I didn't realize abatements were still being given in areas that need them, I thought they had become the exclusive purview of downtown megadevelopments. Good to see!

And the picture they're painting of an upscale coffee shop on the upper level sounds a bit grandiose for the neighborhood, but time will tell.

If there is any neighborhood that should get an abatement, it is this one. This is great news for Monticello Avenue and McGinley Square.

No abatements in McGinley Square!

Speak up, Yvonne!

Shelleys sucks IMHO, I think they are pretty expensive over there.

i will believe it when i see it!
That being said, if it comes to fruition it will be fantastic news for the neighborhood.

this is great news... however I wonder what the city will do with the property that Shelley's occupies now. Are they just going to board it up and let it sit like the Fine Fare on West Side Ave?

View Larger Map Planned Jersey City mixed-income housing complex gets $650,000 in corporate donations Monday, October 18, 2010 By AMY SARA CLARK JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Two companies, PSE&G and Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield, have pledged $650,000 toward the planned construction of a mixed-income housing complex in Jersey City with a 24,000-square-foot supermarket on the ground floor. PSE&G has contributed $500,000 toward the project in the Bergen Hill section of Jersey City and Horizon Blue Cross/BlueShied has contributed $150,000, officials said at a Sept. 24 event announcing the contributions. "PSE&G has consistently proven their investment and belief in this community," said Michele Massey, chair of Bergen Communities United, a community group run by WomenRising Inc., a Jersey City-based nonprofit that helps women achieve financial self sufficiency and affordable housing. The project is being planned for Monticello Avenue between Fairview and Fairmount avenues and the donations make it possible to break ground before the end of the year, said Michelangelo Russo, president of Whiton Street Associates, the project's developer. Russo expects construction to be completed by November 2012. "I think it's really going to be an economic engine for the whole community," said Vaughn McKoy, president of the PSE&G Foundation. Shelley's supermarket will move into the street-level store from its current location at 700 Bergen Ave., said owner Scott Geller. The new supermarket will have a mezzanine level with an upscale coffee bar, couches, 50 to 60 tables, free WiFi and a conference room open to all community groups. The main floor of the market will have fresh prepared foods, fresh fish and meat counters, sushi, a bakery, and expanded produce, dairy and frozen sections, Geller said. The building will also have 120 apartments - 24 of them for moderate-income rentals ($515 a month for a one-bedroom, $616 for a two-bedroom); and 96 market rate units ($1,700 a month for a two-bedroom, $1,300 for a one-bedroom). Whiton Street Associates will receive a 30-year tax abatement on the project, officials said.