U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez speaks during a ceremony to open Jaclyn Heights in West New York. He was joined by MonGroup Properties Inc. CEO Dean Mon (left) and U.S. Rep. Albio Sires.
By Joshua Burd
A developer has opened the doors of a new 40-unit apartment building in West New York, marking the completion of a plan to redevelop the former site of a handbag factory that once employed thousands of immigrants who settled in the area.
The firm, MonGroup Properties Inc., hosted public officials on Monday to unveil the property known as Jaclyn 40. The building at 5817 Jefferson St. is the final piece of Jaclyn Heights, a sustainably designed complex of 155 apartments and condominiums meant to offer workforce housing to the population of Hudson County.
That was enough to draw a contingent that included U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and Rep. Albio Sires, who both have ties to the area and acknowledged the historical significance of the site. The former Jaclyn Inc. factory employed as many as 1,200 people during its heyday in the 1960s, many of them Cuban immigrants who found their way to northern New Jersey.
“What’s happened here at Jaclyn Heights is the type of purpose that I believe in and we want to see replicated throughout our communities,” said Menendez, the former mayor of Union City, later adding: “It’s one of those powerful economic stories that now gets transformed into a new story of economic opportunity and the possibility of home ownership and of great housing opportunities for individuals who may not yet be able to afford homeownership.”
Dean Mon, CEO and president of MonGroup, said demolition of the factory began nearly a decade ago. In its place is a roughly $40 million project that was built in five phases, comprising a mix of 55 condominiums and 100 rentals.
The original condominiums included affordable units that started at $83,000 for a one-bedroom and so-called emerging market units that started at $182,000. Rents for the new apartments start at $1,400 for a one-bedroom.
More than 60 percent of the new apartments had been leased as of Monday’s ceremony, Mon said. Keller Williams Realty serves as the leasing agent for the property.
Units feature high-end finishes and energy-efficient appliances, while giving residents access to nearby mass transit options such as the bus and ferry to New York City. What’s more, the project is built to satisfy three sets of environmental standards, including Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, National Green Building and New Jersey Energy Efficient Homes Standards.
“Jaclyn Heights provides green urban living options to people who would prefer to rent a home,” Mon said.
Also attending Monday’s ceremony were Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner, along with other representatives of MonGroup, CPA Architecture and Amboy Bank, which provided financing for the project. In welcoming Menendez and Sires, Mon said, “They’ve really been friends of housing,” later adding that “we have changed the neighborhood.”
Sires echoed Mon’s sentiments, noting that Jaclyn Heights “has cleaned up a whole block of West New York.”
“It gives me great hope that there are real, good developers out there,” said Sires, the former mayor of West New York. “And I just wish that there were more properties that we could develop like this, because this is something that turns the city around.”
