More than three years after it was approved, little progress has been made on a massive mixed-use development that was expected to be the largest, by far, in the McGinley Square neighborhood of Jersey City.
It was revealed in early 2014 that Saint Peter’s University was planning to construct a 21-story tower at the site of a parking lot it owns at 688 Montgomery Street, at the corner of Tuers Avenue. The project, according to Together North Jersey, was slated to include a grocery store, a 13-screen movie theater, a landscaped promenade, an underground parking garage, the Jesuit Institute for Lifelong Learning and Living, a residence hall with 300 beds, and 450 residential rental units. According to the university, Saint Peter’s Tower at McGinley Square was set to be co-developed with Sora Development and KPN Architects.
A student at SPU, who asked to remain anonymous, contacted Jersey Digs, and explained that he was informed during his freshman year that the project was expected to be completed by 2016.
“Students here are still living in what we consider to be sub-par conditions on the university’s West Campus,” said the source, who added “failing infrastructure in these old buildings result[s] in no hot water being provided and electricity failures that can last for a whole day.”
According to the student, “when we saw its [the project’s] delay, we started asking questions, but the administration here danced around the questions, refusing to give us satisfactory answers.”
Jersey Digs reached out to SPU for an update on the development, but was unable to get any real information.
Sarah Malinowski Ferrary, the Executive Director of University Communications, initially responded to our questions by stating that “Saint Peter’s University remains committed to meeting the housing needs of its students and we are in the process of exploring viable options in the area,” but when we asked for more details about this project, she explained that “she can’t discuss any specifics about plans right now due to confidentiality reasons.”
We also contacted the project developers and the architect, and will keep you updated should additional information be released.
