A rendering of Parkview Apartments, a planned two-building, 170-unit apartment project at 87-99 Van Horne St. and 72-78 Woodward St. in Jersey City — Courtesy: Dresdner Robin
By Joshua Burd
A design and engineering team is highlighting its role in a two-building, 170-unit apartment project that is on the verge of breaking ground alongside a popular park in Jersey City.
Two firms, Dresdner Robin and Monteforte Architectural Studio, on Tuesday detailed their role in the development known as Parkview Apartments. The project by Wallabout Realty Holdings is slated to break ground in the coming days and be complete by late 2021, they said, bringing new luxury apartments to Jersey City’s Bergen-Lafayette neighborhood.
The two buildings will rise at 87-99 Van Horne St. and 72-78 Woodward St. and will be adjacent to the three-year-old Berry Lane Park. Dresdner Robin, a Jersey City-based land development design firm, and Ocean Township-based Monteforte are providing engineering, architecture, landscape architecture, surveying and planning services for the project.
“This project modernizes an entire city block, bringing infrastructure and community improvements to the area surrounding the Garfield Avenue light rail station,” said Joseph Mele, director of civil engineering at Dresdner Robin. “Our firm has worked closely with the developer and community stakeholders to ensure that this project becomes a worthy complement to nearby Berry Lane Park and the city’s overall growth.”
Parkview Apartments will include two 89-foot buildings that will each rise seven stories over two floors of parking, according to a news release. Designed by Monteforte, the complex of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments will boast architecture angled toward the recreational space and reflective glass that returns light to the areas below.
Dresdner Robin, which has led the permitting process since 2017, worked with the Jersey City planning board to create one contiguous tract of land, allowing for a unified, larger-scale development, the news release said. A new road will connect the dead ends of Woodward and Van Horne streets, the firm said, improving circulation and access in the area.
The project team added that a new streetscape will complement the roadway, while the development will provide pedestrian connectivity to the nearby Garfield Avenue Hudson-Bergen Light Rail station.
“The typology of this project had to complement its surroundings, rather than becoming an obstacle,” Principal Architect James Monteforte said. “To do so, we designed two towers emerging from a base that holds the unit together. The essential aesthetic of the Parkview Apartments is to be a beacon of life and vibrancy to the surrounding community.”
To address active underground utilities that bisected the proposed site, Dresdner Robin said it worked alongside the city’s engineering department and Municipal Utilities Authority to create a multiphase design that relocated the active utilities around the site and accommodated the building’s new connections.
The project is in a familiar neighborhood for Dresdner Robin, which performed design services for Berry Lane Park ahead of its 2016 opening. Those services included site-civil engineering, landscape architecture, surveying and environmental, as well as bid support and construction administration for each of the project’s four phases.
The park, which was created on a 17.5-acre former brownfield site, includes basketball and tennis courts, baseball and soccer fields, a playground, rain garden, 600 trees and a splash pad water park.
“Jersey City had an extraordinary vision for Berry Lane Park, which has been instrumental in stimulating a largely underdeveloped area,” Mele said. “Upon completion, Parkview Apartments will inspire continued growth as it overlooks the vibrancy of the park.”
Parkview Apartments will also include 18 units of moderate-income housing.
