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View Larger Map Jersey City is only New Jersey recipient of $2.3 million in federal grant money to fund planning for 7,000-unit development on 111-acre wasteland currently being cleaned of toxins Thursday, October 21, 2010 By KARINA L. ARRUE JOURNAL STAFF WRITER A sprawling, contaminated industrial wasteland in the southeast section of Jersey City is another step closer to revitalization, officials said yesterday. National and local officials gathered at 824 Garfield Ave. to announce that Jersey City has been awarded a combined $2.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Sustainable Community/TIGER II Planning Grant is intended to reduce barriers to achieving affordable, economically vital, and sustainable communities, officials said. "'Sustainability' means tying the quality and location of housing and transportation to broader opportunities, like access to good jobs, quality schools, and safe streets," U.S. Housing and Urban Development Regional Administrator Adolfo Carri?n, said. In Jersey City, the grant will help fund Canal Crossing, a 111-acre redevelopment area that is bounded by NJ Turnpike Extension to the east, Garfield Avenue to the west, and the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system to the north. The area is surrounded by a residential population of predominantly minority households with high unemployment and high poverty rates, according to a press release from the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency. The Canal Crossing Project was chosen out of 225 applicants from around the country, Carri?n said, adding that $2.3 million is "a significant share" of the $68 million that HUD and DOT are awarding to different projects nationally. The city is the sole recipient of the grant in the state. The Canal Crossing Project calls for a residential mixed-use, transit-oriented community with access to open space. A total of 7,000 residential units, 630 of them dedicated to affordable housing, will be built, officials said. After a chromium cleanup of the area is completed in about four years, the grant will be used to pay for engineering and infrastructure planning, among other items, JCRA Executive Director Robert Antonicello said. Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, and U.S. Reps Albio Sires and Donald Payne were also on hand for yesterday's press conference.