Union City is seeing a mixture of small infill development projects and large mixed-use multifamily buildings that are being proposed across the municipality. Now, construction is about to begin on another infill project just a few blocks from the Jersey City and Hoboken borders.
Developer Benjamin Solof of Solo Property, LLC will be developing a three-story building with three market rate residential units at 512 4th Street, between West Street and Bergenline Avenue. The development is being designed by Summit Avenue-based Pereiras Architects Ubiquitous, and two of the units will contain three bedrooms while the remaining unit will contain two bedrooms.
”The design is going to be really very innovative and I think it’s going to add a lot of character to that street,” said Solof, explaining that it will have a “classic yet modern look.”
The property was the site of a three-alarm fire in 2015, according to The Jersey Journal, which “caused extensive damage to the home” and caused residents and neighbors to evacuate.
“After the fire, the building became completely vacant and it’s kind of an eyesore on that street,” Solof explained, adding that he acquired the property in 2016 and this will be his first Union City project.
Residents of the new building will be within a 15-minute walk of Washington Park, the Bruce D. Walter Recreation Center, the Central Avenue business district in The Heights section of Jersey City, and the elevator to the 9th/Congress Streets Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Station.
Solof stated that the occupants are “probably going to be people who grew up in New Jersey who live in New York City now but are making their way back to Jersey, or Union City residents that are looking to stay in Union City.”
The project has already received approval from the Union City Planning Board, according to Solof. Demolition at the property is expected to begin in the next few weeks.
