According to a legal notice released earlier this fall by the County of Hudson, the building at 3464 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, at the northeast corner of Charles Street, is slated to be converted from office and retail purposes to mixed-use retail and residential use. The proposal by developer David Ishay of Manhattan-based The Ishay Group calls for 2,350 square feet of retail space and 14 residential units.
The building, which is located in the Jersey City’s Ward D, was built in 1928, and was sold to The Ishay Group by MIB Realty in April, 2014 for $1.4 million, according to NJ Parcels records. Light Accents previously operated a showroom on the building’s first floor.
The Ishay Group’s website refers to the project as The Studebaker Lofts, which is also the name of a five-year-old RPM development in Newark. According to the page, “this building features adorned and coveted architectural features that define the vintage blue-collar industrial character that is unmistakable Jersey City historical landscape”, and was once used as a Studebaker auto dealership and a Checkolite showroom and warehouse. Plans on the website call for the development to include a ‘pop-up roof’ as a partial fifth floor with bedrooms and terraces.
The site is located half a mile west of the Central Avenue business district in a largely residential area. Residents of The Studebaker Lofts will be within a few feet of a bus stop served by NJ Transit buses 2, 88, and 125 to Journal Square, Secaucus, North Bergen, and Manhattan.
Jersey City’s Zoning Board of Adjustment granted preliminary and final major site plan approval to the developer in April of 2015
Ishay is also responsible for the proposed revitalization of Carmel Towers in Newark’s South Ward.
