The last six years have seen numerous announcements about changes involving 693, 695, 697, 799, and 701 Newark Avenue in Jersey City. Despite one update after another, these Journal Square parcels continue to be used for surface parking as they long have, all while new buildings rise elsewhere in the neighborhood.
Now, another development proposal has surfaced involving the premises.
Jersey City Redevelopment Agency records from last month show that a company named 701 Newark Ave, LLC “proposes to develop, finance and construct the Agency Property a cobblestone pedestrian landscape, 75 parking spaces, up to 5 ‘pop-up’ retail locations, dedicated community working space and event space, and approximately 300 residential units.”
The residential units are described as “market rate,” with one JCRA document adding that there would be a required contribution to the “Journal Square Arts Initiative.”
Located between John F. Kennedy Boulevard and Summit Avenue near the Five Corners, these lots are no stranger to being in the headlines.
In 2016, Jersey City’s municipal government transferred ownership of the site to the JCRA, touting in an ordinance that there was “enormous interest in developing hotels/multi-use residential in the Journal Square 2060 Redevelopment Area.”
Less than two years later, the JCRA announced that it was seeking developers interested in transforming the property.
Soon, plans were revealed for a 25-story project called “Dream Tower” that would have included everything from a hotel to residential units to a rooftop restaurant, but the Dream was short-lived.
The developer wrote to the JCRA in June 2020 that they “cannot proceed with the project as proposed,” explaining that the tower “is no longer feasible due to changes in the market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
In 2021, a resolution formally designating 701 Newark Ave, LLC as the new redeveloper of the five properties was scheduled to go before the JCRA Board of Commissioners on December 21.
However, a note that appears to be handwritten says that the item was “removed” from the meeting, leaving time to tell whether the latest development to be proposed will come to fruition or meet a fate that is similar to that of Dream Tower.
