Page 14 - RE-NJ

12 APRIL 2025
Photo by Aaron Houston for Real Estate NJ
From left: Members of the SILVERMAN team include Eric Silverman, Kaitlin Buccini, Rebecca Johnson,
Tyron Miller, Shamona Stokes and Paul Silverman.
restaurant space.
All of which has given way to Swift
& Co., where it redeveloped a
former hospital parking garage and
unveiled the fi rst of its 59 rental
homes in early 2022. And the fi rm
recently completed its lease-up of
the property’s 80,000-square-foot
commercial component, whose
tenants also include a veterinarian,
Tiger Schulmann’s Martial Arts and a
photo studio, among others.
merchants feel are missing from the
neighborhood. They’re also master
networkers who are deeply involved
in foundations, community events,
education and other philanthropic
endeavors in Jersey City, which
often leads to encounters with or
introductions to entrepreneurs that
see an opportunity to expand to
Hamilton Park.
“Now we’re back to 2025 and the
story really has emerged perfectly in
Hamilton Park, because it’s a great
place to live,” said Eric Silverman,
whose fi rm has developed some
1,500 residential units and 250,000
square feet of commercial space
overall in Jersey City. “And there’s
just so many things, you don’t have
to leave the neighborhood.”
“It’s a lot of serendipity that way,”
said Paul Silverman. He recalls,
for instance, convincing the owner
of the Jersey City Bicycle Co. to
expand from the city’s McGinley
Square section to Hamilton Park,
in part by giving him pop-up space
during the pandemic. The brothers
also point to Betty’s Ceramics Club,
whose co-owner is the daughter
That’s especially true for those
residents who also work or own
businesses in the district. The
Silvermans estimate there are 15
or so such examples, including
Sacco and Love the Clutter, which
have emerged over the past 20
years as they’ve curated a mix of
shops, services and eateries with
a focus on building an all-inclusive
environment.
As the brothers note, that goes hand
in hand with constantly walking their
properties and speaking to tenants,
giving them a real-time sense of the
types of services that residents and
of the Silvermans’
landscape architect.
The business opened
at Swift & Co. in 2023,
but only after several
years of coaxing
the proprietors,
McKendree Key and
Sam Spratt, to move
from their pottery
studio in Brooklyn.
“It’s opposite the
model that a lot of the
institutional real estate
operators have, where
they just hire a broker,
put up a sign and see
who calls them,” Eric
Silverman added.
“We’ve fl ipped it
around and we meet
with our team and
some of the established
neighborhood people
and say, ‘What do you
need?’ and then go
after that company.”
While he concedes that “not
everything has been a success,”
that approach has served the
neighborhood well and fostered
a diverse environment. That’s
also on display at Andco North,
whose 160 members include many
Hamilton Park residents and range
from graphic designers and music
producers to doctors who conduct
telehealth visits from the site.
Led by John Tokar, the coworking
space offers a mix of desks that are
available via day pass, 10-day pass or
an open membership costing roughly
$350 monthly, as well as reserved
desks and private offi ces. Users have
access to shared amenity spaces,
conference rooms and in-house bar
and kitchen areas with fi ltered water,
coffee and beer on tap. All of it
adorned by design choices that draw
directly from the neighborhood —
from hundreds of handmade, custom
tiles from Betty’s Ceramics Club to
preserved elements from St. Francis
Hospital, including clocks from
the operating rooms and turquoise
pharmacy cabinets that have been
incorporated into the kitchenette.
SILVERMAN debuted the space last
fall as an expansion of its Andco
coworking hub about a mile away
at Charles & Co., a mixed-use
building on Montgomery Street
with 99 apartments and offi ce and
retail space. That allowed the fi rm
to enhance its offerings in many
ways, including technology such
as an app-based entry system and,
perhaps most notably, in the realm
of event space. To that end, Andco
North has a large meeting or lounge
area that’s separate from the main
coworking space, allowing users to
host functions without interrupting
the day-to-day activities.
That space is for rent, and not just for
Andco members, but for community
groups and other users, providing
a feature that the Silvermans say
was missing from the area. In recent
months, it has hosted everything
from fundraisers for local nonprofi ts
to a back-to-school night for the
neighboring Scandinavian School.
“It defi nitely fi lls a need for people
who are stuck in their apartments
working, people who need a place
to go,” Eric Silverman said, noting
that the space has hosted roughly 40
events to date. “It’s become a hub in
the short amount of time it’s been
open.” RE
Photo by Aaron Houston for Real Estate NJ
Andco North offers a mix of desks that are available via day pass, 10-day pass or an open membership, as well as reserved desks and
private offi ces. Users have access to shared amenity spaces, conference rooms and bar and kitchen areas with fi ltered water, coffee
and beer on tap.