JCRA to hear second plan for old east side water treatment plant

Originally appeared in the Jersey Journal on Tuesday, November 21, 2006

By JARRETT RENSHAW

The Jersey City Redevelopment Agency board is expected to hear the second of two development proposals today for the east side water treatment plant.

G & S Investors, which recently won approval for construction of the city's second tallest building - the Metropolitan - is expected to unveil plans for an entertainment/retail complex, according to city officials, who said they could not discuss the plans in greater detail until after it becomes public.

The site, which houses a Municipal Utilities Authority pump station, is bounded by the New Jersey Turnpike extension, Communipaw Avenue and Philip Street.

It is also adjacent to Liberty State Park.

Manhattan-based Metrovest - which is developing the former Jersey City Medical Center into a massive condominium complex called the Beacon - pitched a plan to the JCRA last month to build a 250-room hotel and conference center.

The proposed nine-story Liberty Hotel and Conference Center would feature a stone-and-glass facade and would include approximately 50,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space, a rooftop bar and pool and a public plaza surrounded by retail and entertainment establishments.

The plan also calls for the construction of approximately 250 condos and an unspecified amount of retail space. Metrovest President George Filopoulos did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The board will likely select one of the plans next month and offer the developer a memorandum of understanding for development rights.