New Jersey City University President Sue Henderson welcomed stakeholders on Wednesday to break ground on a new 149-unit apartment building at the university’s campus in Jersey City.
By Joshua Burd
A developer is set to begin construction on a new 149-unit apartment building on land owned by New Jersey City University, in what will be the second of four residential projects aimed at growing the institution’s footprint and sparking the west side of Jersey City.
Executives with KKF University Enterprises LLC joined NJCU officials and other stakeholders on Wednesday to break ground on the project, which is part of a $400 million redevelopment known as University Place. Occupancy for the 205,400-square-foot, $43 million building is scheduled for fall 2018.
For KKF, an affiliate of the PRC Group, the project is part of an $83 million public-private partnership that will result in 301 market-rate apartments, more than 11,000 square feet of commercial space on West Side Avenue and parking for 303 vehicles. The developer is overseeing two of the four mixed-use apartment buildings envisioned under the University Place plan, which also calls for additional retail and performing arts space for NJCU.
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The institution has partnered with the private-sector firms under state legislation that allows private developers to build on state university-owned land. NJCU President Sue Henderson highlighted the program on Wednesday, noting that it allows the school to modernize its campus and remain competitive, while providing an additional source of revenue that ensures it’s not paying for those upgrades “on the backs of the students.”
“It will be revenue that comes to us … but it will help to provide our students with first class educational spaces without them having to pay for it, so I’m grateful for that,” Henderson said. “It is what I consider to be the future of higher education. We’re going to have to figure out a way to be more business-minded about how we do it, and this is a fantastic way to help revitalize a city and meet the needs of a growing number of really important students.”
NJCU marked the completion of the first phase of University Place last fall with the opening of its West Campus Village Residence Hall. Simultaneously, the school joined the development team from The Hampshire Cos., Claremont Cos. and Circle Squared Alternative Investments to break ground on the first residential building, which calls for 163 apartments some 10,000 square feet of retail space.
Construction on the building is progressing alongside what will be the site of the first KKF property. That facility is set to open next year.
During Wednesday’s ceremony, speakers highlighted a long list of consultants, attorneys and other stakeholders who helped engineer a decidedly complex project, including Anthony Bastardi of Strategic Development Group, Jennifer Mazawey of Genova Burns and W. Nevins McCann of Connell Foley. Those speakers included Greg Lentine, director of university campus development for KKF and PRC Group, who said University Place “will surely become the hub of community life to the area, a great asset to Jersey City and New Jersey City University.”
“As a representative of KKF, I would like to express our thanks to all of you who made this possible,” said Lentine, vice of president of sales and marketing for West Long Branch-based PRC. “We look forward to the challenge of development and the joy of success.”
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop also touted the importance of the university as an anchor on the city’s west side, noting that “NJCU’s future and the city’s future in many ways go hand in hand.” He and other public officials touted the university’s expansion as a sign that development in the Hudson County seat is continuing to occur beyond its waterfront and downtown neighborhoods.
“The growth on the west side, which is one of the things we’re most excited about, is really intertwined in many ways with the future of NJCU,” Fulop said. “So as we break ground on another building and you see the west side with an unprecedented renaissance, we couldn’t be more excited.”
