Three towers rising at least 25 stories and the restoration of an old metal can company building could bring nearly 1,100 new residential units to Jersey City's Soho West, the once industrial neighborhood near the Holland Tunnel being transformed by a recent building boom.
Statco, a four-phase project being developed by Manhattan Building Company, is planned for several lots between 14th and 16th streets, bound by Coles and Monmouth streets.
Phase 1 of the project, which has already received Jersey City Planning Board approval and is under way, will see the construction of a 25-story tower containing 350 residential units, 307 parking spaces, and retail space.
The second phase of the development includes the construction of a second 25-story tower with 300 residential units and 159 parking spaces. Phase 3 comprises the renovation of the old Continental Can Company warehouse, which will be home to 150 residential units and 60 parking spaces. The final phase will be the building of a 26-story tower with 200 residential units.
The developer is seeking final plan approval for the last three phases and requesting to add another 99 residential units to the development, in addition to roughly 19,000 sq. ft. of retail space and 202 off-street parking spaces.
If approved, the Statco project would expand to 1,099 residential units.
Details of the large-scale development were taken from documents submitted to the Jersey City Planning Board by the developer. John Palumbo, vice president of real estate development at Manhattan Building Company, declined to comment on the project.
The plans, which include no mention of affordable housing, feature what the company refers to as community benefits, including the construction of two public parks and a "public use facility", the details of which were not provided.
It also includes the construction or improvement of three nearby streets: Monmouth Street, 15th Street and 16th Street.
The Soho West area — south of Hoboken, west of New York — has become one of Jersey City's hottest neighborhoods for new development in recent years. Other projects in the neighborhood include:
- A pair of 12-story buildings on Coles Street and a 21-story tower nearby gained Planning Board approval earlier this year. Together, they will bring nearly 1,200 new units of housing to SoHo West, which is already home to the Cast Iron Lofts and SoHo Lofts.
- Residents of the nearby Holland Gardens public housing complex are expected to get new digs under an ambitious plan that calls for the current complex to be redeveloped as a mixed-income high-rise. The Jersey City Housing Authority proposal calls for at least 500 units to be developed at the current site, in addition to units for all Holland Gardens residents.
- Even the old St. Lucy's Church and its adjacent homeless shelter have been designated for redevelopment.
Construction on Coles Street Park, one of the community givebacks included in the Statco plan, began last November. The $2 million park between 16th and 18th streets will be completed in conjunction with Phase 1. Emerson Park, the second of the two new recreation areas, will be located on a triangular plot just south of 14th Street.
The Statco project also will see surrounding roadways raised and improvements made to the sewer system, resulting in less localized flooding.
Restoration and adaptive reuse of the Continental Can Company building is being classified as a community benefit. Once one of the world's largest packaging firms, by 1921 the Chicago company had opened plants in cities across the country, including Jersey City.
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