NEWS ARTICLE
July 31, 2009
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Excerpts from feature article published in the New York Daily News, July 31, 2009
A coastal city denying access to the water is wasting land, potential tax revenue and vital outdoor space that could draw residents and tourists. The city of Bayonne could use all of that.
A longtime industrial powerhouse with the highest per-capita population of building trade union members in New Jersey, Bayonne hasn’t had recreational or residential use of its waterfront since World War II.
In one of the region’s largest coastal redevelopment plans, the city of Bayonne looks to revitalize its peninsula, the last raw parcel of land jutting out into New York Harbor. When it’s done, the Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor will include 100 new buildings, 7,000 residential units, 58 acres of parkland and 17,000 new residents.
“This is the most valuable piece of real estate on the entire East Coast,” says Mayor Mark Smith, a second-generation Bayonne police officer who spent 26 years on the force. “We’re a 5-minute ferry ride from the capital of the world. The peninsula has all the potential imaginable for residents, entertainment and job creation. This project is important for the entire region.”
Master-planned by Trenton-based Clarke Caton Hintz — arguably New Jersey’s top architecture firm, with experience in revitalizing communities — the project is intended to turn MOTBY into a thriving waterfront community with five new neighborhoods connected to inland Bayonne by new bridges and roads.
“This is a new adventure for the city, developers and residents,” says Clarke Caton Hintz partner John P. Clarke, whose firm also master-planned Asbury Park and the area surrounding Ikea in Elizabeth. “At community meetings, people said they wanted to have a place for their children to feel good about Bayonne. That was one of our objectives. The people who live and build here are pioneers. The challenge was to provide them with a framework to succeed.”
“I wouldn’t call early renters pioneers,” says Richard G. Murphy, a managing director of Trammell Crow Residential, which acquired the 7 acres of land from Bayonne for $18 million in 2007. “I would call them smart shoppers. This is simply a better product than our competition can offer, at better prices. We know how to build, and we want this project to set the tone for what the peninsula can become.”
Janine Santoro noticed the property while going over the Bayonne Bridge. The former Battery Park City resident, who moved after her rent was raised by $1,000, was looking in Jersey City. A single mother of two teenage daughters who works on 26th St. in Manhattan, Santoro liked (the) value, quality construction and proximity to work.
“I can get to my office in less than 35 minutes via public transportation,” says Santoro, who works sales for a New York construction company that has done business with Trammell Crow. “Plus, I know how these guys build. They’re sticklers for quality, and that meant a lot.”
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