It's official: Vote names Square developer

Originally appeared in the Jersey Journal on Thursday, March 09, 2006

By KEN THORBOURNE

In a unanimous vote on Tuesday night, the seven-member Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, as expected, named a company controlled by the Harwood family of Jersey City to be the designated developer for a key block of Journal Square.

The Journal Square Development LLC, a creation of Harwood Properties, proposes to build two high-rise towers with apartments, retail stores, underground parking, and possibly a hotel on the block next to the PATH Transportation Center.

"I feel as though people do care," said Lowell Harwood, managing partner of Harwood Properties. "Now I'm looking forward to keeping the timetable going and accelerating the redevelopment and plan, which is our next step."

Harwood hopes to deal with zoning changes needed for the proposed development and have a site plan drawn up in the next 30 days, and wants to begin construction by January, he said.

This past January, Harwood signed a contract to purchase properties that occupy 80 percent of the block from Ralph Tawil Jr., a New York real estate investor who ran up $4 million in building and fire code fines in his buildings. All his properties, including the defunct Hotel on the Square building, are slated to be demolished.

Mayor Jerramiah Healy attended Tuesday night's meeting to emphasize the city's commitment to the redevelopment of the once storied square.