State Square building breaks ground in Journal Square

Real Estate Weekly, Sept 3, 2003

State and local officials joined developers in Jersey City, recently to break ground on the first new-construction project in Journal Square in 20 years.

The 12-story-building, called State Square, will feature 100 market-rate apartments, 30 apartments designated for low-income residents and 15,000 SF of ground-floor retail space.

The $31 million project, which is rising on the site of the former State Theater on Kennedy Boulevard, will also include a brand new, eight-story parking garage with the capacity of 395 automobiles.

Representatives of the Housing Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) joined with Jersey City municipal officials and the developer of the property--a consortium whose principals include The Alpert Group, Applied Development Co., Panepinto Properties, Harwood Properties and former Congressman Frank Guarini--to mark of one of Jersey City's most significant off-river residential development efforts.

"We are extremely pleased to launch this project with the many officials whose hard work, visions and ideas made it possible," notes Joseph Alpert, a principal in the joint venture.

"Journal Square has already received substantial capital improvements over the past three years--among them, new and renovated office space, commercial stores and restaurants, the newly renovated Lowes Theatre and several buildings belonging to Hudson Community College. We believe we have come up with an important missing piece in the overall effort to revive Journal Square--providing a place for people to live in the downtown area."

The State Theater development is ideally located in the center of Journal Square near one of the Port Authority's largest metropolitan hubs. Thus, commuting by public transportation is possible to Manhattan and every town in Hudson County via the PATH trains, the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and express busses and ferries. By attracting new residents to the area and providing additional retail services, State Square will also be an important catalyst to continuing the revitalization of Journal Square.

"As a child, I used to come to the movie theater that was here, but the visions I saw on the big screen then don't match the visions that I'm seeing today," noted Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham.

"Those responsible for this new development are visualizing housing Jersey City residents and helping to revive the Journal Square neighborhood to become another golden part of our city."

Stage Square is expected to be completed in approximately 18 months. Residences will offer studio and one-bedroom layouts.