A new residential building is coming to 54 Graham Street, at the northeast corner of Summit Avenue, in the city’s Ward D. When completed, according to public records, the development is expected to be four stories tall, and will contain 12 market-rate residential rental units and 4,000 square feet of parking.
Previously, the 0.1148-acre property contained a one-story warehouse and garage that was occupied by White & Shauger Inc., a Paterson, Passaic County-based plumbing and heating supply company that subsequently moved its Jersey City location to Oakland Street. Crews from Eglentowicz Wrecking demolished the structure in November 2016.
The project is being developed by property owner Blue Water Homes, LLC, which is registered out of the same Lincoln Street house as VFC Construction, LLC. Files from the New Jersey Office of Attorney General’s Division of Consumer Affairs state that the company was fined $5,000 and owed $30,000 in restitution in 2016, and was listed as unregistered at the time.
City records show that the project was granted the necessary approvals back in 2008 by the Jersey City Zoning Board of Adjustment, but little progress was made on the development until March 2016, when Blue Water Homes sought a five-year tax exemption from the City of Jersey City for the project. The exemption was unanimously granted by the Jersey City Council. Under the exemption, the developer will pay $56,591 in taxes over the five-year period. Plus, Blue Water Homes will also pay $24,000 to the Jersey City Affordable Housing Trust Fund. After the exemption expires, the property owner will pay $39,063 in taxes annually, according to the ordinance.
Residents of the new building will be within walking distance of Washington Park and the Central Avenue business district. Plus, NJ Transit Buses 82, 83, 85, and 87 to Exchange Place, Hackensack, Ridgefield Park, Union City, Hoboken, and Secaucus stop just steps from the property.
