The City Council should tell Lloyd Goldman to take a hike.

Goldman is the one responsible for laying waste to the Arts district. The least the council should do is hold him to the previous agreement (which I believe was too little too late).

In the grand scheme of things, 25 affordable units won't amount to a bucket of spit. But, it is a matter of principle. By the way, they shouldn't just be 25 affordable units, but rather 25 units that are ear-marked for artists.

If Goldman doesn't want to honor his previous commitments, the City should just declare the sites abandoned, and move on.

Goldman doesn't care about Jersey City, it's citizens, and certainly not it's artists (one guess what he DOES care about).

But, let's see if the council does.

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Really?
Most of the buildings downtown are occupied with owners with a mix of renters... most people buy condos down there and then rent them out...I have a buddy who lives in Montclair who owns two condos downtown JC one at grove the other at Newport which he has been renting out since the early 2000's this has been going on since I got here. I have never been in a building that large where it was all owner occupied, even when I lived in NYC I have lived in buildings where people subleased their condos all the time. This is more JC Bullsh*t at its best.

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When the city settled with Goldman in 2006, it agreed to let him develop the property in exchange for the 25 units of affordable housing, and other concessions. According to Matsikoudis, developers who are otherwise interested in partnering with Goldman walk away once they learn of the affordable-housing requirement.
I would walk away too if I had to live in a mixed income housing structure. The same can be said for renters in a owner occupied condo building.

Jersey City seeks City Council OK on legal agreement to pave way for Powerhouse Arts District tower

Monday, May 07, 2012, 11:04 PM
By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal

Jersey City?s legal team is asking the City Council to approve a legal settlement with the owner of two First Street properties that may be the future home of a 35-story residential and retail tower in the city?s Powerhouse Arts District.

Lloyd Goldman, the owner of 110 and 111 First St., has agreed to begin construction on the project in at least three months if the city amends a previous settlement that had required Goldman to set aside 25 of the planned units as affordable housing.

The new agreement, which the council is scheduled to approve at its Wednesday meeting, would eliminate that on-site affordable housing requirement. Instead, Goldman would make a $2.5 million contribution to the city?s Affordable Housing Trust Fund so that affordable units could be built elsewhere.

That proposed payment, combined with an additional $2.5 million payment to the fund that Goldman made previously, is a better deal for the city, Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis told a skeptical council at its caucus tonight.

?To me, it?s a pretty black-and-white decision,? Matsikoudis said.

The First Street properties are the location of two former warehouses, one of which housed an artists enclave until 2005. The city sued Goldman to keep him from tearing down the warehouse that housed the artists, saying it was a historic structure that should be preserved.

When the city settled with Goldman in 2006, it agreed to let him develop the property in exchange for the 25 units of affordable housing, and other concessions. According to Matsikoudis, developers who are otherwise interested in partnering with Goldman walk away once they learn of the affordable-housing requirement.

?I?m convinced that without this modification the building?s not going to go forward,? he said tonight.

Matsikoudis? appeal to the council fell mostly on deaf ears, with a handful of its members expressing skepticism. Councilwoman at large Viola Richardson said she?s wary of accepting a settlement that does not require any affordable housing in Goldman?s planned 452-unit tower.

Still, Richardson said, she?s not sure if she?ll end up opposing the move.

?I also want to see something built,? she said.

The council is set to vote on the new agreement at its Wednesday meeting, which begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 280 Grove St.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... y_seeks_city_council.html