The Jersey City waterfront will finally be getting a development that has been in the works for half a decade as a 68-story residential project has finally gotten off the ground.
Piledriving work has officially begun at Harborside 8, a sky-high endeavor that was first greenlit by the city’s Planning Board way back in March 2020. The approvals were originally obtained by the now defunct Mack-Cali, but Veris Residential inherited the property when it purchased that company’s assets.
Harborside 8 will rise on about half of a 169,000-square-foot surface parking lot at 242 Hudson Street and 3 Second Street. Drawn up by Boston-based Elkus Manfredi Architects, the development is slated to top out at just over 708 feet at the highest point.
The project will feature 680 residential units broken down as 206 studios, 266 one-bedrooms, 183 two-bedrooms, and 25 three-bedrooms. Because the project’s approvals were obtained before Jersey City’s inclusionary housing ordinance was in effect, the development does not include any affordable housing component.
329 parking spaces will be featured inside a garage within the building’s first eight floors, while the ground floor of Harborside 8 will sport two retail storefronts. One will face the Hudson River and span 5,437 square feet, while the other will front Hudson Street and total 3,225 square feet.
The entire 10th and 11th floors of the building will be exclusively devoted to amenity space and the sheer number of perks is notable. Among the included comforts are a yoga studio, a personal training area, a fitness center, children’s room, multiple collaborative work rooms, a maker space, a demonstration kitchen, an outdoor amenity terrace, a pool, golf simulators, a dog run, a club room, library, conservatory, dining area, and wine bar complete with catering kitchen.
Outside Harborside 8, a new road will be constructed just north of the development between the building and the remaining parking lot. A new lawn and plaza will be built along the east side of the building next to a drop-off area where the new road will dead end.
Harborside 8 is the first phase of redevelopment set to take place at this sprawling surface parking lot, with the second component, known as Harborside 9, gaining approval last summer. The second tower will be a bit shorter at 57 stories but add an additional 579 residential units to the landscape intended to be classified as condominiums.
The residences themselves will skew a bit smaller, breaking down as 96 studios, 307 one-bedrooms, 166 two-bedrooms, and 10 three-bedroom units. Unlike the first phase, Harborside 9 will include a 15% affordable housing component that will create 87 affordable units.
Besides the housing, 14,840 square feet of commercial space will be included on Harborside 9’s ground floor along and another enclosed garage at the complex will feature a total of 555 parking spaces.
While an estimated completion date for Harborside 8 hasn’t been announced, the development will undeniably make its mark on the Jersey City skyline. The project will be the sixth tallest building in Jersey City when it’s completed, which will rank it just behind the two 710-feet tall towers of the recently completed One Journal Square.
The plan for this formerly office-heavy area is pretty bold, as Harborside 8 and 9 will add over 1,250 residential units and 23,000 square feet of retail space to the neighborhood when completely built out.
