Mayor Fulop Joins NJ Together & Affordable Housing Advocates to Announce City Council’s Vote Allowing for Historic 35% Affordable Housing with Union Labor at Bayfront
Decades in the Making, Bayfront Redevelopment Builds Stronger Economic Future for Jersey City
JERSEY CITY, NJ - Mayor Steven M. Fulop joins the City Council, the Department of Housing, Economic Development, and Commerce (HEDC), the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency (JCRA), and New Jersey Together to announce the 8-0 vote at last night’s City Council meeting to grant a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) allowing for 35% affordable housing with union labor at the Bayfront Redevelopment Project - a forward-thinking model for mixed-income development in urban areas across the nation.
While New York City and other urban areas throughout the region struggle to maintain affordable housing production, Jersey City's Bayfront project will provide the most affordable housing of any private mixed-income community of this size in the country.
“As promised when I became Mayor, we moved away from decades-old practices of harmful overreliance on tax abatements and still achieved unprecedented progress, leading Jersey City through one of the greatest renaissances this City has ever seen. Bayfront serves as a model for smart growth and expanding affordability for the region and is a prime example of appropriately utilizing tax abetments to meet a community’s needs,” said Mayor Fulop. “Additionally, we are putting forth a resolution to allocate a portion of the tax revenues to help our public schools.”
The transformative Bayfront project along the Hackensack River is vital to a stronger economic future, attracting much-needed interest and investment to the south and west areas of Jersey City.
“PILOTs are not granted just to pay less tax, but rather to pay a tax that the builder can predict in order to get the financing they need to achieve the City’s requirements, in this case 35% affordable housing,” added Annisia Cialone, HEDC Director. "Jersey City is setting the bar at new heights in terms of responsible development that puts the community’s needs first."
Since taking office in 2013, the Fulop Administration has restructured tax abatements. As a result, PILOTs are only granted when necessary to make it financially feasible for builders to deliver on the City’s required affordability levels as part of the administration’s broader efforts to expand affordable housing opportunities for residents and families who need it most.
“We support the abatement on this project so that affordable housing can be built. We do not support abatements anywhere in Jersey City for any reason other than to provide a minimum of 35% affordable housing at 60% of AMI,” said Diane Maxon, New Jersey Together Housing Team. “Jersey City Together, through our predecessor organization, Interfaith Community Organization (ICO), has been directly involved with the Bayfront Project for over 30 years. It was ICO's efforts that brought about the cleanup of the property so that housing could be built there.”
The City acquired the 100-acre Bayfront property from the Honeywell Corporation in 2018 to increase on-site affordable housing requirements from 5%, as was previously stipulated in the redevelopment plan, to a new goal of 35%, with the City controlling the property.
Following a rigorous, multi-year-long process, the JCRA and Bayfront Advisory Board carefully selected Bayfront Development Partners as the first redeveloper, who met the City’s stringent affordability goals and other community-driven requirements to expand housing opportunities for low-income households. The first building, Bayfront Promenade, will include six stories, with 35% designated for households earning between 50% and 60% of the area median income (AMI).
“This level of affordability is unheard of, especially in the private sector,” concluded Diana Jeffrey, JCRA Executive Director. “This project is an example of environmental justice and how a municipality can bring about change and promote progress in partnership with affordable housing advocates, community activists, and residents.”
All media inquiries should be directed to Kimberly Scalcione at [email protected].