MXD To Rise at Jersey City Brownfield Site

June 24, 2010
By Alyson Grala
The Globe

JERSEY CITY-Hoboken Brownstone Co. principals George Vallone and Daniel Gans plan to transform the seven-acre brownfield site into a sustainable mixed-use community of more than 400 homes and 7,500 square feet of retail space.

The project, located on the site of the former Van Leer Chocolate Factor at 110 Hoboken Ave. here, will utilize energy-efficient technologies in the design. These include mass wall construction, which creates an insulated and low air infiltration building enclosure capable of thermal storage, a balanced ventilation system with energy recovery capabilities and alternative energy sources such as solar hot water and a geothermal test well. When all three elements are integrated, they can produce buildings capable of 50% to 90% energy savings when compared to standard buildings, according to the developer.

Thanks to its focus on green design, the project--dubbed Van Leer Place--will be developed with a $3.6-million grant from PSE&G's Energy Efficiency Economic Stimulus program. ?Over the past several decades, residential and commercial buildings have emerged as the largest consumer of energy and carbon emissions, using more energy and emitting more carbon dioxide than either industry or transportation,? Gans points out. ?This is particularly evident in dense urban areas such as Jersey City. As a result, government on the federal, state and local levels has made a conscious effort to encourage and promote programs and development practices that lower energy consumption in mixed-use buildings in city settings." That, he says, is the goal for Van Leer Place.

"The project--which fulfills many of the policy and planning initiatives of the State of New Jersey Energy Master Plan and is supported by the federal government, the state and Jersey City--will set a new standard for urban development in the northeast and provide design insight and guidelines on best practices that conserve and integrate energy efficiency and alternative energy in a whole building approach," adds Vallone. He says that Hoboken Brownstone will test, report and log all relevant aspects of its energy demand reduction efforts and make the results available to PSE&G, the Board of Public Utilities, Rutgers, New Jersey Institute of Technology and other appropriate groups or agencies upon request.

Homes at Van Leer Place will be housed in two six-story buildings. The transit-oriented community will also include a New Jersey Transit pedestrian walkway to the 2nd Street Hudson-Bergen Light Rail Station in Hoboken. And the developers plan to build a new park adjacent to the Van Leer Place South site.

interesting...it was only a matter of time

Jersey City site of old chocolate factory to be transformed by Hoboken developers to set new standard for energy-efficiency

Tuesday, June 22, 2010
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Hoboken developers are drilling for energy in Jersey City near the Hoboken border.

They're not looking for mucky oil but for clean green geothermal energy to heat and cool their 400-unit development.

What's planned is a residential and retail development with a 1.5 acre public park at the derelict site of the former Van Leer Chocolate factory below the Palisades Cliffs in Jersey City that the builders hope will become an example of how to build greener than green.

The development will be built on two sites totaling seven acres sold by the Van Leer family. The land has been a wasteland since the family ended chocolate production in the late 1980s.

The first portion of the seven-acre development that lies to the north of Hoboken Avenue will create 221 new homes in a six-story building. A second phase to the south of the avenue will provide the balance of the units. The development will include 7,500 square feet of retail space and parking.

The project, which will get underway this September and will take up to 18 months to complete, aims to reduce energy consumption by up to 90 percent compared to standard buildings and also reduce carbon dioxide emissions, said Daniel Gans who is developing the property with his partner George Vallone of the Hoboken Brownstone Company.

Using heat exchangers reaching 500 feet below ground to harness the constant 55 degree temperature below ground, the geothermal technology would cool the building in the summer and heat it in winter.

Roofs would be covered with solar panels to generate electricity, and solar water heaters would heat water tanks.

Wrapped with thermally efficient concrete, the building would draw energy out of air leaving the building through vents and exhaust fans and reuse it to heat the building.

The new development will be linked to the Hoboken Second Street Light Rail by roughly a half-mile walkway paid for with $4.6 million in federal funds through New Jersey Transit, secured with the help of Rep. Albio Sires.

Sires, who also helped secure $237,000 for the park, said supporting the project was a "no brainer."

"I predict this development project is going to be a model not just for New Jersey but for energy-efficient projects across the country," Sires said.