, presented a site plan for the new building. He and Jeff Lewis, the project’s architect, told the board the proposal includes 17 residential units, including two affordable apartments, 508 square feet of retail space, a roof deck, a fitness center, and a trash and refuse room.
The fitness center will span 320 square feet and will be located on the cellar level of the building, which will also include storage space for up to 10 bicycles and 872 square feet of storage space for the commercial tenant on the first floor.
The developer was not required to add any on-site parking, and the proposal does not include any parking units.
The residential portion of the building will consist of one three-bedroom and one studio apartment, both affordable units located on the ground floor and second floor, respectively, and 15 one-bedroom apartments.
The affordable three-bedroom will span 1,035 square feet and will be the only unit in the building to include its own private backyard. The studio apartment will span 540 square feet, Lewis said.
YM Kennedy LLC also secured three variances for rear setback, building coverage and ground-floor residential space within 25 feet of a right-of-way.
Although most planning board members were okay with the proposal, they requested that the developer avoid using vinyl siding on the sides of the building as a condition of approval. The board also asked Lewis to add trash chutes to the residential portion of the building rather than require residents to move trash from their apartments down to the cellar level.
White said the developer agreed to the conditions before the board voted to approve the project.
Hudson County officials have already approved the project, White added, as JFK Boulevard is a county road, and the developer required approvals for a curb cut fronting the proposed building. If built, the apartment building will continue changing a section of Greenville that has been slowly changing over the years.
White told the board that a new mixed-use building was recently completed just across the street at 1720 JFK Boulevard. Jersey Digs reported in April 2018 that a limited liability firm, Z&S Realty Properties, submitted plans to build a five-story building with 44 apartments, over 5,000 square feet of commercial space, and 24 parking spaces.
Jersey Digs also reported in June 2021 that Brooklyn-based Strekte Corp. sought to redevelop a surface parking lot at 129 Linden Avenue, just two blocks south of the properties on JFK Boulevard, into 110 residential units, 56 parking spaces, a house of worship, and a daycare facility. The city’s zoning board of adjustment heard the application in December 2023 and January 2024, but the proposal’s status remains unclear.
