A rendering of The Boundary, a planned 500,000-square-foot mixed-use project by JDA Group LLC on the border of Hoboken and Jersey City — Courtesy: JDA Group LLC
By Joshua Burd
Local officials have cleared the way for a developer to break ground on what will be 500,000 square feet of new commercial and residential space at the border of Hoboken and Jersey City.
The firm, JDA Group LLC, said this week that the Hoboken zoning board has granted final site plan approval for its project known as The Boundary. The developer is now eyeing the start of construction aimed at revitalizing a former industrial neighborhood around 50 Harrison St. in Hoboken and 2 Hoboken Ave. in Jersey City — in the busy southwestern gateway to the Mile Square City — under a project that involves both municipalities.
The locally based company noted that the site is surrounded by five of Hoboken’s eight vehicular entry and exit points. But the area has been held back by geographic boundaries and physical barriers such as train lines and busy thoroughfares that effectively separate the neighborhood from the Hoboken street grid, limit pedestrian traffic and keep the area from establishing a strong identity.
“Southwest Hoboken can now reach its potential, evolving from its industrial roots into a strongly positioned residential and business neighborhood that will flourish,” said Greg Dell’Aquila, CEO of JDA Group. “During its manufacturing and warehousing heyday through the 1960s, Southwest Hoboken was a very vibrant area. Our evolution for the community will not only bring families back as residents, but also businesses that will transform Southeast Hoboken. It will become a medical campus, office center and community with top-level amenities.”
Plans call for JDA to upgrade its existing Mission 50 building at 50 Harrison St. — home to an 80,000-square-foot flexible workspace — where it would add ground-floor retail and expand the structure for a total of six stories. That includes proposed indoor and outdoor event space on the fourth floor.
JDA, which is based in the city, said it would also develop a new medical office building and some 40,000 square feet of retail space that will bring restaurants, boutiques, grocery and entertainment concepts to a neighborhood with limited shopping and dining options. Dell’Aquila added that, to link the site to the rest of Hoboken, The Boundary will establish a through street to connect it to the city’s main grid.
“Our vision for The Boundary is to be the core of the neighborhood, creating a walkable environment with adjacent and incorporated parks, much-needed retail space, doctors’ offices, corporate and entrepreneurial workspaces, and other community needs,” Dell’Aquila said. “We’re creating a sense of place that complements the entire surrounding neighborhood, Hoboken and Jersey City.”
In Jersey City, where JDA secured final site plan approval last year, the firm aims to build 192 market-rate apartments at 2 Hoboken Ave., according to a news release. The new 13-story, glass-facade building will include nine floors of residential space over four stories of structured parking, plus 11,500 square feet of retail.
The developer added that The Boundary design addresses climate resilience, incorporating high-performing, elevated landscaped roofs along with sidewalk bump-outs to manage rainwater throughout roughly 80 percent of the project and under-street water detention systems. The project will also introduce public open spaces such as an elevated green park atop a proposed parking structure, along with new and improved streets and sidewalks that would make the entire area more accessible and desirable for pedestrians and cyclists.
JDA Group has partnered with Erdy McHenry Architecture, landscape architect Roofmeadow and marketing agency QuallsBenson, to establish The Boundary’s conceptual plan.
