Yes, the prices were supposed to start in the 300's, but I'm told that they have accepted offers for various units that will be going to contract shortly. This is what probably swallowed up the lower priced units, but you may see a buyer or two pull out, thus throwing them back on the market. I'm going to keep track of these deals myself. I had someone interested in a unit there, but he wants to spend under 400K. I certainly think its a good project & I hope you get what you want there! Cheers.

Thanks .

I was told $315,000 to start fir 1 bdrm, but thats prob for smallest unit on first floor.

I think the point is to allocate the money to the schools directly. I believe the assumption is that once the money goes to City Hall, it is spent and not saved to allocate later.

is anyone passionate enough about this issue to document the dual job holding and neopotism of the other council members?

the Baltimore Powerhouse was originally redeveloped into an indoor amusement park in the 1980's (do not believe it was Cordish), it failed and Cordish took over and developed the present retail mix; Hard Rock Cafe, ESPN Sports Zone etc. if these businesses still remain there.

Cordish was brought to JC by the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy around 1999/2000 in effort to stave off demolistion of our Powerhouse.

Cordish was not the first designated developer of the H&M Powerhouse. The first developer was to build commercial office space. So depending on your views, we are fortunate that failed and Cordish was subsequently brought in. There is of course more to the story...

Quote:

This type of corruption is disgusting! What is even more disgusting is the entire City Council (with the exception of Steve Fulop) voting to approve the hiring of this drug dealer. I don't know exactly when the next council election is but I can only hope these corrupt Council members are swept from their seats!

One thing that's really awful is seeing "big name" architects designing buildings for the projects.

On the one hand, I guess I'd rather see a nicely designed building going up than LeFrak building clone Number 497, but, on the other hand, what are architects doing contributing to the destruction of beautiful old warehouses? Those architects ought to be jeered out of architecture.

only 5%?

can the city make direct cash grants to the school system from PILOTs already in place?

From now on I am having a lot more respect for the shady characters on the corner selling weed, maybe they work at city hall...

jcaro28 -

To my understanding, here's a breakdown of the offering prices for available units at Canco:

1BR from $429,000 starting at 1,051 square feet. 2BR from $500,000 & Penthouses from around $500,000 1,200-1,600 square feet. I'm told by Canco that the Penthouses will feature 27 ft ceilings. The taxes are TBD, but there should be some fairly accurate estimations in place. The sales office should have furnished model units to view within two weeks. Hope this was helpful. If any of my numbers are off, I invite corrections. This was based on my last conversation with Canco, but sometimes the sales agents can be wrong. I plan on researching the project for my buyers this week. Good luck!

Quote:

I think one challenge here is that, in public, the people who oppose Epps have come up with a really weak case against him.

The chief criticisms seem to be that he's a political player, that he works fairly short hours, that he appoints political friends to key positions, and that the schools still aren't all that great.

But, so far, even though I've been to various meetings concerning the schools, that's the worst stuff I can list, which doesn't seem all that terrible to me. (Example: even if Epps comes in late in the morning, how do we know he wasn't participating in conference calls or doing some other work at home?)

Maybe the people I meet secretly have lots of stories about Epps shafting schools to get back at his enemies or embezzling money or something like that, but no one is gossiping about that sort of thing in such a way that I can hear the gossip.

When I watch school board proceedings on Comcast Channel 1, it seems as if Epps is pretty quiet but says sensible things when he does speak.

I think my daughter's school has a principal who was appointed by Epps, and, as far as I can tell, the principal and the assistant principal seem to be bright people who really care about the kids.

My guess is that Epps and the state have the most ability to control relatively new programs, such as the pre-K program, and the pre-K program is very good.

I also get the general sense that, at this point, all of the downtown schools and most of the Heights grade schools, at least, are functioning pretty well as schools, and I think a lot of the lingering problems are really security/society problems (e.g., the wild young boys walking to and hanging out around P.S. 37/Cordero (Hamilton Park school)) rather than failed school district problems.

I'm still not sure whether even the "good schools" here are great about things such as the teachers speaking polite standard English in front of the children or teaching topics such as how to avoid using dangling participles. But the schools actually seem to be making heroic efforts to avoid "worksheet mania."

Of course, there are some famous problems with middle schools and high schools here, but, as far as I can tell, it sounds as if Snyder and Dickinson, for example, offer a lot of decent classes and probably are providing a decent education for the kids who are behaving well enough to be educable.

The funniest part is when Junior thinks he's being coy and philosophical and asks Diaz, "Nepotism? Well, what is nepotism?"

Sorry for any confusion. One of the "Lapdogs" mentoned that he had been to Baltimore's Powerhouse and it could be a model for ours. Yes it is a different developer, nothing to do with the current proposal. I've been to the one in Baltimore and its' a big shopping mall anchored by a big B&N bookstore...the closest thing to art is the art book section. I also know the Toll's , my company does work for them...the slogan on their letter head reads "AMERICA'S LUXURY HOME BUILDER". I guess a $5000 a month apt in JC would seem "affordable" to someone paying $12,000 a month in Manhattan n'est pas? I'm sure if you fill out that little drawing test in the back of TV guide you can qualify for one of the bargandada artists studio's as well. When is the City council vote? We "Jane Jacob's" have our work cut out!

I watched the entire segment last night and couldn;t stop laughing....

Not only does it bring to light the amount of Bullshit that goes on in local politics, but serves as a slap in the face to each of us that isn't making nearly the $100,000+ annual salary afforded Ms Flood and the $50g's to her iliterate child.

Did anyone catch the point in the segment where the BIg Baby vows to Sue Arny and Fox5 if him and His Mom fall and get hurt ?????

Folks, the scary part about all of this is, that even though all of that has been brought to light, it's going to be Bussiness as usual in good Ole JC......

WHAT A JOKE !!!

CK

According to the Real Deal, when finished, Canco will be the largest industrial to loft conversion in Jersey City.

http://beta.therealdeal.com/articles/8662

Run, Stormy. RUN!

I am going to loook at Canco..forgive me if these questions have already been asked...

how much for a 1 bedroom?
Maintainence?
Parking?
Taxes?

Thanks

To negotiate Epps pact
Thursday, January 17, 2008

The Jersey City Board of Education has hired attorney Richard Bauch, a partner in the Morristown-based law firm Schenk, Price, Smith & King, to negotiate a new three-year contract with Superintendent of Schools Charles T. Epps Jr.

Appointed by the state seven years ago to run the district, Epps' contract ends June 30. He is currently paid $230,000 a year. In September, the board voted unanimously to offer Epps a new contract.

Last summer, the state Department of Education returned powers of governance and finance to the local school board. The board voted to hire Bauch last month.

According to the resolution, Bauch will be paid $175 per hour and no more than $15,000. Epps, 63, is represented by his own personal attorney, Maria Lepore, chief counsel for the New Jersey Association of School Administrators, school officials said.

KEN THORBOURNE

Cordish was the developer of the Baltimore powerhouse, and is the assigned developer of the Jersey City powerhouse, but other than being the namesake for the neighborhood, the Powerhouse has nothing to do with Toll Brothers' towers. Cordish is addicted to powerhouse conversions; besides Baltimore they did one in Richmond.

http://retailtrafficmag.com/development/retail_power_plants/

I would love for a local Barnes and Noble. A local branch of The Strand would be better, but still. Retail may not be a noble use of the powerhouse, but it least it will bring life back to the building.

PAGE TURNER
Owner vows to reopen bagels-and-books biz

Thursday, January 17, 2008
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Bagels and books will be back on the menu at Central Avenue Bagels as soon as the damage from Tuesday's fire can be repaired by owner Wajih "Sammy" Masoud, who has given away hundreds of thousands of books at the business.

"A bagel can feed one person, but a good book can help so many people," said Masoud, who bought the store in 2000 and not long afterward began gathering books wherever he could and giving them away. "They can bring out the best things that ever come out of humans."

Masoud grew up about 15 miles outside Amman, Jordan, and as a poor child he hungered for books and read whatever he could get his hands on. He dreamed of becoming a poet, and at the age of 13 one of his poems was published by a major Jordanian newspaper. He studied film at the University of Baghdad's Academy of Fine Arts and moved to the United States with his wife 20 years ago.

Masoud hoped to continue his education, but it didn't work out. After owning two pizzerias, he bought the bagel store and began the free book program. His bagel shop and book exchange was the subject of a feature article in The New York Times.

There are two bookcases filled with books just inside the store's soot-stained front windows and in a back room 17 boxes of books wait to replace those taken by readers. On sunny days he sometimes stocks bins outside his store with books that run the gamut from pulp fiction to philosophy.

When he came to the United States, he was shocked to see that "people throw away books. You can't throw books away." He refused to let books go to waste, gathered them where he could, and asked others to give him books they didn't want.

At 5:18 p.m. Tuesday, a coffee maker in the store apparently ignited some nearby paper cups and the fire raced through the store, causing heavy damage before the flames were doused a half-hour later, officials said.

Yesterday, Masoud and insurance adjusters sifted through the shop as he recovered from the shock of the fire and began the process of getting the store back open. He said he doesn't expect to get much from the insurance company, but he will reopen in the next few weeks, even if he has to borrow a bit.

He calls his store "The warmest place on Central Avenue."

Foes agree: Abated? Help fund schools

Thursday, January 17, 2008
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Stop the presses. Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy and his all-but-declared challenger, Councilman Steve Fulop, agree the city should be willing to share some of the tax-abatement money it rakes in with local public schools.

But Fulop wants this idea actively pursued, while for the mayor and his team, it's a we'll-do-it-if-we-have-to situation.

Fulop has said he's introducing a resolution next week to "urge the Hudson delegation of the state Legislature to amend the formula that disperses PILOT funds from residential tax abatements."

PILOTs are the payments-in-lieu-of-taxes paid by owners of tax-abated properties. At present, every penny of a PILOT goes to the city and the property owner pays the county an additional 5 percent of the PILOT sum.

Fulop wants 5 percent of the city's PILOT money dedicated to local schools.

"This is a simple, but necessary change that will help our schools while shifting the burden of public school funding from our taxpayers," said Fulop. "The Board of Education needs to be treated as part of the city and not as a second-class citizen."

When asked about the proposal, Healy said he's glad to see Fulop's on board with an idea he had first.

"Our administration has already discussed PILOT revenue allocation for school taxes and we are currently evaluating the full impact this could have for Jersey City," Healy said in an statement.

"But even this plan does not move us off square one," Healy added. "The amount we realize in our municipal coffers is ultimately decreased. . We will not raise taxes, but where will the funds come from when the state cuts our funding?"

Business Administrator Brian O'Reilly said he's mentioned the idea "tongue in cheek" at City Council meetings. But the concept took on an air of seriousness when state Education Commissioner Lucille E. Davy pointed out at a hearing on Gov. Jon Corzine's new school funding formula that the city's tax-abated properties don't pay for schools.

"Since the city's tax abatement policies have a direct effect on our school budget," Fulop is also proposing adding two members of the Board of Education to the mayor's Tax Enhancement Committee, the group of city officials that makes recommendations on tax abatements.

"We think this is an unauthorized grab for power that Steve wishes to delegate to two unknown members of the Board of Education," Healy said.

Stormy is back on streets

Thursday, January 17, 2008
By PAUL KOEPP
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

One of the three dogs removed by Jersey City Animal Control last week from the shelter run by the Hudson County District Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is back on the loose, officials said yesterday.

Stormy, a black lab/Spitz mix, slipped his leash Tuesday morning while being walked by a worker at the Liberty Humane Society's shelter on Jersey City Boulevard, where the dogs had been kept since last Wednesday, according to Animal Control Officer Joe Frank.

The other two dogs - Ice Berg, a white pit bull, and Cody, a black pit bull - were returned yesterday to the SPCA on Johnston Avenue after the shelter addressed the dirty and cold conditions found during two inspections this month and provided the certification of its licensed veterinarian, Frank said.

"They're more up to code now than before," he said.

SPCA officials say the conditions, including alleged freezing temperatures and accumulated feces, were never as bad as Animal Control and the city's Health Department reported. Hector Carbajales, the SPCA board president, said the building's heater was being replaced at the time of the inspections, and later temperature readings were above 60 degrees.

Anyone who spots Stormy can call the SPCA at (201) 435-3557 or Jersey City Animal Control at (201) 547-4888 or their local Police Department.

OK for 3 towers in arts district

Thursday, January 17, 2008
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Jersey City Planning Board last night gave its unanimous approval to the Toll Brothers plan to build three high-rise towers around the Manischewitz property in the Powerhouse Arts District, pleasing developers but disappointing artists and conservationists.

In voting 8-0 to recommend that the City Council approve an amendment to the Powerhouse Arts District Redevelopment Plan that would allow for building residential towers of 30, 35 and 40 stories, it determined the proposal is consistent with the Jersey City Master Plan.

"We worked very hard on the project and are obviously very pleased with the decision," said James C. McCann, attorney for Toll Brothers. "I think it will change the Powerhouse Arts District in a good way."

Toll Brothers is offering to build a 550-seat performing arts theater with gallery space and 25,000-square-foot Provost Square in return for allowing it to build 950 apartments in the three high-rise towers, and for the right to knock down two warehouses and all but the fa?ade of the former Manischewitz plant. The builder ould also be allowed to dedicate less housing to artist's live/work spaces.

The decision left around 70 members of Powerhouse Arts District Neighborhood Association and other preservation groups which turned up at Middle School 4 on Bright Street last night disappointed but vowing to fight on.

"We have nothing against the plaza, but at what cost?" asked Jill Edelman, president of the Powerhouse Arts District Neighborhood Association, after the meeting. "We bought into a very specific plan, which we have seen succeed, and we are the beneficiaries of that success."

There was no public comment at the meeting, but a few shouted their objections to the Planning Board.

Toll Brothers and the Powerhouse Arts District Neighborhood Association made their opposing presentations at a five-hour meeting in November.

The neighborhood association did, however, win one small victory when the developer said he would reuse Provost Street cobblestones in the plaza - but not old railway tracks.

Under the proposal, Toll Brothers can market 10 percent of the housing to "working families" rather than artists for the first 180 days after the units are built. Half of those could be built off site. Just 12 units will comply with requirement for live-and-work loft space, and one of those will be dedicated to artists.

Robert Cotter, director of the Planning Department, spoke in favor of the plan, saying that it would create a vibrant theater and arts district.

Home Depot's having a sale on those tiki torches this week. Just in time for the next City Council meeting, say I.

We have a good and thoughtful governor. Road tolls should have been raised a long time ago; Hopefully, that money could be used to fund more mass transit

Bob Cotter was bought and paid for by Joe Panepinto long ago. Joe Panepinto, of Panepinto Properties, who was disbarred 25 years ago for bank fraud and laundering. He taught Bob how the system "works" in Jersey City. Now Joe has given Bob Torricelli a peice of Panepinto Properties for all his years of service. I wonder which project Bob Cotters going to be partners in?

I'm just worried that with all this negative publicity, how will Willie ever Accomplish the Task for the People?

Fulop's right, for being New Jersey's biggest city, local government is a disgrace.

Hopefully this is not the end of the story. Fulop was the only one who didn't vote for the appointment, big surprise there. Looks like he made the right choice.

Bob Cotter, JC's Director of Planning, folded like a deck of cards last night and was wearing black sweatpants. Thank God he is retiring. I wonder what the Toll Brothers ponied up for his 'about face.' Pathetic! Good riddance Bobby now get down to Miami.