JERSEY CITY -- A long-term city tax break sought by a company with ties to Jared Kushner, son-in-law and adviser to President Trump, will not be supported by the city, Mayor Steve Fulop announced this weekend.

Fulop, who made the announcement on his social media accounts yesterday, said the request for a tax abatement for the two-tower, $821 million One Journal Square project "doesn't work for us." The developers are a partnership of Kushner Companies, once headed by Kushner; KABR Group; and WeWork.

The news came on the heels of reports in The New York Times and Washington Post that Kushner's sister, Nicole Kushner Meyer, was in Beijing on Saturday seeking wealthy Chinese investors to help fund One Journal Square, using Kushner's ties to Trump and the controversial EB-5 visa program as enticements.

It's not clear if the city's decision to withhold a tax break will doom the project, slated for a vacant lot adjacent to the Journal Square PATH hub. In the past city officials and developers have argued that tax abatements are necessary to obtain financing for large-scale projects like One Journal Square, which would house a total of 1,476 luxury apartments.

Fulop said the developers submitted their application for the tax abatement last week. One of the towers has already received two sets of tax credits from New Jersey totaling $93 million. Construction is expected to start by next year.

Spokesmen for Kushner Companies, KABR Group and WeWork declined to comment. Fulop declined to get more specific than he was on Facebook and Twitter this weekend.

A source close to the developers said they may mount a PR campaign to convince the public to support the abatement, citing the jobs created by the project (4,367 jobs during construction and up to 400 permanent jobs, according to the developers) and the additional revenue to the city. The developers estimate the towers will bring in $3.8 million annually to the city versus the $490,702 the city collects now on the vacant land.

The developers sought a 30-year tax break from the city -- they would pay 9 percent of the buildings' annual gross revenue in lieu of taxes -- and $30.4 million in city-issued bonds, according to a copy of the abatement application reviewed by The Jersey Journal.

The 50-story Trump Bay Street, another Kushner-KABR project, received a five-year tax break from the city in 2014.

Kushner, 36, stepped down as CEO of Kushner Companies in January and sold his stake to a family trust. Kushner Companies today apologized for Meyer mentioning Kushner's name at the Beijing conference, saying he "has nothing to do with" One Journal Square.

Kushner Companies and KABR Group are also planning a 72-story, 741-unit tower on the site of the old Jersey City offices, across the street from One Journal Square.

TRUMP TARGETED

Since Trump's election in November, local activists in this liberal stronghold have pressed the city not to award tax breaks to any Kushner projects, saying Kushner should not be rewarded by the city after Trump's disparaging comments about Jersey City and his administration's targeting of undocumented immigrants.

Arlene Stein, a Downtown woman who helped lead the "evict Trump-Kushner" group, told The Jersey Journal they will be pleased if One Journal Square ends up with no city tax break.

"As concerned citizens of Jersey City, we're shocked that Kushner is proceeding to use his position in the White House to further enrich himself and his family," Stein said. "We will not permit them to profit off of us while they attack our city, and those who live here."

Brigid Callahan-Harrison, who teaches political science and law at Montclair State University, said there's no downside for a Democrat like Steve Fulop, who is seeking re-election in November, to target Trump and his family.

"Particularly in a city like Jersey City, whose economy is deeply integrated with immigrants in the United States and whose base includes more progressive elements within the Democratic Party, not only do I think it is a safe political move I think that Jared Kushner probably understands it is a safe political move," Harrison said.

The fenced-in site slated for One Journal Square, a two-tower project from Kushner Companies, formerly run by Jared Kushner. The first tower of the Journal Squared project, courtesy of Kushner cousin Jonathan Kushner, can be seen in the background. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)

THE KUSHNERS

One Journal Square is expected to rise on a lot about 1,000 feet from where Murray and Jonathan Kushner - Jared's uncle and cousin - have built the 53-story, 538-unit Journal Squared tower, the first in a three-tower project that received a 30-year abatement from the city in 2013, plus $10 million in city-issued infrastructure bonds.

Murray and Jared Kushner's father, Charles, have had a longstanding public feud that has kept the two sides of the family apart. Fulop has been friendly with both sides. He and Jonathan Kushner have been friends since childhood. After his election as mayor, Fulop hired former Kushner Companies publicist Bob Sommer as a senior adviser (Sommer no longer has ties to Fulop).

In January, Bloomberg reported that the Kushner-KABR partnership gave $100,000 to a nonprofit that then made a $400,000 contribution to a pro-Fulop super PAC (the $400,000 was later returned).

The Jersey Journal asked Jonathan Kushner at the March 17 grand opening of the first Journal Squared tower whether his development firm, KRE Group, has been targeted by anti-Trump activists the same way his cousin's company has.

"No," he said.

Asked if he has talked to Jared Kushner since Trump's election, Jonathan Kushner said, "I don't comment on my family at all. It's just, as a rule, it's like much easier."

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