A $120 million project that hopes to strengthen city services while revitalizing a neighborhood will be vertically expanding by a floor following some modifications to a scheme that emerged last year.
Jersey City announced in September the imminent groundbreaking of their new Public Safety Headquarters. Set to rise at a parking lot on the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Kearney Avenue, the facility is part of an ongoing endeavor to consolidate many of the city’s government operations within a few blocks of Bergen-Lafayette.
The Public Safety Headquarters will be the fourth component of the city’s Jackson Square municipal complex and was already slated to be one of the neighborhood’s tallest buildings at 11 stories when it was revealed. The revised plan now calls for a 12-story building that tops out at 187 feet, a change that will add about 2,000 square feet to the project.
Drawn up by Philadelphia-based USA Architects, the upcoming building will centralize the city’s police and fire operations under one roof and is set to host offices for departments like Fire Prevention, Parking Enforcement, Special Investigations Unit, Gun Permits, and Traffic Programming.
Other components of the 122,000-square-foot facility will include a Communications Center with 9-1-1 dispatch, Jersey City’s first-ever police and fire Recruitment Center, and a brand new police and fire museum.
Construction of the project is set to be overseen by Pennsylvania-based Brandywine Financial and the development includes a parking lot for 12 cars to be used by public service vehicles. Utility connections and two emergency generators will be installed as part of the work.
Jersey City released the new plans under what is known as a Section 31 “courtesy review,” a state law that requires planning boards to assess applications for public projects. The board could review the records as early as this month, with the city still hoping to complete construction of the Public Safety Headquarters in 2022.
When the new facility is completed, Jersey City will be selling their current Fire Headquarters, the South Street Fire Union Offices, and the Gong Club property. The moves are expected to generate at least $30 million in revenue.
