First steps taken toward Jersey City artists district
Low-cost condo units set aside Downtown

Originally appeared in the Jersey Journal on Thursday, October 02, 2003

By Jason Fink
Journal staff writer

The first subsidized housing for artists in Jersey City's Downtown warehouse district is about a year away, according to city officials and the developer of the building where they will live.

After years of trying to realize the idea of WALDO - an artists' "Work And Live District Overlay - the first steps toward a Jersey City version of New York's SoHo, or, more recently, Chelsea - appear to be under way.

City officials, including Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham, held a ceremony Tuesday marking the beginning of the $22 million renovation of 140 Bay Street, an eight-story building in the former industrial section of the city just west of the waterfront, north of Christopher Columbus Drive.

The building will be made into a 59-unit condominium complex. About 10 percent of the apartments, or six units, will be bought by the city using federal funds from the Community Development Block Grant Program and rented at below-market rates to artists.

The remaining apartments, which will range from studios to two-bedrooms, will be market-rate and likely will sell for between $260,000 and $660,000, according to the developer, Hoboken-based Greentree Construction.

The bottom floor of the 90-year-old refurbished warehouse will house 13,000 square feet of retail space, including a gallery.

Other perks for artists in the building will include oversized hallways, freight elevators and extra-wide doors to accommodate sculptures, large canvases and other materials.

"Jersey City has emerged as a significant cultural center in the state," said Vincent Wilt, a principal at Greentree. "We're extremely pleased to be part of making their dream of a downtown artist precinct . a reality."

The notion of WALDO was first floated during the administration of former Mayor Bret Schundler but a concrete policy was never put into place. A redevelopment plan, which will designate the area the Powerhouse Arts District-named for the historic electrical plant that is the area's signature building-is in the works, though it hasn't been formally adopted.

In February, the City Council allocated $827,667 in CDBG funds to the non-profit Jersey City Development Corp. to buy the six artists' units, and also granted Greentree a tax abatement, allowing it to pay $286,000 a year directly to the city in lieu of real-estate taxes.

Officials have said artists' studios will probably rent for $500 to $600.

"An artists' work-and-live district has long been a dream in Jersey City," said Cunningham. "We've worked hard for (it) to become a reality."

Among the issues yet to be ironed out are who will get the studios and how they will be chosen.

A spokesman for the city, Stan H. Eason, said applicants for the six subsidized units will be required to qualify financially and prove that they are in fact artists. How tenants will be chosen from among those who qualify hasn't yet been decided, Eason said.

"We're working on a policy for that," he said.

While it is possible that some artists will buy the market-rate apartments, those in the profession say their colleagues tend not to be very wealthy and the chance to live in subsidized housing designed specifically for artists will likely produce stiff competition for the limited spaces.