A Canopy by Hilton hotel is planned for 159 Morgan Street, near the southeastern corner of Marin Boulevard, in the city’s Ward E, where the number of undeveloped parcels continues to shrink.
According to a legal notice from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Division of Land Use, the hotel is slated to be ten stories tall, and would contain 212 guest rooms. 6,500 square feet of retail space are also proposed for the building’s ground floor, and the hotel’s main lobby, which is planned for the second floor, would be connected by elevator to the street level.
The hotel is set to be developed by Morgan Point Urban Renewal Co., LLC, which is affiliated with The KABR Group of Ridgefield Park, Bergen County. The notice states that the developer is seeking to receive a “hardship exception” to the Flood Hazard Area Control Act to allow for storage space and laundry facilities at a below-grade level.
Currently, the property, which is located close to the Grove Street PATH Station, contains a private parking lot, though development has long been proposed for the site. In fact, the developer’s plans for a 184-room nine-story hotel were approved back in 2013, but construction never began on that project.
This would be the first New Jersey location for the growing Canopy by Hilton franchise, which launched in 2015. It is described by Hilton as “the energizing, new hotel in the neighborhood offering simple, guest-directed service, thoughtful local choices, and surprisingly comfortable spaces, so guests simply feel better going forward,” and that “each property is designed as a natural extension of its neighborhood, with local design, food and drink, and culture.” Currently, the only Canopy by Hilton hotel is in Iceland, but American hotels are also planned for Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, DC.
This is certainly not the only new hotel in Jersey City. A 152-room Residence Inn by Marriott recently opened a few yards away from the proposed Canopy by Hilton site, and a Hyatt House with a rooftop restaurant next to the Exchange Place Light Rail Station and a Holiday Inn Express on Tonnelle Avenue are nearing completion.
Representatives with Hilton and The KABR Group did not immediately return requests for comment. The transaction was brokered by Grid Real Estate.
