What was slated to be the second phase at one of Jersey City’s largest redevelopments looks like it is finally moving forward as the project formally known as phase two of Urby looks like it will be rising a block from the waterfront.
The surface parking lot at 200 Greene Street is officially closed to the public, and some early excavation work underway at the site. The block is approved for a two-tower joint venture between Ironstate Development and Roseland Residential Trust.
The most recent version of the Urby plans were approved in 2024, but the development has lost its friend. The first tower in the Urby development, which sits across the street and came online in 2017, was rebranded as Sable following the property’s sale to Veris Residential earlier this year.
Nonetheless, the second phase of Urby at 200 Greene Street is set to include a pair of 69-story towers that top out at 677 feet. Some changes were made to the design of the towers themselves in 2022, with the “Jenga-like” nature of the original Urby being scaled back a bit.
Designed by Toronto-based Concrete with HLW International as the architect of record, the northernmost tower of Urby’s second phase will be straightforward and lack any offset sections. The southernmost tower, on the other hand, will still have a similar feel to the initial Urby phase albeit less pronounced.
The latest approved version reduces the total unit count for final two towers by about 100 to 1,510 units, with the developers reserving the right to designate up to 164 of the units for hotel use. No affordable housing is included in the plans, as none was required at the time of the development’s initial approval.
A combined 32,000 square feet of retail space will call the ground floor of the complex home, being split between four storefronts. The existing greenery between the Urby parking lot and Harborside 5 will also be spruced up under the plan, with a new pedestrian walkway and park space.
Urby’s final portion is set to feature a 272-space parking garage base with a valet option plus a finished rooftop that connects the towers. Plans for the roof of the garage include an outdoor pool and landscaped garden hill, while other amenities at Urby’s second phase include a sprawling second-floor fitness center set to sport an indoor pool.
Attorneys for Ironstate and Roseland stated during a planning board meeting in 2022 that the base of the latest Urby complex would be built first, then to be followed by one of the towers. The second tower would then be built after the completion of the first, meaning the development still has two phases.
The developers have not issued any statement thus far about a potential groundbreaking ceremony for Urby, but the closure of the parking lot is a telltale sign the project is coming soon.
This stretch of Jersey City ‘s waterfront is already busy and is likely to emerge as the next epicenter of development. Harborside 8 is currently under construction diagonally across from the Urby site, while the Port Authority is building a new substation to replace the aging Powerhouse building.
Related Companies has approvals in place for the 800-unit Harborside 4 just two blocks south of Urby’s last act. Jersey City’s first supertall is in the works for an empty lot two blocks west, while Jersey Digs recently unearthed images of another three-tower, 2,000-unit plan for a parking lot on Washington Street.
