18 Park Luxury Rental Building Honored By New Jersey Future With 2015 “Smart Growth” Award

18 Park in Jersey City, NJ

KRE Group and Ironstate Development’s Iconic Jersey City Project Praised as a Landmark Multi-Use Building, Anchor of Emerging Community

Development partners Kushner Real Estate Group (KRE) and Ironstate Development Company have received a 2015 “Smart Growth” award for creating an iconic, mixed-use development in an emerging neighborhood in downtown Jersey City.

New Jersey Future, a non-profit organization that promotes responsible land-use policies, named KRE/Ironstate’s 18 Park building one of the recipients of its prestigious annual award, noting that it was designed to be the “community anchor” of an 80-acre redevelopment area in Jersey City’s Liberty Harbor North neighborhood.

18 Park is a 422-unit rental building with upscale amenities and services, but it is also home to a variety of community organizations. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Hudson County occupied brand new, state-of-the-art facilities at 18 Park in 2014 after relocating from a severely outdated building nearby. The Great Futures Charter High School for Health Sciences also calls 18 Park home, as does a teen technology center that includes music recording and graphic arts equipment. The building also includes street level retail that contributes to the vibrancy and pedestrian-friendly character of the neighborhood, making it feel like a true “center” of the community.

“The broad combination of community uses, plus the retail space, the 415 apartments above the community facilities and the seven townhomes along the south side of the building all work together to generate a wide range of activity at various hours of the day and evening, giving the building the true feel of a community center,” the award announcement from NJ Future reads. “As Liberty Harbor North continues to develop, 18 Park’s role as a community center will only continue to grow.”

18 Park was designed from the beginning of the project with the goal of both resident enjoyment and community engagement in mind. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Hudson County facilities are independently accessed and include a spectacular gymnasium with a floor-to-ceiling wall as part of the club’s programmed space. Parking is concealed on the interior of the building and a Hudson-Bergen Light Rail stop is right on the corner, allowing for a fully-engaged streetscape that encourages mass-transit usage and community interaction.

“We set out to create a dynamic, lifestyle-oriented property for our residents that would be not only a centerpiece of the Liberty Harbor North neighborhood, but also one of the most exciting rental offerings in all of Jersey City,” said Jonathan Kushner, President of The KRE Group. “Including usable community space for The Boys & Girls Clubs of Hudson County and other organizations was incredibly important to us too. The fact that we were able to accomplish both goals so seamlessly is a testament to our design team, our construction team and the Jersey City community as a whole.”

18 Park is one of seven Smart Growth Award recipients selected this year by New Jersey Future. Since 2002, the organization has honored more than 95 projects selected by an independent jury of professional developers, architects, planners and redevelopment experts.

KRE and Ironstate both have a history of successful development in Jersey City and currently have additional residential properties under construction in the city. The developers previously teamed up to develop and lease 225 Grand, just one block away from 18 Park. KRE is currently building Journal Squared, a collection of three residential towers in Jersey City’s historic Journal Square neighborhood that will ultimately comprise 1,838 rental residences and 36,000 square feet of retail space. Ironstate is constructing 70 Columbus, a 50-story tower with 543 luxury rental residences in downtown Jersey City, and URL® Harborside, a collection of three towers overlooking the Manhattan skyline that will ultimately deliver 2,358 residences to the city’s Harborside Financial Center neighborhood.

For more information on KRE, www.thekregroup.com. For more information on Ironstate, visit www.ironstate.net. For more information on New Jersey Future and the Smart Growth Awards, visit www.njfuture.org.

About Ironstate Development Company

Ironstate Development Company is one of the largest privately held real estate development companies in the Northeast. Based in Hoboken, New Jersey, Ironstate engages in the development and management of large-scale mixed-use projects and has a diverse portfolio of residential and hospitality assets. Additional information on Ironstate Development Company is available on the Company’s website at www.ironstate.net.

Ironstate Development Named Top NJ Developer

Ironstate Development Company tops The Real Deal’s list of top New Jersey developers.

BY C. J. Hughes

Hudson County, which includes urban areas like Jersey City, Hoboken and Weehawken, is radiating cool these days, with its hip restaurants, arts scene and proximity to New York City. That vibe, along with rents often around 50 percent of Manhattan’s and 20 percent cheaper than those in Brooklyn, is making it one of the hottest residential destinations in the tri-state area, its supporters say.

“It’s a terrific location for somebody who wants affordability,” said Jeffrey Kanne, the chief executive of National Real Estate Advisors, which has teamed with Kushner Real Estate Group to build Journal Squared,
a three-phase, 1,800-unit colossus in
Jersey City.

Using our own research and data from CoStar Group and BuzzBuzzHome,

The Real Deal ranked the top developers by number of units that hit the market in 2014 and 2015, as well as those that will come online by the end of 2017. When firms partnered on projects, TRD allocated the full number of units to each of them.

1. Ironstate Development Company

Claiming the top spot is a Hoboken-based firm with deep roots in the area, Ironstate Development Company, with 3,354 units. A huge chunk of that total is made up by URL (Urban Ready Living) Harborside, an amenity-laden rental complex in Jersey City with a total of about 2,300 units. Its first phase, which will open in mid-2016, will consist of 763 apartments in a massive 69-story tower.

Harborside, which is being developed in partnership with Mack-Cali Realty Corporation, will feature a gym and even an urban farm with beehives. Its lobby cafe, which is expected to be operated by New York chain Coffeed, will be open to the public and “become a social hub for the neighborhood,” said Michael Barry, an Ironstate executive.

The company is also the developer — with Panepinto Properties (see #10) — behind the luxury residences 50, 70 and 90 Columbus in Jersey City.

The builders: The Barry brothers are changing skylines and perceptions

via Joshua Burd/NJ Biz

David and Michael Barry have been busy all over the state. – (PHOTO BY AARON HOUSTON)

As developers go, David and Michael Barry are just about as prolific and active as anyone else in New Jersey. But that’s not because they simply finish a project and then move onto the next one.

Quite the contrary — the heads of Ironstate Development are as much about building neighborhoods as they are about building a single multifamily high-rise or chic urban hotel.

“Whether it’s Staten Island, whether it’s parts of Jersey City — or as we once did in Hoboken or New Brunswick — we pick a place and we really like to make multiple investments there,” David Barry said, “because we think that we have the skill and wherewithal to change the perception of that neighborhood.”

The Hoboken-based firm proved that once again in 2014, from opening the second piece of its mixed-use redevelopment in Harrison to breaking ground on a multiphase, three-tower project on the Jersey City waterfront. And its pipeline is as full as ever with projects in well-connected urban centers around the region — continuing the model that has helped Ironstate thrive for decades.

NJBIZ sat down with firm’s principals to discuss 2014, the industry and its plans going forward.

FULL ARTICLE

A New Jersey: Jersey City Surge

David Barry and Ironstate Development are featured in today’s New York Daily News report on Jersey City development. Check out mentions of  URL Harborside, 18 Park, and 225 Grand.

Read the full article HERE.

Groundbreaking held for 69-story all-inclusive waterfront development in Jersey City

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via Michaelangelo Conte/ NJ.com

A groundbreaking was held yesterday for a 69-story, 763-rental unit tower on Jersey City’s waterfront which has been described by a developer as “a neighborhood in a building.”

“It will be a vertical neighborhood,’’ said David Barry, president of Ironstate Development, which is undertaking the project with Mack-Cali Realty.

URL (Urban Ready Living) Harborside apartment building will be part of Mack-Cali’s Harborside Plaza and is the first of three planned high-rise apartments.

In the Atrium at Harborside 3, Mack-Cali President and CEO Mitchell E. Hersh spoke of the $291 million tower, saying, “We believe there is strong demand for a live-work-play environment that offers a true sense of community, all in an amenity-rich, transit-oriented location.’’

Barry noted the great draw of living on the Jersey City waterfront but noted not everyone can afford it. The tower will feature smaller, partially furnished apartments which “use space more efficiently.” But it will have common areas and amenities aimed at fostering a community feel and equating to more living space.

It will include a roof garden, common areas with free WiFi, a cafe in the lobby, a filtered water dispenser in the lobby to cut down on tenant bottled water costs, and other shared amenities.

The facility will “make it easy for a young urban resident to move in without a hassle,’’ Barry said. “I think these buildings (the project will eventually be comprised of three towers) capture the essence of Jersey City’s vibrant economy.’’

The cost of the rentals has not yet been determined, a spokesman said. The tower will be built adjacent to Harborside 5, which is on Hudson Street off Christopher Columbus Drive near Exchange Place. It is to be completed in 2016.

The developers received $33 million in tax credits from the state Economic Development Authority in October for the first tower.

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop spoke at yesterday’s event that was attended by more than 100 people and credited the administration of former Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy for handling the preliminary phases of the project. Fulop said the project speaks to the vibrancy of the city and thriving development seen in it.

“Not only will this be the tallest residential building in the state, the project also incorporates sustainability elements and develops a community-style concept through public spaces,’’ said Fulop. “We are pleased to be breaking ground on this exciting project today.’’

Star-Ledger staff writer Tom De Poto contributed to this report