The mega-project at Journal Square is progressing, with the latest news indicating the project could break ground by the end of 2013. The first part is supposedly a 500-unit residential tower, with a retail base. Overall, the project’s three towers are expected to contain roughly 1,800 residential units.

Journal Square Megaproject, Image from Handel Architects

Apparently neighborhood NIMBYs are concerned about the project’s scope, which is most unwarranted. Journal Square is relatively desolate, and it’s surprising that anyone lives there to begin with. The project would be situated on prime real estate, with a direct (and sheltered!) connection to the Journal Square PATH station.

Although the project’s development is still on the horizon, it’s great to hear news about the vision to transform Journal Square into a bustling commuter hub. The location is well removed from Downtown Jersey City, and beginning Journal Square’s transformation with such a bold project would be the best way to spark other new development around the PATH station.

The project’s overall scope would be an important milestone for New Jersey and the New York suburbs in general, as nothing so large has been proposed in a location so distant from Manhattan. The towers would dwarf New Jersey’s current tallest, the Goldman Sachs Building in Downtown Jersey City.

Perhaps one of the best potential impacts of the project is the ambition and imagination present in the plan, which should spur developers elsewhere in the New York region to think upwards. As New York’s renaissance continues, it’s great to see the suburbs finally getting in on the action–hopefully the plan doesn’t remain a vision, and actually comes to fruition.

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