Harwood brings in a partner for 2-tower project at Square
Saturday, April 14, 2007
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
The two-tower development planned for Jersey City's Journal Square now has two partners sharing the risk, burden - and potential rewards - of building the $400 million project.
The board of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency voted yesterday to amend the redeveloper's agreement with Jersey City-based Harwood Properties to include Washington-based Multi-Employer Property Trust, a national real estate equity fund that invests union pension funds.
"I am confident that with MEPT's support, Journal Square will soon become a thriving neighborhood and a destination," said Lowell Harwood, managing partner of Harwood Properties.
"Redevelopment of Journal Square has been talked about for 30 or 40 years. Now it's finally going to happen."
David Antonelli, senior vice president of Kennedy Associates Real Estate Council Inc. LP, MEPT's sole advisor and founder, noted, "We're early on in the process. There's a lot of work to be done."
MEPT is a $6.2 billion real estate equity fund owned by 312 pension plans, with a portfolio of 172 properties in 25 major metropolitan markets, said company spokeswoman Pamela Silberman.
The new entity created by the partnership is called MEPT Journal Square Urban Renewal, LLC. The partners declined to say what percentage of the new company they owned.
The project is slated to be built on the site of the old Hotel on the Square and several stores, next to the PATH Transportation Center, and is to consist of two towers, 52 and 46 stories, containing 1,034 apartments, 150,000 square feet of retail space and three levels of parking.
By next week, officials said, MEPT will be the owner of all the properties on the block still standing.
The JCRA has hired a relocation specialist to help relocate the remaining businesses on the block, including a McDonald's, said JCRA Executive Director Robert Antonicello. The developer would reimburse the city for the moving expenses, Antonicello said.
Harwood predicted that by August all the remaining structures on the block will be leveled. Construction would take 18 months to two years, he said.