Two towers will rise

Originally appeared in The Jersey Journal on Friday, June 23, 2006

By JARRETT RENSHAW

More than 800 units - a mixture of residential and rental - are coming to the Jersey City waterfront in two 500-foot towers.

The project, located at 77 Hudson St., is a joint venture between K. Hovnanian and Equity Residential. The pair recently closed on a $77 million deal to buy the property from Hartz Mountain of Secaucus.

Though the two towers share the same base, which contains a parking garage and retail space, the companies have different plans for each tower, to ensure that they don't compete against each other, according to company officials.

K. Hovnanian will sell 420 units, with prices ranging from the low $300,000s to $2 million for penthouses, in one tower. Equity Residential will manage the 481-unit rental tower, which will feature studio apartments around $2,000 a month to three-bedroom units of more than $4,000 a month.

"We are very bullish about the Jersey City market," said Randy Brosseau, area vice president for K. Hovnanian. "There are a lot of suburban couples moving to cities, and people from Manhattan are still looking to Jersey City, were they can get more for there money."

Company officials say they hope to break ground on the project next month.

The City Council has granted the developers a 25-year tax abatement.