If you thought 2015 brought a lot of development to Jersey City then get ready for 2016. With projects breaking ground almost daily, the ever-present drone of crane engines and banging of pile drivers aren’t letting up anytime soon. Mayor Fulop projects Jersey City will surpass Newark as the most populous city in the state by the end of the year. Whether you like the development or not, the city is undergoing a major transformation that short of another economic catastrophe is showing no signs of slowing down.
The Marketing Directors, the marketing firm behind many new developments in Jersey City, put together an end of the year report analyzing Jersey City’s development trends. Highlights included leasing rates of up to 100 units per month and record rental rates reaching $50 per square foot for prime units at 70 Columbus.
Their 2016 projections see leasing activity remaining strong even as more rental buildings come to market. Although 90% of the development pipeline is rental units, President of The Marketing Directors, Jackie Urgo, believes the condominium market will expand further, saying “Existing tenants who love living in Jersey City are anxious to invest in new product. We receive many inquiries in all of our luxury rental buildings in the area for purchase opportunities.”
In an interview Ms Urgo also noted that, according to their leasing records, only about 60% of leasing activity in their new buildings is from current Jersey City residents. The other 40% is from new residents from outside Jersey City including a large chunk from Manhattan and Brooklyn. A possible indication that Mayor Fulop’s population growth predictions aren’t too far off.
Jersey City has already approved projects totaling over 25,000 units. Of those, roughly 5,000 are currently under construction. With the sheer volume projects in the works, it’s near impossible to keep up with all of them. In August, the city released development maps for Downtown and Journal Square. These high-level PDF’s provide unit count, parking space counts and type of space breakdowns (commercial, retail, residential) but stop short of completing the picture. So Jersey Digs decided to map the projects in a more interactive way.
UPDATE: We’ve mapped development projects all over Jersey City! Check out the new map here: All Jersey City Development Map
Introducing our Downtown Development Map:
We’ve mapped as many of the downtown projects we could find information on. Clicking on a marker on the map brings up an info window with the project name and a photo. Click the link for more information and we’ve put together a post rounding up all available public information for the project. Who the developer and architect are, renderings of the projects, current photos of the progress and more. We’ll also be updating the map to include new projects in real-time.
Next time you walk past a construction site and are curious about what’s coming there, just look it up on our map!
While Downtown has seen the majority of the development, 2016 will be the year the rest of Jersey City gets in on the action. We started with Downtown as that’s where most the projects are, but over the next few weeks we will roll out interactive maps of all neighborhoods in Jersey City. The map will be especially useful for these neighborhoods as the Downtown projects get all the coverage as it is.
Jersey Digs is excited about 2016 and what it means for Jersey City, Hudson County, and further out into North Jersey (Newark, we’re watching you). We have a lot of exciting projects in the works that we can’t wait to share. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and check back often for all your real estate news.
