The first step has been taken to potentially transform a sprawling area containing parking lots and abandoned properties into affordable housing in an area that is underutilized but centrally located in the middle of Jersey City.
During their September 8 meeting, Jersey City’s Planning Board signed off on a resolution from the City Council to advance what is formally known as the potential Cornelison Academy Redevelopment Plan. The proposal would establish a Non-Condemnation Redevelopment Area that includes almost 17 acres of land surrounding Hudson County Plaza.
The government building at 257 Cornelison Avenue would remain under the plans. But 11 parcels across four separate tax blocks would be rezoned to allow development of about 700 affordable homes.
The parcels themselves are a hodgepodge, as some of them currently serve as surface parking spaces for Hudson County Plaza’s workforce. Officials from the county went over the properties that would be included in the study area during the meeting, noting that almost all of them are either in fair or poor condition.
Several of the lots feature rusted fences and various debris, and the area is also prone to ponding and standing water following storms. PSE&G owns one of the properties within the study area and is currently remediating that parcel, while Consolidated Rail owns a parcel that contains a vacant shed and parking lot that has fallen into disrepair.
The current zoning in the area is mostly Industrial, with a few Neighborhood Commercial (NC-1) and Residential (R-1) Zone Districts, and a few lots falling within the Montgomery Street and Journal Square 2060 Redevelopment Plans. The potential Cornelison Academy Redevelopment Plan would streamline the zoning and make development of the properties easier.
Hudson County would like to redevelop the land for residential purposes, although it is not looking to acquire any privately owned parcels via eminent domain, per the City Council resolution. About 700 of the homes would be dedicated to income-restricted, rent-capped affordable and workforce housing, although no concrete plans have been released so far.
With the Planning Board’s recommendation in hand, the next step is for the City Council to approve the study resolution on second reading. The item has not yet been placed on the agenda for the council’s September 23 meeting, but it could be considered by the body as early as their October 7 session.
If approved, the results of the study and a potential redevelopment plan could emerge for the land around Hudson County Plaza sometime next year. The plan is part of a larger endeavor by the county to build as many as 1,500 homes across four different underutilized sites in Jersey City over the coming years.
