With 8,000 units, Jersey City project will be the Tri-State’s largest mixed-income housing development

After receiving approval from the city, last week, developer BRP Companies revealed renderings for their Bayfront Redevelopment Project in Jersey City along the Hackensack River. Located on a former brownfield site, the 100-acre project will be built in phases, eventually resulting in 8,000 units of mixed-income housing (35 percent of which will be affordable), said to be the largest such project in the region. This fall, construction will kick off on the 16-acre first phase, known as Cove Pointe, which will bring 1,092 units of housing, with 382 set aside as affordable and workforce housing.

Rendering of Cove Pointe, aerial view looking towards NYC. Rendering by Minno and Wasko

Located on the west side of Jersey City off Route 440, the Bayfront Redevelopment Project site was formerly occupied by the Mutual Chemical Company, later taken over by Honeywell, who ran a chromate chemical plant and was found guilty of dumping toxic waste on the land in the 1990s. According to an article in the Hudson Reporter, in 2005, a judge ordered Honeywell to clean up the site, and in 2018, Jersey City acquired the entire property from the company for $100 million with the goal of increasing the affordable housing requirement from five to 35 percent.

Rendering of Cove Pointe, Kellogg Street. Rendering by Minno and Wasko

Now, Mayor Steven M. Fulop, the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency (JCRA), and the Department of Housing, Economic Development and Commerce (HEDC) have announced that they plan to formally move forward with Bayfront Development Partners (a joint venture of Pennrose and Omni America) and BRP Development Group in a plan for the two developers to pay $26 million to move forward on phase one. According to a press release:

Throughout the first phase of development, a total of 1,092 units will be built in multi-family residential buildings, 35% of which is affordable and workforce housing. A total of 552 units will be built on BRP’s two lots, 193 of those units dedicated to affordable housing. Of those 193 affordable units, 28 units will be at 30% AMI, 28 units at 40%, 28 units at 50%, 28 units at 60%, 28 units at 80% and 53 units at 120%. Affordable housing across all parcels will increase in Jersey City from 5% of 35%.

Affordable housing will be prioritized for local residents, as will be both pre- and post-construction job opportunities, with a commitment to minority- and women-owned businesses. “Through this redevelopment project, we are demonstrating our continued commitment to our more vulnerable residents who are among the hardest hit by this pandemic,” said Mayor Fulop.

When completed, the Bayfront Redevelopment Project is expected to have 8,000 units of mixed-income housing and 23 acres of open space. It’s the largest development project in Jersey City since Newport, which began construction in 1986.

RELATED:

• Jersey City rental next to Liberty State Park opens, units from $1,910/month
• Jersey City set to get its first Whole Foods at Harborside
• Fresh renderings revealed of 99 Hudson Street, the soon-to-be tallest building in New Jersey
• Newport’s master plan ambitions: Diversity and development at LeFrak’s Jersey City community