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Rem Koolhaas to design 111 First
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Loft Project in Jersey City Attracts a Big Name
By JONATHAN MILLER Published: September 19, 2006 JERSEY CITY, N.J., Sept. 18 ? Only a decade ago, the 13-block warehouse district near the waterfront here was little more than a tumbledown assemblage of buildings. Over the years, it had become a refuge for artists and others, offering cheap rent for those priced out of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. But as Wall Street companies began migrating across the Hudson River, development on the waterfront surged. Builders, among them Donald Trump, saw opportunity and began creating luxury housing out of faded buildings, or constructing new ones. On Monday, officials and developers gathered at a hotel built on an old pier to announce a major coup: one of the world?s most famed architects will transform a warehouse, once an artist enclave, into luxury lofts. The architect, Rem Koolhaas, is a winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize and the designer of the Seattle Public Library, the Las Vegas Guggenheim, and the Prada store in Lower Manhattan. Mr. Koolhaas, who has described his work as ?flamboyant conceptually, but not formally,? was approached after a settlement the city reached with the landlord over the zoning of the site. ?My main intent is to do a sophisticated work,? Mr. Koolhaas said in an interview on Monday, although he was short on specifics and said it would take about six months for him to draw up a plan. Of Jersey City, he said, ?It is clearly emerging into a new future, though it?s not clear what.? Developers and Mr. Koolhaas say they want the site to become a center in Jersey City, one with shops, cafes, galleries and other amenities. How much of a role the current warehouse building will play in that vision is unclear. The building, a 140-year-old Greek Revival structure at 111 First Street, was a long a warehouse for the tobacco maker P. Lorillard and had been at the center of a long and bitter dispute. For 15 years it had served as a haven for artists ? some living there illegally ? and at its peak housed about 120 studios. Last year, their legal options exhausted, the artists reached an agreement with the landlord, BLDG Management Company, based in Manhattan, to leave the building. In exchange they were forgiven what they owed in back rent. Even before the artists were evicted, the president of BLDG, Lloyd M. Goldman, said that the building was unsafe and ought to be demolished. How much of the building Mr. Koolhaas will preserve is unclear. The settlement drawn up by the city requires that the facade be preserved, but officials here said that they would be open to any changes Mr. Koolhaas might propose. In July, the City Council approved zoning changes in the district that would allow developers on the site to build something considerably larger than what is already there, possibly as tall as 670 feet. The decision was criticized by local preservation and other groups. City officials boasted on Monday that getting someone like Mr. Koolhaas here was a boost to the city. ?We want to have someone of this status come here,? said Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy. ?We wanted something spectacular.? The waterfront, once the terminus for numerous rail lines and later a derelict wasteland, has undergone a renaissance in the past decade. Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and other financial companies opened offices here. Last year, Mr. Trump announced that he would take the lead in developing the tallest residential building in the state a block from 111 First Street. Nearby, another high-rise is being built on the site of a former warehouse. Two blocks away, a 35-story residential tower is being built atop a former parking lot, and a half dozen warehouses in the district have been converted to luxury housing. But a softening economy over the past few years has prompted some developers to switch their ambitious office projects to luxury residential ones. The building Mr. Koolhaas intends to design will be 1.3 million square feet and include 710 condominium units. In addition, there will be 120 ?work-live units,? some of which will be offered to artists at below-market rate. The plan also calls for 16,000 square feet of art galleries and about 52,000 square feet for retail use. The owners say they hope to start building next year and finish by mid-2009. Mr. Koolhaas said that Jersey City has potential, but acknowledged that the city is still a work in progress. ?The streetscape is difficult,? he said. ?It?s not great yet. There?s still a lot to be done.?
Posted on: 2006/9/19 11:42
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Re: 67-story condo tower proposed for Pep Boys site, would be 2nd largest building in state.
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I thought The Ellipse was another tower, a bit further east, planned by LeFrak. The Metropolitan is not The Ellipse.
Posted on: 2006/9/16 17:18
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Re: The Invisible Tear of Zurab
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Nothing. All paid by Tsereteli and Russia. That was part of the deal.
Posted on: 2006/9/12 15:34
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Re: The Invisible Tear of Zurab
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Darn, I was hoping to be able to check out the Military Ocean Terminal under pretext of visiting Tsereteli's monstrosity.
Posted on: 2006/9/12 13:40
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Re: Liberty State Jazz Fest: David Sanborn, George Benson, Gato Barbieri, Norman Brown & Stanley Jor
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injc, I don't feel that I am "entitled" to a discount. I was just asking whether or not there is one, because at the last LSP event (Liberty Jam) I attended, I paid the full retail price and didn't find out about the discount until after the fact.[/quote] Oooops, my bad. Sorry. I totally misunderstood - I thought you were pissed because there was/is no discount. I hope the concert will be a great one - the headliners certainly are. PS. Edit: Is it me, or is $70 for a day quite expensive? I thought about going, but not for $140 for me and wife.
Posted on: 2006/9/9 13:33
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Re: Liberty State Jazz Fest: David Sanborn, George Benson, Gato Barbieri, Norman Brown & Stanley Jor
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Why do you feel entitled to a discount? The event is taking place in a State Park. Sure, a discount would be nice, but why??? Is any part of the concert funded from JC taxes???
Posted on: 2006/9/8 16:20
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Re: Village Voice - "Suez Canal" Egyptian fish joint rules near Journal Square @ 117 Tonnele Ave.
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Yep - I saw the owner taking the review off the wall and bringing it to the dudes. This place is something else. I did not know what to think about the map titled "The Muslim World", wherein the Mercator projection of the world is presented as % of Muslim population in any given area, depicted as different colors. Disclaimer - I would be equally uneasy with a map entitled "The Christian World" or "The Jewish World" (that would be a small map, only Israel, Hollywood and NYC  ).
Posted on: 2006/8/27 1:20
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Re: Village Voice - "Suez Canal" Egyptian fish joint rules near Journal Square @ 117 Tonnele Ave.
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Were you in a group of about 5-6 people with an empty baby stroller right next to you? That was about 2 pm today. If so, injcsince81 and wife were sitting right next to you. The owner came out, a little bewildered by all the Americans in his joint. He said that everything tastes good because it's fresh, and that many Americans come only once and don't come back because they want to bring their own wine and he won't let them drink in his establishment because he's Muslim. I said I totally respect that and will be back (that was before I saw the mouse). But the calamari dish was so good that I say the heck with the mouse.
Posted on: 2006/8/26 23:59
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Re: Village Voice - "Suez Canal" Egyptian fish joint rules near Journal Square @ 117 Tonnele Ave.
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Just got back from lunch at Suez Canal.
The calamari in red sauce was phenomenal. Tahini salad (sesame dressing) very good as well. Saw a mouse making his way (slowly) across the restaurant floor. The place is not the cleanest.
Posted on: 2006/8/26 20:16
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Re: Jersey City ranked one of the least angry cities in America -- though you can't tell it from JCLIST!
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It's not called Chilltown for nothing.
Posted on: 2006/8/18 11:19
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Re: Powerhouse historic no more
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Sure. Let's all go upstate and start a commune. Better yet, let's invent a scheme where the developers build dream buildings that will last for centuries (Sagrada Familia or La Pedrera come to mind), which are inspiring to visit and live in. You know what? You need MONEY to do that. New York, Madrid, Barcelona, etc, etc have buildings like that. Be happy with JC being better that 20 years ago. BTW - How long have you lived here?
Posted on: 2006/8/18 1:38
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Re: Powerhouse historic no more
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............................................................................ Double Amen to that. Finally, someone says something sensible on this List. On a relatead note: that Gruv Pwan thing is an affront to a person's eyes. They just better have one helluva wonderful Starbucks and AuBonPain and CVS and Kim's and Barnes&Nobel and Zabar'sWest to make up for that magnificently ugly heap of dreck. A friend of mine, visiting from upstate, wanted to know why we are building public housing right there at the train station! Shows what a nice positive impact Gruv Pwan has on first time visitors to our fair burg. When I informed her that they are 400K condos in there, she just laughed. It would be funny if it were not so tragic.[/quote] I want to smoke what you smoke, maybe then I'd understand your babble. You mean the Grove Pointe? Heck, it's much better than what was there before (nothing), and maybe it will help displace the derelicts from the Grove St PATH station. A Starbucks and a Whole Foods would be nice, too. And, btw, for 400K maybe you can get a 400 sq ft studio at GP; 1+ bedroom condos go for much more. Your upstate hillbilly friend is some real estate authority. It would be funny if it were not so tragic (comparing upstate with NY Metro area). The Clockwork Orange comment by jcheights just boggles the mind. Yes, the condo highrises they are building are not in the best of taste architecturally speaking, but what the hell do you expect? Santiago Calatrava? They are much better than the wasteland that was.
Posted on: 2006/8/17 22:46
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Re: Powerhouse historic no more
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I'd agree that 111 First has no architectural merit. It's a pile of bricks. But the warehouse building opposite of it has architectural merit (in my opinion), and certainly the Powerhouse itself is an architectural gem.
If we allow the Powerhouse to be torn down (or stripped of its protected status), we're no better than the Taliban which shelled the giant Buddha statues into dust. I am actually serious about this parallel.
Posted on: 2006/8/17 14:06
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Powerhouse 'historic' no more
Thursday, August 17, 2006 By JARRETT RENSHAW JOURNAL STAFF WRITER The Jersey City council yesterday officially stripped the historic designation from the Powerhouse Arts District and removed it from the oversight of the city's Historic Preservation Commission. The changes were included in the amendments to the Powerhouse Arts District Redevelopment plan approved yesterday by the City Council. The amendments passed by a 7-2 vote, with Councilman Steve Fulop and Councilwoman Viola Richardson opposing the changes. The changes are a result of the controversial 111 First St. settlement, which allowed New Gold Equities to bypass the district's historic protections and build high-rise residential buildings. "This is a domino effect that we feared," said Daniel Levin, president of Civics Jersey City, who argued that the lifting of the protections will lead to other developers building high-rises in the zone. The judge in the lengthy legal battle invalidated the Warehouse Historic District - which shielded the area's historic structures from wreckage - and forced the city to make the changes, said Jersey City Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis. He also added that the changes do not impact the artist housing included in the plan.
Posted on: 2006/8/17 13:31
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Re: Spinello shifts positions on warehouse plan
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Local residents don't want the jobs created by the warehouse.
They got welfare.
Posted on: 2006/8/15 16:09
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Re: Please stop the huge 9/11 memorial at LSP - it will ruin the park's views of the Manhattan skyli
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>>DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson e-mailed a letter to Pesin on Thursday reiterating her support for the memorial to continue being built as planned.
Jackson stated that "Based on my review of the process and the project design, I have decided to support the completion of the memorial as presently designed."
Jackson pointed out that the day after the June 13 meeting, there was another meeting with a memorial committee of 9/11 survivors and families of victims to review the design, discuss the current status of construction, and gauge if family members willing to accept changes to the design.
She states in the letter, "It was the consensus of those family members present that this project should move forward as designed and that they did not want to delay this Memorial to their loved ones and the many victims of September 11, 2001 any longer."
Pesin took Jackson to task for making her decision before the public meeting takes place.
"The Friends formally disagrees with the commissioner's position is now asking the governor directly to listen to public input and reverse this decision," said Pesin. "Lisa Jackson's premature decision violates the spirit of democracy."<<
That is exactly the problem.
The victims' families wield way too much political clout.
First they get $1 BILLION (now reduced to $1/2 billion) Ground Zero Memorial (an obscene amount of money for a memorial), and then they insist on putting this monstrosity in our faces.
And the politicians like Lisa Jackson kow-tow to them.
Politicians need to listen to all their constituents, not only to the victims' families.
Have we lost our collective marbles here?
Do the victims' families really want to honor their loved ones with a Memorial design to which there is a widespread opposition?
Or they don't care about what the public which uses the LSP thinks?
Posted on: 2006/8/15 15:36
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Re: Not just Downtown - Port Liberte is another example of Jersey City's scorching real estate market
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I really doubt the $1,200/mo maintenance figure is for a 2-bedroom condo at Port Liberte. Perhaps for one of the $2.5 mil townhouses, is more like it. Go to www.portliberte.com and www.portliberte.biz, look at 2 or even 3-bedroom condos for sale - maintenance/month is always spelled out in the listing. It ain't $1,200/mo. Dunno where your friend got that figure.
Posted on: 2006/8/11 17:29
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Re: Not just Downtown - Port Liberte is another example of Jersey City's scorching real estate market
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Port Liberte - no crapkins, no chicken bones, no broken sidewalks, no garbage, no street noise, no roving bands of thugs, no muggings.
Instead - quiet canals, sailboats and ocean-going yachts, views of Manhattan, the Statue and Verrazano, waterfront walkway to jog or bike, manicured lawns, mature trees and well-maintained flower beds, safe playgrounds for children, two swimming pools and a golf course. All that in Jersey City? Bizarre and utterly out-of-place, indeed.
Posted on: 2006/8/7 19:14
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Re: Israeli Troops invade Mel Gibson - No really, how to ruin Jersey City by rewarding voters!
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I like your title (the first part of it, anyway) much better than the article.
Quite funny and timely.
Posted on: 2006/8/3 20:54
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Re: Is there enough affordable housing?
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Aaaah, the State of New Jersey. The State where a scofflaw is Attorney General, the State which is essentially bankrupt despite its high per-capita income and abundant industry. The Democratic Machine has run this state forever. The state whose "mandate" carry little mandate with me. It seems that a Trubrit and a Trupole and a Truitalian have been in a bit of odds with you jclist liberals lately? Get the message?
Posted on: 2006/7/30 14:02
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Re: Mayor Healy and many Jersey City residents speak out against the design for the new 9/11 memoria
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Ann Coulter, my hero. The only one with the balls to speak the truth, while the all the politicians cow-tow to the "victim's families" lobby. Regarding my city of birth - it is Warsaw, and I was talking about Warsaw Uprising during WWII. It was actually 260,000 people killed in 63 days by the German forces, 90% of the victims being civilians. Warsaw had about 1 million inhabitants then. The memorials in Warsaw are modest in size and cost, but incredibly moving. So, let's put things in perspective, people. I am not advocating not to honor 9/11 victims - 2,000 innocents were mass-murdered. The event permanently changed the world. But a $500 million WTC memorial? Putting ugly, imposing, kitschy memorials all over the place? Impacting JC residents with the "memorial" in LSP without even a consultation? Is it 9/11 that gave them (ie State and the victim's families) that mandate that has no checks and balances? I don't think so. I support FOLSP, and I advocate a more modest in size, but a very moving, memorial.
Posted on: 2006/7/30 13:35
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Re: Mayor Healy and many Jersey City residents speak out against the design for the new 9/11 memoria
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I was born in a city that lost 2,000 people EVERY DAY FOR 120 DAYS during 3 months of WWII.
That's 120 times more people that died on 9/11 for a city 1/10th size of NYC. They endured their 9/11 every day for 120 days. Do they have memorials? Sure - some very moving bronze statues, some modest plaques on the streets where people were mass-murdered... Nobody ever forgot these 3 months. The heroes (true heroes, children who attacked Nazi tanks with grenades, not accidental 9/11 office worker victims) live in the memories of the people, and in the consciousness of the new generations. $1 billion for a WTC memorial in NYC? Please. This money can be better spent elsewhere. Ugly, huge, invasive 9/11 memorials everywhere else? Please. Totally tasteless, and totally missing the point. The self importance of the 9/11 victim's families and the political clout they wield is staggering, and to me, unwelcome. Enough already.
Posted on: 2006/7/29 15:41
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Re: New face of public housing - 72 homes in the Lafayette section of Jersey City
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Wow - JPhurst - you won. You caught me. Congratulations. I cannot back up my statement about 15 kids and 15, equally absent, fathers, at Lafayette Gardens. But you know what, I said it in a manner of speaking, not literally, and everybody on this board except you understood it. You understood it, too, actually, but chose to make an asinine point, instead of addressing an obvious, and a huge, issue of a lack of family structure among the public housing recipients, which greatly contributes to the utter failure of such programs in the eyes of those who pay for them. Us.
Posted on: 2006/7/29 14:26
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Re: New face of public housing - 72 homes in the Lafayette section of Jersey City
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This thread's scope has evolved beyond Lafayette Gardens if you haven't noticed.
Posted on: 2006/7/28 21:17
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Re: New face of public housing - 72 homes in the Lafayette section of Jersey City
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Correct. My resettlement agency was International Rescue Committee, a non-profit organization that helps refugees. The only thing I had to repay to them was my airfare here, which I did as soon as I could. They covered 2 months rent and gave me some petty cash at the beginning. That was the extent of it. I would have no problem with public housing recipients if they were: 1) not involved in any criminal activity 2) studying hard (or forcing their kids to study hard) to become independent of the government aid in the future Of course I have no problem with public assistance to sick/disabled people who need such help to survive. But that class does not include single mothers of 15 children, each of a different, equally absent, father.
Posted on: 2006/7/28 19:33
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Re: New face of public housing - 72 homes in the Lafayette section of Jersey City
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CK, you and I, both immigrants to this country, are of the same mind on this. I started here from ZERO, literally. From nothing. No money, no language, nothing. A friendly family took me in, a resettlement agency paid my rent, and I HATED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!! I hated not being able to pull my own weight. I could NOT SLEEP until I found my first job here. I WOULD NOT STOP until I put myself through school. That is the reason for my contempt for the freeloaders, the "underprivileged", for those who take my tax money to live in public housing and not do anything to change their plight. Not only that, their kids are likely to mug me. I did not mug anybody when I was poor and lived with cockroaches. This is not France, where the Arab youths face discrimination. Here, if you study hard, no matter who you are, you'll be successful. You liberal Americans who have been born here, you just DON't UNDERSTAND. Period. You are clueless.
Posted on: 2006/7/28 18:07
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Re: New face of public housing - 72 homes in the Lafayette section of Jersey City
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"For him (DaQuan), it beats living over a liquor store or a Laundromat," Thomas added. "It's less violent."
I hope Mr. Thomas has a job, so that DaQuan can go to college. Many parents in this country (particularly new immigrants) are killing themselves holding multiple jobs so that their kids can get an education. At $300/month for housing, you better save a tidy sum for DaQuan's education, yo.
Posted on: 2006/7/28 0:14
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Re: New face of public housing - 72 homes in the Lafayette section of Jersey City
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Not quite. "We" believe that those with "less skill and education" should improve their "skill and education", or else they'll wallow in their "dangerous, run-down slums" for generations to come. Helping them improve their education is a noble thing and I would be thrilled to see a part of my massive yearly tax bill help accomplish it. I don't think building them new townhomes is necessarily the best way to go. Scholarships to good schools and universities are MUCH better, because they will have a positive impact on whole generations.
Posted on: 2006/7/27 19:37
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Re: New face of public housing - 72 homes in the Lafayette section of Jersey City
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I personally don't care what race Shaneefia is, or for that matter what race other public housing residents are. What I care about, is that for MY MONEY, their kids better study at home, hit the books, not hit law-abiding citizens with heavy implements over the head, as well-documented on this board. Get lost with your racism garbage.
Posted on: 2006/7/27 19:13
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Re: New face of public housing - 72 homes in the Lafayette section of Jersey City
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CK - and I thought I was the only one thinking exactly the same thing.... and more.... These "attractive three-story structures that look like private houses" probably cost $300K to build... For each unit... I am glad Shaneefia is happy with her new home. I pay the taxes (a lot of money, every year) so that she can be happy. All I ask in return is Shaneefia's neighbors and fellow public housing residents not mug me when I walk the streets of Jersey City, to which I pay 10 grand/year in taxes, every year. Is that too much to ask?
Posted on: 2006/7/27 18:11
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