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Um, yes - you are missing something. Namely, the Hilton Hotel. Ground hasn't broken on it and it's less and less likely that it will in 2009. I'm guessing you are referring to the rental apartment building going up at Grand and Marin.

Am I missing something? But the new Hilton hotel does not look anything like the renderings - it is another ugly box.

I am sick and tired of deceptive renderings!

Address: Luis Munoz Marin Blvd.
Block: 60.26 Lot: 1

"What's it all about, Alfie?" The Hilton Hotel/Condos extravaganza is to be constructed just west of the Sand Bar in and around the Trailer Park area. 2.7 acres, which were not originally under the control of Marko (sic), the developer of Liberty Harbor North, which is all the rest of the new la-la land. The address being bandied about of 333 Grand Street which is the rental office for LHN is not the address of the new Paris Hilton which most likely would be Marin Boulevard. So it will be on the water with great views, light rail & water taxi & Sand Bar outside your door though I don't think the SB will survive the new blast of HOTELCONDOMANIA. We shall see. It's a wonderful day in the neighborhood.

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Is this "tremendous addition" going into Gull's Cove or somewhere else in Liberty Harbor?

Calm down people.

In this economic climate, you can't expect retail to pop up overnight. Yeah, Liberty Harbor and Gulls Cove said that all these things were on the way in the immediate future, but did you really expect that?

Right now Edible Arrangements and the organic dry cleaners have opened on Grand Street. Cocoa Bakery is building the space out. The beer garden is a go. I'm not sure what Sawa is doing at this point.

The neighborhood plan is a solid one, and depending on the economy and market, can develop quickly or slowly. Even if it's the former, it would take a few years for all this stuff to come in.

As I've mentioned before, I don't mind some delay. The idea of an entire neighborhood mushrooming up overnight was never realistic, and now the developers and the retailers can actually pause for a second and think about what is realistic and will work over time.

In the original plans, the Hotel rooms were all on the first 8 floors of the Hilton Hotel Building - upper floors were condos with access to hotel services (as in the "W" Hotel in Hoboken). In order to do the hotel alone first, the entire building is now hotel rooms and catering facilities, etc. All the condos will eventually be in surrounding buildings.

Excellent Sammy. Do you happen to have any links?

I thought the condos were behind the tall tower, in the 9-story homes (2nd picture of the rendering).

The rendering on GRAD's web site is of the hotel as originally planned with the 470 condos. The new plans - with the hotel and garage built first and later the condos looks somewhat different - the front is not scooped in the new incarnation.

Renderings of the Hilton:

http://www.gradarchitects.com/arch_multi.html

Click on "Multi-Family House" then "Liberty Harbor North"

Very nice.

Sawa is definitely coming to Gull's Cove. It's my understanding that they've decided to take less space and is creating a second level of seating, similar to Harbor Casino and The Merchant.

Other businesses are in the process of negotiating their leases and once finalized, they'll be announced in a big way. One of them, if they can work it out, will be a tremendous addition to the neighborhood.

Hopefully, the lack of new retail is due more to the lack of credit these days than it is a statement on Jersey City as a viable retail location.

On a positive note, it looks like the deli in Liberty Towers will soon open. Hopefully, they will be better stocked than The Green Cow and Portside, which are not really sure what they want to be.

I don't know if this counts as diversity but we had another fabulous meal at MORE on Saturday. Four of us ordered 6-7 appetizers. Great meal.

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This one of the few problems I think market forces will actually correct over a period of time. Eventually some of those dry cleaners will close. The WaMu Branch on Newark Avenue was planned to be closed even before the acquisition by Chase. A temporary over supply of retail space will actually probably be a benefit in the long term by flooding the retail market with cheap retail space. If the residential services like dry cleaners, real estate offices, and edible floral shops flock to the large development retail space, a lot more retail space on Grove and Newark will be freed up for independent businesses. The same is true of Newport Mall; it may have sucked a lot of pedestrian traffic away from traditional retail districts in Jersey City, but it as acted as a magnet for the national chains. The small businesses are not competing on rent with places like the Gap; the small businesses will almost always lose this fight. Just look at what has happened to Manhattan retail as the rents have risen-- national chain invasion, homogenization of retail space.

"all the new restaurants and businesses that in turn appear with the new developments making the neighborhood an even more appealing place to live"

The problem is that new restaurants and businesses are NOT appearing with the new developments. Unless you mean ATM's and dry cleaners when you say businesses that make this an appealing place to live. Gull's Cove was supposed to have a Sawa and a KinderCare. Neither is happening. I don't see any retail in Trump or Athena, either. At least Grove Point has a Starbucks.

I think the real master plan for the Downtown area is for it to become a dormitory village for the campus of New York City. Not a real neighborhood in and of itself.

Gulls Cove may have oversold and puffed up certain things, but it was very clear from the beginning that, unless you had an east side view, you were going to be losing it. As far as I know, no one in the building is complaining.

The Aqua is nearly finished.

http://jcconstruction.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20Aqua

The foundations were under construction before the second Shore Tower was anywhere near ready, and it was a well documented plan. Just like there is a plan to build another tower directly north of Shore.

Anyone who came to Gulls Cove and saw the empty lots and thought, "wow, great views" and didn't think to ask, "hey, what's going to happen to the empty lot" is a fool.

Right you are, Ianmac. Besides, the Hilton is going to be set back far enough from Gull's Cove that it will block only a small portion of the view and primarily for those in the lower half of the building. The Applied building just across the light rail tracks from GC, if and when it ever gets built, will be a much bigger blight on views.

Anyone who thought JC was gonna be turning into the next Soho or Williamsburg....well more like Flushing.

Planning Board approves changes to Hilton Hotel project
More parking spaces and signage requested by developer

by Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter Staff Writer

HILTON HOTEL ? The Jersey City Planning Board at its Feb. 24 meeting approved deviations to the site plan for the 300-room Hilton Hotel to be built on Marin Blvd.

Before the year ends, another first-class hotel in Jersey City will break ground when construction starts on a 300-room Hilton Hotel on Marin Boulevard in the downtown Liberty Harbor North Redevelopment Area.

Discussion on that hotel project took place at the Jersey City Planning Board?s meeting on February 24, after which several deviations from its earlier site plan were approved.

The developer and manager of the hotel, Warren, N.J.-based Tramz Hotel, had an application before the board seeking approval for seven deviations to the preliminary site plan for the project. Along with the hotel, the project also includes 470 residential units, an automated garage with 738 spaces and 12,294 square feet of retail.

The deviations requested include an increase in the maximum number of parking spaces, changes to the lighting of signs and an increase in signage area. Another change to the plan is that the hotel and the garage will be built in the first phase and the residential portion in the second phase rather the project being built all at once.

Alan Trousdale, the architect for the project, said the project?s plan had been approved last year but the developer came back for deviations, and splitting the project in two phases is the ?strict result of the economy we?re dealing with today,? which otherwise would have put a hold on the project.
_____________

The 300-room Hilton Hotel on Marin Blvd. will be built by the end of this year
________

The Planning Board approved the deviations. This site plan is considered the final plan for the project when it is built.

Deviations from the original


Trousdale said the 300-room Hilton Hotel project will be of the ?top-of-the-line? luxury Conrad brand (named for Hilton Hotel founder Conrad Hilton), with special amenities not seen in other Hilton hotels. When built, the Jersey City hotel will be only the fourth hotel in the U.S. with the Conrad brand, and only the second accompanied by residences.

The completed hotel would be 19 floors high, and there would be 209 rooms with king-sized beds, 87 with double-queen beds and 3 suites.

The deviations include 13-foot setbacks rather than the standard 10 feet. Also, the developer will improve the right-of-way on the Marin Boulevard side of the hotel.

There would be 311 parking spaces rather than the 150 spaces stipulated in the plan. Ed Kolling, a planning consultant on the project, said the reason for the increase is because of the banquet hall and restaurants on the site will bring more guests to the hotel.

Kolling said the developer is asking for the hotel signs to be placed at the upper levels of the hotel rather at ground level so potential patrons can identify the hotel from afar. And there would be not one sign but four, one for each side of the hotel, with three of the signs 72 square feet and one sign 153 square feet. Another deviation calls for a different design and materials for the signs.

After the developer?s presentation, planner Maryann Bucci-Carter had 13 benchmarks for the developers to meet before they can start construction.

Among them, Carter said the application for the deviations needs to have the exact information that the developer is asking for, rather just mentioning them. Also, city, state and federal agencies that need to review the plan must be provided with the deviations.

Carter said the signage should not be on the south side facing Liberty State Park but on the north and west sides. She said the four signs are ?excessive.?

Rich Guiditta, the attorney for the developer, said the Hilton Hotel Corporation wants to show off this hotel by having four signs.

However, the Planning Board suggested to Guiditta that he and the other principals should follow Carter?s requirements.

Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonrreporter.com.

The new condos and housing in general would be fine with me, but ofcourse there wont be any answer to transporting all these new people into the city, with much needed and already overcrowded train service during rush hour. this means, JC is just going to choke on thousands of more cars and parking lots instead. That Im not looking foward to.

Does Jersey City really need 470 more condos?

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I think you make important points. If Downtown JC is as safe, and as close, and is cheaper than the best parts of Brooklyn, Queens or Hoboken, then it will fair better than these areas in these times. In any event long term the population growth will just keep increasing. Since 1960 America has almost doubled in population and it and the world are now in high gear -- so if you think parking is bad just wait...

If the region continues to grow as expected, all these units will be filled. Jersey City is still cheaper than comparable neighborhoods in Brooklyn, and Brooklyn is still cheaper than Manhattan. NYCPlan 2030 calls for 750,000 new jobs and a million more people in the city; with a finite amount of space in the boroughs, Jersey City is going to have to absorb much of that growth too. The aforementioned housing projects are not going up tomorrow. Liberty Harbor and Newport, two of the larger planned communities, are on time lines with another 10 or 20 years left on the clock. Hoboken will soon have been built out, meaning more overflow from there as well.

?The Metropolitan? - Indefinitely on hold due to financing
?Trump Plaza? 2 ? Delayed
?The View? - Sort of broke ground, but since delayed
?Residences at Liberty? - ?
?The Majestic II? ? Waiting zoning change (see the "taco bell sign")
?Hamilton Square? - Phase 1 nearing completion
?Hudson Greene? - Tower joined to 77 Hudson, almost done
?111 First Street? ? Delayed
?110 First Street? - Delayed due to financing
"Liberty Harbor North? - No new construction for at least a 1 year
?Morgan Point? - ?
?Ivy House? ? Completed / nearly completed
?70-90 Columbus? - Most likely long turn delay
?The Grover Cleveland? and ?The Ulysses S. Grant? ? ?
?The Aquablu? ? Exterior work is almost finished
?The Ellipse? ? Lefrak will probably keep building
?Monaco North and Monaco South? - suppose to have broken ground this summer after receiving revised abatement. maybe by the end of the month, don't hold your breath
?The Benson? ? ?
?The Bates? ? Now 7 stories, not 12, was suppose to break ground in this summer.
?The Gateway? ? looking to sell property and design, delayed
?Provost Square? - Toll is having financial problems, and a building in Brooklyn just went rent-to-own; 700 Jersey Avenue still has empty units. Probably delayed
?77 Hudson Street? - Nearly finished with exterior work
?Crescent Court? - Progressing slowly
?Crystal Point? ? Progressing rapidly
?Columbus Corner? - unknown
Van Leer Chocolate Factory site - site was being cleared, slowly

Additional projects:

833 Jersey Avenue - property and design for sale
213 Newark Ave - Progressing slowly
York / Warren Street Project - ?
Harbor Lights - Might break ground

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I live very close to the ferry stop at Liberty Harbor and it's quite amazing how many people take it in the morning but mostly commuters from the 'burbs.

I guess all these developers are hoping that all these new condo owners will be dumb-asses or mentally challenged.

The only real advantage of investing / buying in JC, is its location to NY - The average joe from NJ simply will not be able to afford it.

This said, the PATH and the crap Holland tunnel can not accommodate the increase of residents - once NY gets the toll going to enter the city, plus the tunnel toll itself, fuel increases and parking demand, the only way across the Hudson is the PATH and it sucks during peak hours.
I will assume that the ferries must be a bitch in winter and is just too expensive for such a short commute.

G & S Investors ? ?The Metropolitan?
755 foot tower. 809 Condo units with 817 parking spaces. 12,445 square feet of retail.
Swimming pool & tennis court.

Metro Homes, L.L.C.: 201-633-8100 www.metrohomesllc.com
?Trump Plaza? ? 88 Morgan Street ? www.njtrump.com
Sales Office: 88 Morgan Street, Suite 4504. 888-658-7867
862 condominium apartments in two towers ? 55-story/531,500 square feet and 50-story/480,000
square feet. Seven-story/330,000 square feet base with parking for 700 cars and 23,000 square
feet of retail.

Landmark Developers www.landmarkdevelopers.com - 201-761-0025
?The View?: Jersey Avenue at Johnson
Three condominium towers - one of them 30 stories high - just outside Liberty State Park, on a vacant swath of land once considered a possible site for a 2,000-foot television tower.
The project calls for 575 condo units: the tallest tower would be 30 stories with 328 units, a 20-story tower would have 86 units and an 18-story tower 161 units. 1197 Parking spaces
Commercial space and a yet-to-be-determined upscale restaurant will be housed on the ground floor.
?The Independent?: 125 Monitor Street (renovation of existing warehouse)
163 condos & 163 parking spaces
100 Monitor Street / 317-319 Pacific Avenue / 406-420 Communipaw Avenue
The proposed developments would include both residential and commercial space, with 57 of
the approximately 197 units designated for affordable housing

Applied Properties
?Residences at Liberty?: Three condominium towers, 37, 42 & 50 stories. ?Liberty Harbor? ? with Schenkman/Kushner Affiliates ? Marin Boulevard @Grand Street
4, 8 & 12-story buildings with 349 rental units; 4,000 square feet of retail space + 353
valet parking spaces.

Exeter Property Co. 201-435-8000 www.exeterpropertyco.com
?The Majestic II? ? Montgomery Street at Grove
88 condo units. 96 parking spaces. 5-story building with 6th story setback for
the penthouses, above parking and 8,880 sq ft of ground-floor retail.
Unit mix: 7 studios, 850sf, 42 1-bedroom, 1100 sq f, 3 1-bedroom duplex, 1200 sq ft
13 2-bedroom, 1400 sq ft, 16 2-bedroom duplex, 1600 sq ft
?Hamilton Square? www.livingonthepark.com 201-434-1000
Mixed-use project - at build-out will combine 300 residential condos with 24,000 square
feet of ground-floor retail space. A first phase of 126 loft-style condos & retail space
is slated for delivery in late 2008.

Equity Residential ? www.equityresidential.com
?Hudson Greene? 70 Greene Street
481 Rental Apartments ? 132 studios, 209 1-bedrooms & 140 2-bedrooms
481 parking spaces. 10,181 square feet of retail

Athena Group
?111 First Street? ? 52-story tower consisting of three blocks stacked perpendicularly to one
another. The three blocks will sit on top of a longer slab that will serve as a structural base to
accommodate parking, artist galleries and retail space. 1.2 million square feet of space, spread
out among loft style-units, artist live and work space, typical condos, retail space and a world-
class hotel.
?110 First Street? ? 35-story - 420 rental units, with 25 affordable units on the site and another 25
in another development.343 parking spaces and 13,970 sq ft of retail


?Liberty Harbor North? - Peter M. Mocco ? Sales Office: 333 Grand Street
201-639-0333 www.libertyharbor.com
Second Phase - Six-story condominium - Park Avenue between 4th and 3rd Streets
108 units with three studios, 71 one-bedroom and 32 two-bedroom apartments as well as two
townhouses. The building will feature glass curtainwall windows and a curved fa?ade
composed of Alucobond and granite. Amenities will include a roof deck, a below-grade parking
garage, a fitness center, a screening room and a multi-level landscaped rear courtyard with
direct access into townhouse entrances and the lobby.

Greentree Construction
?Morgan Point?
10-story, 78-unit structure with 31 parking spaces and 4,162 square feet of retail on a triangular site between Morgan Street, Steuben Street and Luis Mu?oz Marin Boulevard.. Some units will have private terraces (9th floor only), while others will share the two common decks located on the 6th floor and the roof. The unit breakdown: 19 - 1BR (900 sq ft), 46 - 2BR (1,200 ? 1,270), 5 - 3BR (1,365 ? 1,800) & 7 - 2BR / 3BR Duplexes (1,400 ? 1,750)

TreeTop Development Group www.treetopdev.com (with Fields Development Group)
?Ivy House? ? 154-158 Steuben Street 201-792-2217 www.ivyhousejc.com
18 condo units, one and two-bedrooms from 700 to 1110 square feet. 7 parking spaces.

Panepinto Properties www.panepintoproperties.com
?70-90 Columbus? 2 48-story residential towers with 942 units, a 144 room hotel, 12,000 sq ft of retail and additional parking for 320 cars.
Lefrak Organization
?The Grover Cleveland? and ?The Ulysses S. Grant? ? Tenth Street from Jersey Avenue to
Monmouth Street - 326 rental units and 260 parking spaces.
?The Aquablu? ? 33-story, 330 foot high tower with 470,505 square feet ? 360 rental residential
units ? 169 one-bedroom, 161 two-bedroom and 13 three bedroom units. 15,348 sqft retail.
?The Ellipse? ? On the Fourteenth Street Pier - 460 foot, 45-story multi-family building with 352
rental residential units and 11 new three-story townhomes. 230-parking space garage with an
open-space roof.

Roseland Property Company ? www.roselandproperty.com
?Monaco North and Monaco South? at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Sixth Street
Two 47-story towers, 524 market-rate rental units and a 410 space, 10 floor, parking lot.
?San Remo? Washington Boulevard at Fourth Street
150 rental apartments with 8,000 square feet of retail space and 357 parking spaces

McDonnell Development Company, LLC
?The Benson? ? Newark Avenue
12 story residential building with parking and 2 small ground floor retail spaces. There are 65
residential condo units with 65 parking spaces.

MushRoom Development, LLC www.mushroomdevelopment.com
?The Bates? ? Bates Street from Colden to Brook Streets.
12 stories, 122 condos & 7 townhouses. 132 parking spaces. 15,000 square feet of retail.

?The Gateway? ? 361 Newark Avenue - 12 stories. 55 condo units

Toll Brothers City Living - www.tollbrothers.com
?Provost Square? Provost Street
Three towers - 30, 35, and 40 stories, totaling 950 units. 550-seat theater and gallery.
24,000-square-foot plaza.

K. Hovnanian Companies Northeast
?77 Hudson Street? - 48-story tower
420 Condominiums ? 42 studios, 215 1-bedrooms, 144 2-bedrooms & 19 3-bedrooms
420 parking spaces. 10,914 square feet of retail.

Matzel and Mumford a K. Hovnanian? Company
?Crescent Court? ? 419 Third Street - 3 stories of residential condos over indoor parking.
54 condos ? 15 one bedrooms and 39 two bedrooms & 56 parking spaces.

Fisher Development Associates ?
?Crystal Point? ? Second Street @the Hudson River
269-unit, 42-story, 436-foot condo tower. 275 parking spaces. 6,000-sf retail space, a marina
and a waterfront walkway.

Five Star Investments, Inc.
?Columbus Corner? C. Columbus Drive @Barrow Street
58 residential units. 45 parking spaces. 4,928 sq ft of retail. One building with three
sections ? 7 stories/4.5 stories/3 stories.

Hoboken Brownstone Company www.HBrownstone.com 201-792-0100
Van Leer Chocolate Factory site ? 110-114 Hoboken Avenue
900 condo units with parking. 8,000 sq ft of retail, a one-acre park, a walkway leading down
Hoboken Avenue from the Heights & a walkway to the 2nd Street Light Rail Station in Hoboken.

?Fresh Pond? ? 170 Lafayette Street
45 artists? live/work lofts

Metrovest Equities, Inc. ? ?The Beacon? ? Montgomery Street at Baldwin Avenue - 201-716-3000
www.TheBeaconJC.com
?The Rialto? 22-stories with 164 condos and ?The Capitol? 21-stories with 151 Condos
Indoor pool, 2 theaters, one for film and TV screenings and one for plays and events.
Gym, yoga studio and private and public saunas. Juice bar.
Rooftop sundeck, equipped for grilling. Poker rooms and a billiards hall
Daycare center. Shuttle buses to the PATH and Manhattan ferries.
?The Mercury? and ?The Orpheum? ? additional 220 Units

Brunelleschi Construction ? Bridget Cleary, 201-233-3142
?m650 flats? ? 5-story, 22 unit boutique condo building

Coalco Construction Services, Inc. - ?Canco Lofts?, 50 Dey Street. 201-876-8686 www.cancolofts.com
575 condos with a parking garage of 480 spaces. One-story penthouses will be constructed.
8,277 square feet of retail.

DeLuco Organization, Ltd. ? 201-963-0500 www.deluco.org
?The Renaissance? ? Kennedy Boulevard just South of Hoboken Avenue
11-story residential tower with 92 condos
12-story residential tower with 150 condos
Indoor parking and heated pool
Oakland at Washburn Avenue
12-story condominium tower with 150 units ? 10 studios, 60 one-bedrooms & 80 two-bedroom
Two-level parking garage with 161 spaces.

?Tribecca Grande? - 414-416 Hoboken Avenue @Central Avenue
118 condo units (59 1-bedrooms / 59 2-bedrooms) + 3 townhouses

Harwood Properties / Multi-Employer Property Trust - "City Center" - Kennedy Boulevard at Sip Avenue
Two residential rental towers - a north tower rising 58 floors above the seven-story base and a
south tower that will add 38 stories to the base. containing 1,500 units. 120,000 square feet of
ground-floor retail center, a rooftop fitness center, and 675 parking spaces on five floors.

Centex Homes - 201-451-7900 www.centexhomes.com
?CityHomes at Bayside? ? Custer Street, just off Kennedy Boulevard
36 ?stacked? townhomes in two buildings.

Hello there. Is there a good source where I can get a list of what projects that are planned are going to be condos versus apartment buildings? It seems like projects are changing from one to the other and there also seems to be an endless supply of planned projects...Thanks if anyone can help.

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Correct. It will be south of the rental building planned by Applied on Marin (if that indeed is still planned).

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