‘Citizens of Jersey City are the winners: Jersey City, Kushner moves forward with Journal Square project – nj.com

After years of legal dispute, Jersey City, the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency (JCRA) and Kushner Companies have reached a settlement, dismissing further litigation.

Construction of the proposed Journal Square twin towers is now expected to begin next year and will include a 10-level parking garage for residents, a retail and amenity space, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop said on Saturday. But the one thing the project wont have is a tax abatement.

Lets be clear. The citizens of Jersey City are the winners here, Eugene T. Paolino, counsel to Kushner Companies, said in a statement. Kushner Companies is eager and ready to move forward shoulder to shoulder with Mayor Fulop and the people of the great City of Jersey City.

Along with the settlement, the project has also been modified.

Both towers will stand 64-stories tall, or 710 feet, on the plot of land thats been vacant since 2007. Each tower will consist of 52 stories of residential units with a 12-story base containing ground floor retail space, amenity space and additional residential uses, Wallace-Scalcione said.

Residential spaces will replace the original plans of five stories of office space and one story of retail space. The faade of the towers will also be re-envisioned; there will be a $2.5 million investment in local arts initiatives; and the developer is required to hire locally, Wallace-Scalcione said.

Originally, in 2014, the developer proposed to build two towers, one 70 stories and the other 50, with more than 3,000 units and 160,000 square feet of commercial space.

Then four years later, Jared Kushners family company filed a federal lawsuit in 2018 when a tax abatement for the project was denied, jumpstarting the ongoing legal battle.

The developer claimed the denial from the majorly Democratic city was bias towards President Donald Trump. Kushner headed Kushner Companies until 2017, when he stepped down from the company to become an advisor for Trump, who is also his father-in-law.

That lawsuit was dismissed, but then the company filed an amended lawsuit. The Fulop Administration has not granted a tax abatement in nearly four years, city spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said.

According to court documents, the parties agree to fully cooperate with each other in order to carry out the provisions of this settlement agreement.

In a statement, Council President Joyce Watterman said this is a big win for everyone involved. She said this will benefit the citys revitalization efforts in Journal Square and can provide opportunities to the local workforce, which is critical now more than ever before.

This has always been about what is best for our taxpayers and Jersey City, Fulop said in a statement. Fortunately, after many years and many prior developers who left this property to stagnate, the citys great team and Kushner Companies have been able to set aside their differences and collaborate to reach common ground.

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'Citizens of Jersey City are the winners: Jersey City, Kushner moves forward with Journal Square project - nj.com