JERSEY CITY – Residents of the Holland Gardens public housing complex could be getting posh new digs under an ambitious plan that calls for the current complex to be redeveloped as a mixed-income high-rise.

The Jersey City Housing Authority proposal calls for at least 500 units to be developed at the current Holland Gardens site near the Hoboken border. Officials contend the project is needed to better integrate the current complex into the surrounding neighborhood, where various residential developments are planned or already completed.

Under the plan – known as the Holland Gardens Visioning Process – residents of the complex would be relocated during construction of the new building and then guaranteed a unit there upon its completion. Once finished, the high-rise would be home to both market-rate and low-income units, as well as parking and various amenities.

The plan is the result of a joint effort between the JCHA, Holland Gardens residents, the city’s Planning Division, and others. Six workshops and public meetings were held in the first six months of the year, during which residents shared their ideas for the project and evaluated alternatives to the current complex.

Built in 1944, Holland Gardens comprises five buildings and 192 units. A total of 373 people call the complex home, a majority of whom have lived there for more than 10 years.

“The existing conditions at Holland Gardens present significant challenges for both residents and JCHA,” the Holland Gardens Visioning Process report states. “Apartments are very small, and none offer handicapped accessibility despite a significant number of residents who are seniors and/or disabled.”

In the end, the stakeholders ruled out renovating the existing complex – an undertaking that would cost $21 million. Instead, the Visioning Team devised two separate proposals to build a high-density residential building on the 3.3-acre property at 15th Street and Jersey Avenue.

The Holland Gardens Visioning Team has developed two proposals for a residential high-rise to replace the current Holland Gardens public housing complex in Jersey City.Jersey City Housing Authority renderings

One of the proposals calls for an L-shaped high-rise to reach 22 stories above the surrounding neighborhood. The project would include a three-story podium with off-street parking, retail space, and residential frontage along Erie Street.

The second proposes two buildings – a six-story mid-rise and a 20-story high-rise – separated by a rerouted 15th Street.

Both proposals include outdoor space, parking, and various amenities like a laundry room and fitness center, all of which will be available to the former Holland Gardens residents.

But many of those residents, who were included in the planning, remain skeptical of what happens now.

“We lived in these conditions all these years,” said Belinda Council, a community leader in Holland Gardens. “When we needed help, no one came to rescue us.”

The plan’s inception comes during a time of growth and expansion in the industrial neighborhood just north of the Holland Tunnel. The area has become prime location for other redevelopment projects, including the SoHo Lofts, the Cast Iron Lofts marked by a massive David Bowie mural, and a 20-story tower planned for the site of the St. Lucy’s Church.

“All of a sudden David Bowie goes up and poof, this is prime real estate,” Council said.

Holland Gardens residents seem most concerned about the temporary relocation period needed to build the new complex and whether they will ever return to Jersey Avenue and 15th Street.

“I got frustrated with those meetings,” said Rosario Francis, who was relocated to Holland Gardens five years ago from Montgomery Street. “I don’t want to move from here. Leave this place alone.”

Council calls Holland Gardens is the safest place in Jersey City, residents like Demetrius Archibald and Maria Esquilin say they fear being relocated to the Booker T. Washington or Marion Gardens complexes because of crime.

Since the beginning of the planning process, the city has maintained a key commitment of ensuring a one-to-one replacement of all 192 public housing units in the new complex. Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said the relocation is subject to federal regulatory standards.

“Throughout the process, Holland Gardens residents have and will continue to be consulted and informed regarding the site’s planned redevelopment and temporary resident relocation.”

Yet, anxiety persists among some residents, like Nia Burgin and her 85-year-old mother, Stella, who has lived in Holland Gardens since 1954.

“A lot of people who moved down here were relocated and they were not moved back,” said Nia Burgin, who was born and raised in the complex. “This is home.”

Under the timeline presented in the official report, a request for proposals is expected to be issued between the fall and winter, while the final selection of a developer is slated to be made by next summer. The resident relocation would be carried out between fall 2021 and winter 2022, followed by demolition and groundbreaking in spring 2022.

To read the Visioning Process report click here.

Joshua Rosario may be reached at JRosario@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @JRyRosario.