In a shocking move, Jersey City’s legal team is asking the City Council (on one day’s notice) to amend a previous legal settlement that had required units of affordable housing on development proposed at 110 and 111 First Street in the Powerhouse Arts District.
These two properties have been bitterly disputed. The location of two former warehouses, one of which housed an artists enclave until 2005, the city sued Goldman to keep him from tearing down the warehouse that housed the artists, saying it was a historic structure that should be preserved. In what many consider to be a very one-sided settlement, the City agreed to let Goldman raze the warehouse and artist housing, and re-develop the property as a high rise, in exchange for 25 units of affordable housing to be built on the properties, and other concessions.
Yesterday, Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis proposed that the settlement be amended such that Goldman could make a $2.5 million contribution to the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, so that affordable units could be built not on his property but elsewhere in the city. PADNA strongly opposes further capitulation to this developer.
PADNA supports affordable housing ON SITE and IN the district, in accordance with the PAD Redevelopment Plan. PADNA strongly believes that the PAD Plan as written is viable zoning for the district, as evidenced by the existing rehabilitated properties and new construction, as well as planned development.
Please attend the City Council meeting tomorrow to voice your objection to further gutting of the PAD Redevelopment Plan. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 280 Grove St.
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