The transformation of a piece of Downtown Jersey City progress significantly the week of 20 October, 2022. The Jersey City City Council officially began the adoption process of the Sixth Street Embankment Redevelopment Plan just one day after the city planning board approved a 60-story high-rise that will sit right across from the eastern end of the embankment. Combined, the two projects would transform a nine-block stretch into a community accessible elevated recreational space leading to a skyscraper housing a relocated ShopRite supermarket.
While the two plans are being led by separate entities, the developers and the Embankment Preservation Coalition have partnered to make them as cohesive and complementary as possible.
The 60-story building is part of a completely new vision of Metro Plaza, which currently includes a parking lot, ShopRite, BJ’s, Wells Fargo and the former location of Bed, Bath and Beyond. The suburban-style plaza will be transformed into urban city blocks — deemed Hudson Exchange — with retail still available but built into high-rise buildings with hundreds of new residences. ShopRite’s move into the 60-story building represents just one phase of the multi-phased project. Above it will be 802 residential units, 80 being studios, 399 one-bedrooms, 295 two-bedrooms and 28 three-bedrooms. Floors three through five will be a parking garage for ShopRite and residents with 538 parking spaces.
The redevelopment plan for the embankment earned unanimous “yes” votes on first reading after several months of edits and community meetings about the project. The plan envisions a future in which the former elevated railroad tracks, now overgrown into a natural forest, are publicly accessible and molded to accommodate recreation. When redeveloped, some blocks would remain largely preserved with just trails going through, while others would include new amenities or active recreation such as benches and playgrounds. A portion of one block at Division and Sixth streets would be zoned for a building up to six stories high.
Though the redevelopment plan is progressing, city access to the property remains held up in court.
Read more on this story at NJ.com