The first phase of Journal Squared, pictured here, is now open. — Courtesy: KRE Group/Qualls Benson
By Joshua Burd
After opening for leasing earlier this month, the developers of Journal Squared have officially unveiled the first residential tower in their transformative mixed-use project in Jersey City.
KRE Group and National Real Estate Advisors on Friday cut the ceremonial ribbon on the 53-story tower, one of three planned for the Journal Square neighborhood. The $204 million project has brought 538 new rental apartments, retail and restaurant space to the area, which has other major projects in its development pipeline and has the benefit of a PATH station.
At Friday’s ceremony, executives with the development team reportedly touted the impact that the project will have on the city’s onetime commercial hub.
“It might at first seem like a giant among so many other smaller and older buildings, but to us at KRE this building fits in perfectly,” said Jonathan Kushner, president of KRE Group, according to a report by The Jersey Journal. “This neighborhood, so rich in in history, culture and stature, so diverse and so well located, actually just yearned for more.”
The report said KRE will break ground on the second tower, which will rise 71 stories, later this year.
Designed by Hollwich Kushner and Handel Architects, Journal Squared will bring a total of 1,838 new apartments to the area. The developers aim to re-energize Journal Square with new residents and the addition of 36,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space.
Rents for the newly opened units range from $1,850 for studios to $4,200 for three-bedrooms.
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The project also calls for building a new a pedestrian plaza and covered walkway that leads to the adjacent PATH station. The mass transit access has been one of the drivers that helped make Journal Square the city’s center of commerce in decades past, a status that Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop expects to return.
“If we look forward 10 years, I’m comfortable in saying that this part of Jersey City, Journal Square specifically, will again be the heart of the city,” Fulop said, according to The Jersey Journal.
