(March 2000)
The Schundler administration is supporting an effort by United Diversified of Bayonne to build Jersey City’s own version of the twin towers, a pair of 43-story spires containing 551 units. The towers would rise 475 feet in the air along the New Jersey Transit train tracks several blocks west of the Hoboken Terminal. This block, vacant except for a Exxon gas station on the corner is located between Jersey Avenue and Grove Street within the Jersey Avenue Redevelopment Area. The developer is seeking approval from New Jersey Transit to build over the tracks of the new Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Transit System and establish a station within the building.
A coalition of neighborhood and civic groups from Jersey City Heights to downtown Jersey City and Hoboken are organizing against this luxury residential project. Over 100 people attended the first Planning Board session on March 14 at City Hall. The Board is considering two amendments to the Redevelopment Plan that would specifically benefit this developer, United Diversified. The first amendment would alter the height limits for this site from the current 110 feet to a proposed 475 feet. In addition, the floor area ratio (FAR), a measure of the density of the project, would be increased from 5.0 to 6.0. This increase in the FAR would permit the developers of the Millennium Towers to add 200,000 square feet of commercial development on the lower floors of this project.
At the March 14th meeting, after deliberating for nearly three hours on other redevelopment projects, the Jersey City Planning Board had time for a brief presentation by the developer’s architect and traffic expert and then heard testimony from 3 objectors. The Board then adjourned at 10 p.m. The hearing will continue on Tuesday, May 9 at 6:00 p.m. to accommodate a long list of speakers who are opposing the project. If the Planning Board approves the amendments, they will then be forwarded to the City Council to be voted on.
These towers would rise 365 feet above the Palisades. They would be more than 3 times the height of the nearby Skyline project in Hoboken. Opponents of this project, many of whom live atop the Palisades in Jersey City Heights expressed fear that this amendment would open up a Pandora’s box, permitting and encouraging developers to build high-rise buildings throughout the Jersey Avenue Redevelopment Area up to the base of the cliffs. Vito Brunetti, the President of the Riverview Neighborhood Association, remarked, “the City promised us that high-rise structures would be confined to the waterfront. Now they are promising to only allow a high-rise building at this one particular inland site. But what is now clear to us, is that our financially stressed City doesn’t know how to say ‘no’ to a developer.”
The site is unusual in that it is long and narrow, bounded by the train tracks to the north and an equally long parcel to the south. As a result, the project fronts only a narrow 70 foot section of Jersey Avenue and a 120 foot portion of Grove Street. As a result, all of the traffic generated by this project would be forced onto these two key thoroughfares that are heavily congested during rush hour. These streets are two of just three means of egress and ingress to Hoboken at the south end of town.
These proposed amendments, since they solely benefit one developer and serve no public benefit, constitute spot zoning which is illegal in the state of New Jersey. An additional problem introduced with luxury residential housing in this area, is the potential loss of hundreds of blue-collar jobs. Inevitably, the light industry, which currently exists in much of the Jersey Avenue Redevelopment Area, would be forced out with the introduction of luxury residential buildings in this area. Nevertheless, representatives of the Mayor’s office continue to vigorously defend this project.