A proposal to redevelop 23 acres along Jersey Avenue near the Jersey Avenue NJ Transit station took a step forward when New Brunswick Planning Board members voted to approve the project’s site plan.
A report in TAPinto New Brunswick said the board approved the site plan from New Brunswick Improvement Owner LLC, a subsidiary of Florida-based firm Amzak Capital Management, on September 14.
Meeting materials from the planning board state the LLC plans to erect a four-story building with 330 apartments, parking, and other site improvements as part of the project’s first phase. Phase 2 includes commercial space and industrial flex space.
The third phase will consist of a second four-story building with 330 units, surface parking, and a parking garage.
The LLC intends to set aside 10% of the complex’s units for affordable housing residents. The proposal also calls for 1,132 parking spaces for the residential portion and 147 for the commercial portion.
It also calls for subdividing the project site at 90, 100, 120, and 200 Jersey Avenue.
The first lot is on the eastern side of the site, spans nearly 5 acres, and includes the first 330-unit building and a 555-space parking deck. The second lot is located on the east-central portion of the site, spans 8.05 acres, and includes the second residential building and a 440-car parking deck.
The third lot spans 6.09 acres and includes approximately 39,000 square feet of flex space and surface parking.
The fourth lot spans 4.16 acres and is located on the property’s southeastern portion. It includes a recreation area and a pedestrian trail.
Although planning board approval could move the site’s redevelopment forward, uncertainty remains about when the project will start and finish.
Jersey Digs reported in March that another LLC, Jersey Ave NB Urban Renewal LLC, was designated as the redeveloper of the parcels by the city’s housing authority in 2020.
The housing authority’s resolution said the redeveloper would invest $170 million to develop three buildings with 220 units, 1,160 parking spaces, 146,000 square feet of office space, 18,000 square feet of coworking space, and 8,000 square feet of retail. However, those plans never fully materialized, despite the developer and the city agreeing in 2022 to a long-term tax exemption.
The planning board also approved the project seven months after the city council and the developer agreed to scrap plans for a 27,000-square-foot data center on the 23-acre site. City residents and Rutgers University students almost unanimously opposed the data center plan at the February 18 city council meeting.
Amzak Capital Management is the Kazma family’s private investment arm, investing in telecommunications alongside real estate.
