A New York developer is making its way to Jersey City, reportedly with plans to buy a site in the city’s Journal Square section that could house a 42-story residential tower.
The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday that HAP Investments LLC is in contract to buy the site for $28 million. The newspaper said the 80,000-square-foot property, located at 500 Summit Ave., is now partly covered by parking lot.
Eran Polack, HAP’s chief executive, told the Journal his firm still does not have exact plans for the site, but it could accommodate a 42-story, 1 million-square-foot apartment building. It could include either a hotel or offices, with a park and retail space, the paper reported, capitalizing on the access to the Journal Square PATH station.
The project would be HAP’s first in New Jersey and help Jersey City’s effort to spread development beyond its waterfront. Since being sworn in last summer, Mayor Steven Fulop made the push in part by overhauling the city’s tax abatement program, offering longer-term incentives to projects in interior neighborhoods such as Journal Square.
Historically, developers have gravitated toward Jersey City’s waterfront and received tax abatements of 20 or 25 years.
“We have created an incentive program that has changed the dynamic,” Fulop told the Journal. “Seeing an acquisition like this is consistent with the types of investments we are seeing there.”
He said there are about 10 projects in planning or development in the Journal Square area.