JERSEY CITY -- Right now, 99 Hudson St. is a parking lot dwarfed by skyscrapers on two sides.

In about two years, the parking lot will be replaced by a 900-foot high-rise that will tower over every building nearby. The 79-story skyscraper, to be located at Greene and Grand streets on the Jersey City Waterfront, will be the tallest building the state and one of the tallest residential towers in the nation.

"This building will literally have the best views in the world," said Cindy Xiu, president of China Overseas America, which is behind the $500 million-plus tower.

Xiu was speaking this morning at the ceremonial groundbreaking for 99 Hudson, which is expected to be completed in 2018. The tower will house 781 condos, at least 15,000 square feet of commercial space and 609 parking spaces.

Mayor Steve Fulop said China Overseas' investment, especially for a condominium project, is a "significant" sign of optimism about Jersey City and yet more proof that this is a "global city."

Once completed, 99 Hudson will give city residents a sense of pride, he said.

"It's going to remake the New Jersey skyline and the Jersey City skyline with a new, iconic building," Fulop said.

If built today, 99 Hudson would be the sixth tallest residential/mixed-use building in the nation, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the group considered the international arbiter of skyscrapers. 99 Hudson would edge out 900 North Michigan Avenue, a mixed-use tower in Chicago that tops out at 869 feet.

The state's current tallest building is the nearby Goldman Sachs tower, which is 781 feet and 42 stories. Initial plans for 99 Hudson, which has received no tax abatement from the city, had it rising 950 feet.

Ward E Councilwoman Candice Osborne said 99 Hudson will help create a skyline to rival the one across the Hudson River. It will show Manhattanites that "our skyline's pretty cool, too," Osborne said.

Matthew Hale, a political science professor at Seton Hall University, told The Jersey Journal that governing the city that will be home to one of the nation's tallest residential towers would help a Fulop gubernatorial campaign tout that he's "worked miracles in Jersey City."

"It's something that he can talk about that feeds the basic Fulop narrative: he's a new politician, he gets stuff done, that Jersey City is the growing, dynamic part of New Jersey and he wants to bring that statewide," Hale said.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.