The seemingly endless number of cranes in Jersey City’s Journal Square neighborhood has been a big story for years, but the residential building boom is about to be complemented by a new theater space, some educational facilities, and much needed affordable housing.
The project closest to finishing in the neighborhood is certainly the Loews’ Jersey, which is slated to host a grand re-opening ribbon cutting on November 9. The $130 million dollar overhaul will be welcoming its first events later this month, and N.J.-born comedian Chelsea Handler is slated to film a Netflix special there later this year.
The theater, which opened just before the Great Depression in 1927, features decadent Baroque Revival style elements with marble and gilded trappings. The endeavor is being undertaken by Devils Arena Entertainment.
Just a few blocks north, construction has restarted at Imperial Tower following a $220 million financing deal. The 56-story project is located at 2966 John F. Kennedy Boulevard and ceased construction after the developers decided to make the structure taller than the approved plan.
Imperial Tower is being developed by Kuldeep “Sunny” Kumar and Mohan Myneni, with Noble Construction serving as general contractor and MVMK Architecture serving as architect of record. The project will deliver 542 residential units (with 57 designated as affordable), a 154-key Marriott-flagged hotel, and approximately 34,105 square feet of ground-floor retail space. Completion is expected sometime in 2028.
Just across from the neighborhood’s PATH station, two projects from Namdar Group are topped out and slated for completion next year. The high-rises, at 612 Pavonia Avenue and 29 Van Reipen Street, are both being built along the Homestead Place Pedestrian Plaza.
Both rise 27 stories, with 612 Pavonia Avenue set to feature 696 residential units plus nearly 3,100 square feet of commercial space and 19,380 square feet of retail. 29 Van Reipen will sport 432 units while adding 4,500 square feet of retail and 3,295 square feet for a professional office spa.
Namdar also has big plans that are underway at 16 Lott Street. Several buildings have already been torn down at the site, which will rank as the company’s tallest development in Jersey City to date.
The future 47-story tower will incorporate a historic structure at 629 Newark Avenue into the design, which will otherwise be glass-heavy. The project is set to feature 26 hotel rooms plus 1,049 residential units, including 105 to be set aside as affordable housing. A total of 2,032 square feet of retail space will be featured on the ground floor of the project.
Developments that are smaller by the neighborhood’s new standards are also popping up along the area’s side streets. One nearing completion, 42-46 Cottage Street, is an 8-story, ground-up, mixed-use development designed by GRO Architects. Set to include 45 residences that skew smaller, future residents will enjoy an amenity-rich rooftop deck with sweeping city views.
The building will additionally feature retail spaces spanning the cellar through the third floor in an effort to activate the streetscape. The building will sport two dedicated elevators for residents and visitors to the retail component.
Residential complexes aren’t the only high-rises going up around Journal Square. A development at 14 Enos Place comes courtesy of Hudson County Community College and will act as a new academic tower for the school.
Designed by NK Architects, the 11-story tower will include 24 state-of-the-art classrooms, expanded spaces for student services, and centralized offices for Continuing Education and Workforce Development. Other portions of the building will feature a black box theater, a full-size NCAA regulation gymnasium and fitness center, a University Center for sister colleges, a new healthcare lab, new student common areas, and administrative offices for the college.
Just up the road, preliminary work has begun at 829 Bergen Avenue. Drawn up by Hoboken-based MVMK Architecture + Design, the approved plan calls for an 11-story modern building that will rise 122 feet at the tallest point.
A total of 77 units will be built within the complex, with 5% being set aside as affordable housing. Off-street parking for 20 vehicles was added to the plan as a compromise following feedback from the community, replacing what was retail space in the original proposal.
Heading to the neighborhood’s border with The Heights, work at 3085 Kennedy Boulevard is well underway. Known as Journal Square Estates, the project consists of a pair of 12-story buildings to include a total of 373 residential units.
The development, designed by Hoboken-based MVMK Architecture, includes 72 basement parking spaces. The entire development includes bicycle storage for 97 bikes between the two towers and each phase of the project is slated to feature a 678-square-foot storefront that faces Kennedy Boulevard.
This neighborhood’s stretch of Newark Avenue has remained busy with construction. A 35-story mixed-use tower at 701 Newark Avenue has started rising at the site of a former parking lot and will add 360 new housing units to the area.
Of those residences, 90 will be set aside as affordable housing. The development, which also includes 2,979 square feet of commercial space and amenities, was granted a 30-year long-term tax exemption from Jersey City earlier this year.
Where one landmark fell, another is almost complete. A mid-rise at 683 Newark Avenue is nearly finished at the former home of FilStop, a beloved Filipino market that closed in 2020 after a 46-year run.
The endeavor comes from a Jersey City-based company called Cottage Realty Development. The five-story complex includes 40 residential units along with about 4,500 square feet of retail space plus some leasable basement space, continuing the storefront tradition Filstop once filled.
Despite all the active construction in the neighborhood, Journal Square has several notable towers that could begin construction next year.
2859 Kennedy Boulevard
This 55-story tower from local developer Nasser Freres includes 840 residential units and ground floor retail space that Whole Foods has agreed to lease. Boulevard Drinks recently vacated the property to make way for the project.
808 Pavonia Avenue
The two-tower project from Kushner Real Estate has already cleared several lots associated with the development and looks to add an “art walk” and other public amenities to the area next to the Loews’ Jersey.
Homestead Market
Another Namdar Group project, this 1,517-unit, two-phased development snagged at $310 million construction loan earlier this year for its first portion.
