As we have been reporting, new mixed-use and all-residential developments are continuing to be proposed for properties within a half-mile of the West Side Avenue Station on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail. The station, located in Jersey City’s Ward B, is the southern terminus on the line between Jersey City and North Bergen, and is situated in a neighborhood that has a mixture of residential, commercial, industrial, and educational properties. Now, one of the largest properties near the station is on the market, leaving the potential open for major redevelopment.
The 2.73 acre tract at 400 Claremont Avenue, which stretches back to Yale Avenue, was listed for sale last month. The site is located diagonally across the street from the pedestrian bridge across West Side Avenue to the station, and contains a massive complex that was previously used by companies such as Elementis Specialties, Daniel Products, and Synres Chemical Corporation for industrial purposes.
In March 2017, Elementis issued a statement in which the company announced that it would sell its United States colourants business to Chromaflo Technologies and prepare to close its operations on Claremont Avenue.
“The sale of our non-core US colourants business and closure of the Jersey City site demonstrates that focus and supports our strategy to focus on key growth areas,” said Elementis CEO Paul Waterman in the statement, adding that “we expect it [the Claremont Avenue site] will be put up for sale in the future.”
Now that the property has been listed for sale, it appears likely that after close to 70 years of manufacturing or other industrial activity at the site, those days are over. A listing from CBRE shows that the real estate firm is marketing the tract as a “residential redevelopment opportunity,” describing the warehouses, laboratories, and offices on the property to potential developers as having potential to be converted into a mixed-use project with residential units and retail space on the ground floor. The site consists of 10 lots in total, according to CBRE, and is subject to New Jersey’s Industrial Site Recovery Act.
The company has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for potential redevelopers of the property, and is seeking firms based in part on “their financial capability and prior transit oriented mixed use/master plan community experience to ensure that the proposed redevelopment of the site would be beneficial for and supported by Jersey City and the County of Hudson at large.”
Jersey Digs will keep you informed once a development is proposed for the site.
