One of Jersey City’s more prominent developers will be going back before the planning board this week to ask if they can keep an extra floor that they constructed without approvals.
333 Grand Street LLC, the company behind the 221-unit building at the same address, has been leasing to tenants for many months now. But last year, officials in Jersey City chastised the developer for not following approved plans when the building was constructed.
Rules broken by 333 Grand Street include their addition of rear-facing bay windows, added balconies that are three feet larger than allowed, an added swimming pool, and the use of an exterior insulation and finish system that’s banned under current regulations. The developer was fined $582,000 for deviating from the plans by the city, who also ordered they demolish the top floor of the structure.
However, 333 Grand Street has submitted a site plan amendment application to the city’s planning board they hope will allow them to keep the top floor. The application argues that the top floor is an “expanded attic” and meets the definition of such under requirements set by the area’s Liberty Harbor North Redevelopment Plan.
“The current attic is therefore conforming” as long as it remains vacant according to the application, which lists the building as being 12 stories plus an attic. It remains to be seen if the board will be receptive to that interpretation, but the developer of 333 Grand Street, Peter Mocco, is no stranger to seeking modifications on projects that have already been built.
Last year, the Mocco-owned 245 Newark Avenue also went before the planning board seeking a site plan amendment despite the fact that much of the building was already constructed. That development rose higher than what was approved, used different façade materials, and added mezzanines on the first and fifth stories of the structure.
Work stalled on the development after it was discovered that it was not constructed in accordance with approvals obtained in 2015. But with few options on a building that was mostly complete, the planning board ended up approving the changes after carrying the application through several meetings. 245 Newark Avenue started leasing earlier this year.
The amendments Mocco is seeking for 333 Grand Street were scheduled to be heard during the planning board’s October 15 meeting, held in the Council Chambers at 280 Grove Street starting at 5:30 p.m.
