Major changes are in store for a building along a heavily traveled corridor in Jersey City’s Western Slope neighborhood.
The Jersey City Zoning Board of Adjustment granted preliminary and final major site plan approval to the developer of 3193 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, between Spruce and Stagg Streets in Ward D, during its meeting on October 19. The approvals come with conditions and variances for use, height, and minimum parking.
According to City records, applicant Satinder Saggar’s project involves converting the existing building into a 63-foot high mixed-use structure. Currently, the southern part of this commercial structure is two stories tall while the northern half is three stories tall. A legal notice states that when completed, it will be a five-story structure with 28 residential dwelling units and 4,472 square feet of ground floor retail space.
The existing building has largely been used for commercial purposes over the years, and this is one of the first proposals of its kind in this corner of Jersey City. Most recently, S&R Plumbing and Heating Supply Company operated in the building, and two of the structure’s first occupants at the beginning of the 20th century were early motion picture production companies known as Music Films, Inc. and Prizma, Inc. Journals from 1920 show that a variety of films were made by the occupants, such as one called “The Cost of Carelessness,” about teaching campers how to avoid accidentally setting fires in national forests.
Data from NJ Parcels shows that a company called NEHA 3193 Kennedy, LLC, which is registered out of Saggar’s Newark Avenue jewelry store, bought the building in November 2016 for $1.1 million from an Edison Township real estate firm.
The property is located within a 15 minute walk of Journal Square, Pershing Field Park, and the Central Avenue business district in The Heights. NJ Transit buses 2, 88, and 125 to the Port Authority Bus Terminal, Weehawken, North Bergen, West New York, Guttenberg, Secaucus, and Union City stop just outside of the building.
[gmap height=”250px”]3193 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ[/gmap]
