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10 JANUARY 2024
JERSEY CITY MARKS START OF 477- UNIT WEST SIDE SQUARE PROJECT
A development team has broken ground on a long-awaited project in Jersey City, where it’s slated to build nearly 500 new apartments and retail space that will help link the burgeoning Journal Square and West Side neighborhoods.
The Toronto-based partnership, known as the West Side Square Development Fund, is planning
a summer 2026 delivery for the property at the northwest corner of Broadway and West Side Avenue. Its plans call for 477 rental units
ranging from studio to three- bedroom homes, with a location that is less than a mile from the Journal Square Transportation Center.
The site is also directly south of the tracks that run to and from
the Journal Square PATH station, providing an opportunity that city officials have long discussed and were eager to highlight on Dec.
13. As Mayor Steve Fulop noted, the tracks are above ground, while the Port Authority of New York
Plans for West Side Square at 66 Broadway in Jersey City call for 477 apartments ranging from studio to three-bedroom homes and 9,814 square feet of ground-level retail space.
and New Jersey already has a stop nearby that is currently for employees only.
“It is an easy place for New Jersey and the Port Authority to create
a new PATH stop, which we’ve
been advocating for, and to further energize this whole area,” Fulop said during a groundbreaking ceremony. “It would have a transformational impact on the West Side of Jersey City. And if you take
a step back from a reasonability standpoint and just say ‘Things will happen if they are reasonable,’ it is just a matter of time until it does happen, but we just need to stay persistent to make sure that people are aware of it.
“So thank you for believing in the area, thank you for investing in the area, thank you for being partners in the area, and we look forward to great things here on the West Side of Jersey City and with this project in particular.”
The team behind West Side Square includes LanTree Developments, Altree Developments Inc., Lanterra Developments Inc. and Westdale Construction Co., all of which are based in Canada. MHS Architecture has designed the multibuilding project, which will redevelop a site that once housed Puccini’s restaurant, while Sordoni Construction Co. serves as general contractor.
Lanterra Chairman Mark Mandelbaum noted that “there’s
a lot of real estate development going on in Canada with an eye
to value,” allowing the West Side neighborhood to resonate with the investment group. He also cited the planning around the parcel that would allow it to accommodate a potential PATH station.
“The West Side of Jersey City is just ripe for development,” Mandelbaum said. “It’s the outgrowth of Journal Square, and we are very, very confident that that’s going to happen.”
Rendering courtesy: MHS Architecture