A trio of historic but vacant buildings in Jersey City’s McGinley Square neighborhood are slated to be restored and expanded into a mixed-use property that will add four storefronts to the streetscape.
During their October 7 meeting, Jersey City’s Planning Board approved an application to significantly revamp 712-714 Bergen Avenue. The parcels, owned by Estate Capital Group LLC, consist of three vacant buildings that sit at the road’s intersection with Fairmount Avenue.
Plans to revitalize the properties have been in the works since 2022, when the lots started to be consolidated to facilitate the project. The developer eventually won approval to bring a four-story, 27-unit building to the property, even going so far as to being framing work at the site in 2024.
The developer’s latest approvals now allow them to build a fifth-story addition at the properties, which will essentially link all of the historic buildings together. Designed by Clark-based Piro Studio, the plans for 712 Bergen Avenue now call for the adaptive reuse of three existing structures into a 36-unit development.
The project will now top out at five floors and just under 58 feet, with another addition set to be construction on a portion of the property along Fairmount Avenue. Four separate retail spaces totaling 6,700 square feet will be created under the plan.
The residential unit breakdown of the development splits into 4 studios, 16 one-bedroom and 16 two-bedroom spaces. No affordable housing component is included in the project.
The development was granted a single variance by the board for height when gaining unanimous approval, which could hopefully result in work that had previously stalled restarting at the properties.
