Page 26 - RE-NJ

24 JANUARY 2026
you’re buying or selling a property,
the tax abatement was factored into
the land sale, so who benefi ted was
the seller, and the buyer accepted
that because they thought they were
getting a fair price with certain
incentives.
“But who didn’t see the benefi t,
ultimately, was the taxpayer, the
resident of Jersey City, because what
should be an incentive to get more
back was traded away in the land
sale by two people that expected to
get it from the city. So recalibrating
that was really important to us.”
The policy’s impact has been on
display over the past decade —
most notably in Journal Square,
where a tax abatement helped spark
KRE Group’s three-phase, 1,840-
unit Journal Squared project. The
complex served as proof of concept
for the historic but long-neglected
neighborhood around the Journal
Square PATH station, setting off a
development boom that includes
thousands of completed and under-
construction units by the likes of
Kushner, Namdar Group, Panepinto
Properties, Ironstate Development
and many others.
Fulop said “there’s probably no
better representation” than Journal
Square of an area that benefi ts from
embracing a pro-growth agenda
with the support of upzoning and
incentives, but “it started with clarity
around embracing development
and certainty for capital” by way of
the tax abatement program. That
provided a push for developers and
investors that, at the time, “were
speculating and acquiring land but
sitting on it.”
STEPS TAKEN: FULOP PROUD OF
RECORD ON AFFORDABILITY, BUT
KNOWS THERE’S MORE TO BE DONE
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop
has been unabashedly pro-growth
during his 12 years in offi ce. That’s
clear from the city’s ever-changing
skyline, but even he concedes
that new development has
overshadowed efforts to improve
housing affordability.
His team points to Jersey City’s
inclusionary zoning ordinance
adopted in 2021, which requires
residential projects with more
than 15 units to include 10 or
15 percent set-asides for low-
and moderate-income renters,
depending on the census tract,
if they’re requesting variances
or plan amendments. A year
later, the Fulop administration
unveiled the state’s fi rst affordable
housing overlay, which allows for
greater density in developments
that include a lower-income
component.
It all refl ects a push to increase
supply and, among other
objectives, compensate for the
lack of development in New York
City, Fulop said, noting that Jersey
City has welcomed nearly twice
as many units per capita over the
past decade.
File photo/Courtesy: KRE Group
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop speaks in 2018 at the ribbon-cutting ceremony
for 485 Marin, a 398-unit luxury apartment building in the city by KRE Group that
includes 80 affordable units.
File photo
“They put a lot of pressure on
the entire region, because most
of the jobs are in New York City,
and people want to live close to
where they work,” said Fulop
who leaves offi ce in mid-January
to become CEO and president of
the nonprofi t Partnership for New
York City. “And when you’re not
building enough housing, they
start venturing into other areas
and put pressure on housing.”
A spokeswoman for the outgoing
mayor added that, in 2024, Jersey
City launched its Consolidated
Affordable Housing Portal,
“transforming how our most
vulnerable residents access
housing.” In the fi rst 18 months,
the city has already processed
well over 10,000 applications,
streamlining access and reducing
barriers for residents seeking
affordable housing.
Fulop also hopes that Bayfront,
the 100-acre development that
could bring as many 8,000 units
to the city’s West Side, with 35
percent reserved as affordable
housing, could help ease the
backlog as it comes online in
phases over the next two decades.
“So I feel like we’ve done a lot in
this space,” Fulop said. “It doesn’t
get the credit it deserves because
of the pressure from New York
City … but that’s OK. That’s the
nature of this.”
Plans for Bayfront, a 100-acre development that could bring as many 8,000 units to Jersey
City’s West Side, call for 35 percent to be reserved as affordable housing.
“Nobody wanted to be the fi rst one
to do a big billion-dollar project,” he
said. “So how you get somebody to
do that is by creating an environment
where they feel like they have a
trusted partner at City Hall … that
understands that there’s a billion
dollars at risk here and we have a
shared interest in making this project
successful.”
The cycle has coincided with several
major public or city-led investments
in Journal Square. Chief among them
is the $130 million restoration of
the historic Lowes Theater, which
is slated for completion in 2026,
and plans for the new 3.4-acre
Courthouse Park on Pavonia Avenue.
Fulop also referenced his
long-sought plan to enrich the
neighborhood with a new satellite
location for Centre Pompidou, the
acclaimed museum in Paris. That
project’s future is uncertain due
to funding shortfalls and political
pushback, but the mayor said he
was no less proud of the sweeping
private and public investments
in Journal Square and elsewhere,
including a multiphase, $200 million
municipal complex in Bergen-
Lafayette.
“All of that is a byproduct of our
economic development team,” Fulop
said. He credited Marcos Vigil,
former deputy mayor and director of
housing, economic development and
commerce, and Annisia Cialone, who
took over the latter role in 2018 after
serving as city planning director. He
also repeatedly cited cooperation
with the city council.
Fulop leaves offi ce with development
booming in several other districts,
including Bergen-Lafayette and the
West Side, amid several high-profi le
projects that the city has championed
or invested in. Look no further