Jersey City’s long-planned Bayfront project was awarded a $2 million tax credit last week by the state’s Economic Development Authority that will go towards its parks and open space components, although when that money gets claimed is anyone’s guess.
The award was given to Honeywell, who has partnered with the city to remediate the Bayfront project’s land, situated just north of Society Hill. The proposed development would create up to 8,100 new residential units, up to 1.6 million square feet of retail and office space and several public parks on the site of a former chromium processing plant.
Despite last week’s approval, Honeywell cannot receive the tax credits until it meets certain requirements, including investing at least $10 million in the project and creating three public parks. The three envisioned green spaces in the project will be called Central Park, the Promenade and the Green, which will total about 14 acres of the 95-acre project.
Cushman & Wakefield, the company marketing the project to investors, says Bayfront is fully zoned and assembled for transit-oriented, mixed-use redevelopment. However, no deal or timeline has been announced and some officials believe the amount of development and interest in the project may hinge on an extension of the southbound Hudson Bergen Light Rail over Route 440.
Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise told the Hudson County Alliance for Action at a February meeting that extending the Light Rail from its current West Side Avenue terminus “is going to make a difference between developing there or not.” The plan to extend the line was approved in 2011, but funding for the project has been hard to come by in part due to the state’s Transportation Fund woes.
When the project does get built, the tax credits should help fill a large gap between Lincoln Park and Society Hill along the Hackensack Waterfront, creating new green space for city residents to enjoy.
