Newport, the master-planned 600-acre development on the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City, is home to 25 residential buildings, eight office buildings, two hotels, the Newport Centre Mall and a host of other commercial and public spaces. — Courtesy: LeFrak
By Patricia Alex
The developers of Newport, the seminal mixed-use neighborhood credited as a catalyst for the rebuilding of the Jersey City waterfront, plan to disburse $1 million to 40 local nonprofit groups as the organization celebrates four decades in the city.
Newport Associates Development Co., a partnership of the LeFrak and Simon families, has received more than 135 applications for the grants that will be given under its 40th Anniversary Philanthropy Initiative. Recipients will be invited to receive the awards at a September gala at the Westin hotel that lies within the 600-acre development.
“We continue to invest in Newport and the Jersey City community with more housing, additional community amenities like parks and playgrounds open to the entire city and our annual planned giving,” Richard S. LeFrak, executive chairman of LeFrak, said in a press release issued by the company. “Our 40-year stewardship of Newport, paired with this philanthropy initiative, allows us to continue to fulfill the promise of a complete community.”
The LeFrak and Simon families, which specialize respectively in high-rise residential and mall development, launched the planned community in 1986 on a vast stretch just south of the Holland Tunnel. Up until then, the Jersey City waterfront was still a tangle of abandoned railroad tracks, charred piers, contaminated soil and decaying industrial buildings.
It’s now home to 25 residential buildings, eight office buildings and two hotels, as well as the Newport Centre Mall, 20 acres of public parks and the Hudson River Waterfront Walkway. It also sparked one of the most successful redevelopment stories of its time, as other developers flocked to Jersey City in the decades since. The waterfront wasteland was transformed into a gleaming high-rise skyline — sometimes referred to as Wall Street West — and redevelopment has spread inland to other areas of the city.
To be sure, there were sizeable public investments — from site cleanup, upgrades in the PATH trains that connected the area to Lower Manhattan, development of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail and tax breaks for the builders. But the leap of faith — and vision — from the developers were key, said Robert P. Antonicello, a broker and adviser who is a former director of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency.
“The LeFraks have done a tremendous job, and I’m not sure they even get the credit for that,” said Antonicello, principal and founder of GRID Commercial Real Estate Advisors. “Newport really was the lynchpin.
“Sam and Richard LeFrak would be on the Mount Rushmore for Jersey City,” he added, referring to both the company’s late patriarch and his son, its current executive chairman. “Newport was ahead of its time. They came in and took the risk of building a 25-story residential high-rise and 1.2 million (square feet) in retail space on (what had been) a toxic dump. I don’t think anyone could have predicted how far it has come and how much reinvestment it stimulated.”
The luxury apartment boom on the waterfront led to rising prices citywide and concerns about price pressure on longtime residents, but city officials generally have been sanguine about the development that has transformed the once-derelict waterfront into a destination for 20,000 residents and 50,000 workers.
Charles Burton, head of government and community relations for LeFrak, said the developers took pains to build community as they constructed buildings, ensuring that things like green space, bike lanes, waterfront access and road and transit improvements were included in the designs.
“We wanted to make sure it would fit in with the rest of the city,” Burton said, noting that thoughtful connections were made to the neighboring Hamilton Park neighborhood.
“Our bread and butter as a company is the master-planned community, from our roots in LeFrak City in Queens to Newport to Gateway in Battery Park City,” he said. LeFrak affiliates also own and manage an extensive portfolio of property in South Florida and California.
Its latest milestone in Jersey City comes with a philanthropy initiative that the company calls “a cornerstone of the anniversary celebration, aimed at ensuring that the city’s nonprofit infrastructure continues to thrive alongside its physical development.”
Jersey City Mayor James Solomon lauded the company’s plans.
“The LeFrak and Simon families have built their business in this city for 40 years, and they are using this anniversary to give back at a scale that matters,” he said in the press release.
Newport’s Community Relations team is currently reviewing each submission, with an applicant pool that represents a cross-section of the city’s nonprofit groups, including those working in social services, health care, performing arts, education, sports, community development and environmental protection, the company said. Grants will range from a minimum of $10,000 to cornerstone awards of $100,000 or more.
“As Newport celebrates 40 years, this philanthropy initiative is our way of saying thank you — by investing in those who make Jersey City vibrant and resilient. The response from 135 organizations is a testament to the strength of this community and makes us even more excited for the chapter ahead,” said Eli Simon, CEO, president and chief operating officer of Simon Property Group. “The future is bright for Jersey City, and we are honored to contribute to its continued success.”
Through its 40th anniversary philanthropy initiative, Newport will award grants to dozens of Jersey City-based nonprofit organizations, with funding ranging from a minimum of $10,000 to cornerstone awards of $100,000 or more. For more information, please visit www.newportnj.com/newport40.
A former newspaper reporter and editor, Patricia Alex writes about development and other issues in New Jersey.
