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Jersey City's Hamilton Park Lifts Appeal

Wall Street Journal
NEWYORK-REAL ESTATE
By MAYA POPE-CHAPPELL

Amy Ertel lives in a four-family brownstone near Hamilton Park, a historic neighborhood in Jersey City that is centered on a park of the same name. Two years ago, she collected $1,800 a month in rent for each of her two-bedroom apartments. Now she's collecting $2,100.

The Downtown Coop began selling organic fruit and vegetables at Jersey City's Hamilton Square building late last year.

"I'm getting a premium on my apartments now," said Ms. Ertel, a mother of two and the president of the Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association. "The buzz has definitely picked up."

Since the $3.2 million renovation of Hamilton Park?the five-acre green space at McWilliams Place and Eighth Street that re-opened last year?there has been a resurgence of activity in the surrounding area. Nearly a dozen businesses have opened within the past 1 ? years, most on the ground level of Hamilton Square, a 125-unit condominium across from the park. The building, developed by Eric and Paul Silverman, opened in 2009 in place of an old hospital.

Sawyer Smith, sales director for Hamilton Square where he also owns a home-furnishings store, Smith & Chang General Goods, has lived in the neighborhood on and off for 10 years.

"There weren't many kids or families," recalled Mr. Smith, who has lived at Schroeder Lofts, a Silverman condominium, since it opened in 2007. "The park was kind of rundown. There was hardly any retail."

But now, he said, "you've got a lot of families who are staying, renovating their townhouses, as well as more affluent single and younger couples." The change, he said, "is a clear indication that the neighborhood had come full circle."

The renovated park and the transformation of the historic district into a more family-friendly place are what prompted Mary Suliburk and her husband Dave to open Downtown Coop at Hamilton Square late last year.

"It's sort of the Holy Grail if you have kids," said Ms. Suliburk as she stood behind the register at the store, which sells organic and locally sourced foods.

The couple moved into one of the historic row houses near the park three years ago and have three children.

Mr. Suliburk, who works at the co-op and has a full-time job in digital marketing, said, "Everything you need, whether it's food, gifts, activities for the kids, you name it, it's all within a few blocks of where we live. We rarely leave the neighborhood."

Also new at Hamilton Square this year are a flower shop, a gym and a clinic called Tribeca Pediatrics. By early October, a combination pet-supply store and children's boutique and a bakery are slated to have moved into the vacant spaces at Hamilton Square.


The area's Hamilton Park, bottom, re-opened last year after a renovation.

The Silverman brothers have been active in Jersey City since 1981, and often provide start-up capital as well as financing for improvements and marketing support for the retail spaces that occupy their mixed-use buildings. They tend to select retailers who cater to the more-affluent and well-educated residents who occupy their condos.

"My brother Eric and I understand the many ingredients it takes to build a neighborhood," said Paul Silverman. "We try to revitalize a worn out or underutilized neighborhood [and] make it all walkable so that you can buy your bottle of wine and flowers for the party."

Steven Samuel, who lives in a historic row house near the park with his wife and 1-year-old daughter, said he prefers a more diverse mix of retailers catering to others besides the affluent. "While all these new businesses are nice, they don't appeal to my budget," said Mr. Samuel, a neighborhood resident for almost 15 years.

The Silvermans are in the process of renovating an old nursing school that now houses a growing Montessori school and a nonprofit arts organization. They also have plans to build more residential and retail spaces on a vacant parcel between Hamilton Square and the Montessori school, and in the place of a parking garage at Erie and Ninth streets, a block from the park.



"I always thought the neighborhood had so much potential," said Michael Gondevas, a Jersey City native who opened his restaurant, the Hamilton Inn, near the park last year. "Now it's living up to that potential."

Mr. Gondevas said he plans to work with the Silvermans to transform a defunct Vespa store into a brick-oven pizzeria to open in the spring.

Kathleen Bauhs, who has lived about a block from the park for 25 years, said she's thrilled with the changes to the area. However, there's one thing, she says, that's not as attractive as it used to be.

"The new dog owners are not as good as the old dog owners," Ms. Bauhs said, holding three poodles on their leashes at Hamilton Park. "They don't pick up the poop."