New information and renderings have been revealed for a massive new mixed-use development near the 8th Street Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Station that will be the largest and tallest of its kind in Bayonne.
The upcoming project at 26 North Street, between Avenue C and Kennedy Boulevard, is now slated to consist of two high-rise towers, each of which will be 22 stories tall. In an interview with Jersey Digs, David Greenman from Silbert Realty & Management stated that construction on this new development is expected to begin in the next 90 to 120 days.
The current plans call for each building to include 170 residential rental units, for a total of 340. The apartments are expected to mostly consist of one bedroom or two bedrooms, but some studios are possible. The ground floor will include 25,020 square feet of commercial space, which will likely be occupied in part with what Greenman describes as a regional “small footprint gourmet high-end grocery retailer.” In addition, another business such as a daycare center or a restaurant is expected to occupy 4,200 square feet. Four underground floors of parking with 725 spaces for shoppers and residents are also planned.
Greenman said that this development is a “well-situated project” because of the site’s close proximity to the light rail, Route 440, the Bayonne Bridge, and the Broadway business district.
”As Jersey City gets more and more expensive and it’s harder to find reasonable housing there, Bayonne becomes a prime target,” he explained.
Although it is located next to a Rite Aid Pharmacy, the area immediately surrounding the property is a largely residential neighborhood. The site has sat vacant, surrounded by fencing, for over a decade. It previously was home to Pagano’s Supermarket, according to The Jersey Journal, and was acquired by a Bayonne-based LLC for $4.6225 million in 2015.
The project was initially approved in 2015 by the Bayonne Planning Board amid opposition by some residents of the city and support from others.
Originally, the property was expected to become the site of a four-story development called The Lofts at 26 North Street, but construction never began on that building. Years later, 26 North Street was expected to consist of one 22-story building, but the plans were eventually shifted to four high-rise towers with 680 units that would be connected to each other by mixed-use buildings. Now, the plans again changed to the current approach of two interconnected towers with balconies around a dozen stories high. The development is designed by Marchetto Higgins Stieve of Hoboken.
Greenman identified the developers of the project as The L Group’s Lance Lucarelli and John Cali from Cranford-based Cali Futures, LLC. Lucarelli and Cali are also responsible for the Park Bayonne project and the upcoming residential and restaurant development at 957 Broadway, which is expected to be completed in a little over a year.
The retail spaces and the exterior of both buildings at 26 North Street could be completed by either the end of 2019 or the beginning of 2020 with the residential units inside available shortly after, according to Greenman. They will likely be the tallest buildings between Jersey City and New Brunswick.
