JERSEY CITY  ·  BERGEN-LAFAYETTE

Canal Crossing

A transit-oriented, mixed-income redevelopment at the Garfield Avenue light rail station.

Canal Crossing is a redevelopment in the Bergen-Lafayette section of Jersey City. Phase 1 delivers 508 homes, of which 102 (about 20%) are affordable, with every affordable unit set at or below 50% of Area Median Income. It also adds a new 33,000-square-foot public park, about 20,000 square feet of commercial space aimed at local businesses, and union-labor construction. Financed through a 30-year PILOT, the project is projected to generate about $1.9 million for the city in its first year of operations, compared with roughly $65,000 in taxes from the site today.

What is Canal Crossing?

Canal Crossing is a mixed-income, transit-oriented redevelopment in the Bergen-Lafayette section of

Jersey City, located at the Garfield Avenue light rail station. Phase 1 delivers 508 homes, about 20,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space aimed at local businesses, and a new public park, built with union labor on a long-underused parcel. Construction is anticipated to begin in the second half of 2026.

How many affordable apartments does Canal Crossing include?

Canal Crossing Phase 1 includes 102 affordable units out of 508 total homes, about 20% of the project, and every affordable unit is set at or below 50% of Area Median Income (AMI). Of those, 13 units are reserved for households at or below 30% of AMI, the deepest-affordability tier, and 89 are for households at 50% of AMI. The affordable homes are integrated throughout both phases rather than separated into a single building.

Total affordable (about 20% of 508 homes)                          102

How does Bergen-Lafayette compare across Jersey City?

Canal Crossing sits in Bergen-Lafayette, one of Jersey City’s lower-income neighborhoods. Median household income near the 900 Garfield site is about $85,000, compared with about $125,000 in Journal Square and about $190,000 along the Marin Boulevard waterfront. Locating 102 deeply affordable homes here directs new affordable housing to a community whose incomes trail the city’s wealthier districts.

What is the Canal Crossing PILOT, and how does the tax abatement work?

Canal Crossing is financed through a 30-year PILOT, or payment in lieu of taxes, a standard New Jersey redevelopment tool in which a project makes a negotiated annual payment to the city instead of conventional property taxes. Under the agreement, that payment equals 10% of the project’s gross revenue, projected at about $1.9 million in the first year of operations, compared with roughly $65,000 the site generates in taxes today. The agreement also directs 10% of its PILOT revenue to the Jersey City Board of Education, a first for the city.

What public benefits does Canal Crossing deliver?

City approvals and public record

Canal Crossing advances through Jersey City’s public redevelopment and approval process. Its key actions are part of the municipal record:

Where is Canal Crossing located?

Canal Crossing is in the Bergen-Lafayette section of Jersey City, directly at the Garfield Avenue light rail station on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail. Its location makes it a transit-oriented development with direct publi -transportation access to the rest of Jersey City and the broader region.

Canal Crossing FAQ

How affordable are the affordable units?

All 102 affordable units are set at or below 50% of AMI: 13 at or below 30% of AMI and 89 at 50%. None are at the higher moderate-income levels often counted as affordable.

How much new revenue will it generate for Jersey City?

The project is projected to pay about $1.9 million to the city in its first year of operations, compared with roughly $65,000 the site generates today, an increase of about $1.8 million per year.

Is it affordable or market-rate housing?

Mixed-income. Most of the 508 homes are market-rate, and 102, about 20%, are affordable units set at or below 50% of AMI and integrated throughout.

What is the current status?

As of June 2026, the financial agreement has passed a first-reading vote and remains under Council review ahead of a scheduled second-reading vote. Construction is anticipated in the second half of 2026.

This page is a factual reference about the Canal Crossing redevelopment in Jersey City. Unit counts reflect the affordable housing commitment in the project’s financial agreement. Tax and revenue figures are year-one projections; final figures are governed by the executed agreement and adopted ordinances, which remain under City Council review.

Building for Working Families: A Housing Agenda for Jersey City

Jersey City is facing an affordable housing crisis — and it didn't happen by accident.

For years, development in this city served the wealthy and the politically connected. The result:

• More than half of Jersey City renters are cost-burdened.
• Of 74,000+ units approved in the last decade, only 4% are considered affordable
• More than 3,000 Black Jersey City residents were displaced in the last decade alone

Mayor Solomon is taking a different path. Building for Working Families is his commitment to a Jersey City where working people can afford to live. Every housing deal seeking city support will be held to a clear standard:

• Maximize affordable homes — pushed to the limit of what each project can feasibly deliver, at levels of real affordability
• Pay workers fairly — prevailing and living wages wherever feasible
• Secure real community benefits — parks, jobs, and commercial space defined and binding before any deal is approved
• Independent analysis on every deal — no predetermined outcomes, no rubber stamps
• No developer money — Mayor Solomon does not accept campaign contributions from developers, so residents can trust every decision is made for them.
  
  

The Canal Crossing Project:

The first housing development under Building for Working Families — and the model every future deal will be measured against.

Located in Bergen-Lafayette adjacent to Berry Lane Park, Canal Crossing is 508 homes at mixed affordability levels, built with union labor, and anchored by real community investment. It is not a luxury tower. It is what development for working people actually looks like.





Key facts:

• 102 affordable homes (20%), including rents of $1,000 and under and affordably priced 3-bedroom family units.
• Built under a project labor agreement, with prevailing wages for all service workers
• Brand-new 33,000 sq ft Garfield Park — paid for by the developer
• Initial extension of the Morris Canal Greenway connecting to Berry Lane Park
• ~20,000 sq ft of new commercial and retail space
• Transit-oriented development immediately adjacent to the Garfield Avenue light rail stop

The Solomon Administration will seek approval for the Canal Crossing financial agreement at the June City Council meetings — first reading June 10, vote June 24.

Cleaning Up What Was Left Behind: Environmental Remediation

Canal Crossing is being built on land that corporate polluters abandoned. The community fought back and won.

For over 50 years, the site was used for heavy industrial operations, leaving the land deeply contaminated with chromite. The contamination sat for decades — preventing any development and leaving one of Jersey City's most underinvested neighborhoods with a toxic, unusable parcel at its heart.

The community fought to change that:

• Years of litigation and advocacy forced environmental remediation of the site.
• Significant cleanup work was completed over the past 10–15 years - over 600,000 tons of soil were removed (approx. 20ft)

In June 2020, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection confirmed the remediation meets the state's most stringent chromium cleanup standards.

Canal Crossing will be the first development on this land in many decades. What was once a symbol of corporate neglect is becoming a model of what this city owes its residents — affordable homes, a new park, and real investment in a neighborhood that fought for it.