A property in Jersey City’s Bergen-Lafayette neighborhood that has sat vacant and surrounded by a fence for years will soon be occupied by a building again.
A five-story mixed-use development will be constructed at 408-420 Communipaw Avenue, at the corner of Manning Avenue in Ward F, one of Jersey City’s few remaining cobblestone streets. The new building will include 47 residential units on the upper four floors, with four retail spaces occupying a combined 5,393 square feet on the ground floor, according to a legal notice from the Jersey City Planning Board. There will also be 22 parking spaces on the property. The Morris Canal Community Development Corporation (MCCDC) is developing the property, which is owned by the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency.
According to city records, MCCDC was granted preliminary and final major site plan approval, with conditions and a deviation for minimum front yard setback, by the Jersey City Planning Board during its meeting on October 24. The board’s documents also note that three of the residential units will be designated as affordable.
The tract, which is located near Lafayette Park, Berry Lane Park, the Junction, and both the Liberty State Park and Garfield Avenue Hudson-Bergen Light Rail stations, was mostly occupied by a vacant two-story industrial building until it was demolished in the last five years.
This is not the first time that development has been proposed for this property. A 2015 report from The Jersey Journal shows that 35 affordable units had been approved by the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Committee.
