IT'S ALL UP FROM HERE
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
The structures that have stood vacant for several years on the block next to the Journal Square Transportation Center in Jersey City are now gone, making room for a highly anticipated twin-tower project.
Dozens of union workers joined developers and politicians next to rubble and bulldozers yesterday to trumpet the latest step toward the future $500 million One Journal Square development.
Construction of the mixed-use complex will begin this year and take three years to complete, officials said.
Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy called the demolition a "great step forward," noting the development will generate 800 construction jobs, with at least 160 of those jobs going to Jersey City residents through a project-labor agreement. Once built, the project will provide 300 permanent jobs, he said.
Final construction plans need to be submitted to the Office of the Construction Code Official before a building permit can be issued, city officials said.
Most of the land is already owned by the development's main investor, the Multi-Employer Property Trust (MEPT). But a portion of the 1.5-acre site is still owned by Hudson County and has to be conveyed to the developers, officials said.
Jersey City-based Harwood Properties, whose principal is Lowell Harwood, is one the partners building the development.
When complete, the development will include 1,615 rental residential units within two towers - one 68 stories, the other 50 stories. The project will also have 70,000 square feet of retail space and 680 parking spaces, said Liz Opacity, a spokeswoman for the developer.
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