A developer is planning a mixed-use project that will bring 365 apartments and retail space to a parcel at 212-230 Culver Ave. in Jersey City. — Rendering by MVMK/Courtesy: IPRG
By Joshua Burd
A developer has acquired a 1.3-acre site in Jersey City’s West Side neighborhood, with plans to bring another 365 apartments and commercial space to the fast-growing area.
According to IPRG, which brokered the sale, the private buyer paid $12.5 million for the parcel at 212-230 Culver Ave. Construction is slated to begin later this year on a project that would span some 300,000 square feet, including a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom rentals as well as 1,550 square feet of retail space along Mallory Avenue, a 184-space parking garage, outdoor terraces and amenities for residents.
Yanni Marmarou, an IPRG managing director and head of its New Jersey office, represented the legacy seller, an estate that owned and operated Acrilex Inc. He also represented the buyer.
“Our team encountered various challenges that caused delays in the eventual closing, commencing in 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, an unexpected fire that led to the destruction of the existing structure and, finally, a sudden surge in interest rates that hampered the sales of development sites over the past 18 months,” Marmarou said.
“The property was initially under contract with an experienced development group that had to
terminate the contract due to a lack of accessible equity sources to finance the project,” he added. “However, our team swiftly identified an all-cash buyer during what has been one of the most challenging times to market institutional-grade development sites in the Hudson County market.”
Plans call for 158 studio, 179 one-bedroom and 28 two-bedroom units, some of which would feature private terraces, according to a news release. Amenities, meantime, will include a 400-square-foot dog run to be built on the Pollock Avenue side of the property.
The development will join other new rental projects in the West Side neighborhood, including Halpern Real Estate Ventures’ new 337-unit building known as The Birch, a 629-unit complex at 400 Claremont Ave. known as 3 Acres and the long-awaited, mixed-use Bayfront project on the western side of Route 440 that will ultimately include some 8,000 units, retail space, a new elementary school and a new Jersey City firehouse.
IPRG added that the deal marks the fourth residential development site sold by the Marmarou team in the West Side neighborhood. The firm is also marketing a fully approved 200-unit development site at 299-301 West Side Ave., at the southwest corner of the Fisk Street intersection.
