Prior to its development as a commercial district Journal Square was the site of many farmhouses and manors belonging to descendants of the original settlers of Bergen, the first chartered municipality in the state settled in 1660 and located just south at Bergen Square. In conjunction with the 1912 opening of the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Summit Avenue station many of those properties were demolished to make way for modern buildings, including the still standing Labor Bank Building and the Public Service building. The Newkirk House[3] and Van Wagenen House remain, while the still-intact Sip Manor was moved to Westfield, New Jersey.[4] The square was created in 1923 when the city condemned and demolished the offices of the Jersey Journal, thus creating a broad intersection with Hudson Boulevard which itself had been widened in 1908. The newspaper built new headquarters and the new square was named in its honor.[5]
Hudson County Boulevard Bridge
The bridge carrying the boulevard was designed by consulting engineer Abraham Burton Cohen and completed in 1926.[6] For most of the twentieth century Journal Square was the cultural entertainment center of Hudson County,[7] home to the movie palaces built in the 1920s: The State (1922, and since demolished),[8] the Stanley Theater (1928),[9] and the Loew's Jersey Theater (1929).[10] Karen Angel of The New York Daily News described Journal Square from the 1920s to the 1960s as a "crown jewel, a glowing commercial, entertainment and transportation hub of the city."[11] The "Jersey Bounce", a hit song in the 1940s mentions Journal Square in its lyrics as the place where it got started. Two days before Election Day in 1960 John F. Kennedy made his last campaign speech at Journal Square, before returning to New England.[12] Hudson Boulevard was named Kennedy Boulevard soon after his assassination. The Tube Bar, so-called for the Hudson Tubes (as the fore-runner of the PATH system was called) was made famous by Louis "Red" Deutsch getting prank calls there.[13]
Many of the buildings in Journal Square include housing stock (such as brownstones, pre-war apartment buildings, and Frame houses), convenience stores, bodegas, and downscale franchises, that Jerremiah Healy, Mayor of Jersey City, has referred to as "ugly old eyesores."[11] The redevelopment of Journal Square has attracted the interest of urban planners, architects, sociologists, and others, many who view its historical, current, and future use as an important indicator of the contemporary understanding of how cities function.[7][20][21][22][23]
A proposed development by Kushner Real Estate Group and National Real Estate Advisors, Journal Squared, is planned as a 2.3 million square foot, 3-tower residential complex. The first phase, a 53-story tower, opened in early 2017.[24] It sits directly adjacent to the Journal Square PATH station as a continuation of the dense transit-oriented development that has arisen further to the east in Jersey City. The towers were designed by Hollwich Kushner and Handel Architects.
As of 2008, there were proposals to build a complex called 1 Journal Square which would combine rental housing, multi-story retail, and parking. Plans for the mixed-use development call for 68-story and 50-story residential towers above a 7-story retail and parking base with a rooftop terrace.[25][26] While the site has been cleared, construction has not begun.[27] Deadlines to begin construction by 2011 were not met by the developer, Multi-Employer Property Trust.[28]
In October 2011, MEPT purchased Newport Tower on the Hudson waterfront for $377 million, a record price for an office real estate transaction in the state.[29] A further extension to 2013 requested by MEPTA was not granted by the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency.[30]
Jersey City is one of nine municipalities in New Jersey designated as eligible for Urban Transit Hub Tax Credits by the state's Economic Development Authority.[31] Developers who invest a minimum of $50 million within 0.5 miles (0.80 km) of a train station are eligible for pro-rated tax credit.[32][33]
In 2012, the city adopted a variance for a development proposal to build a 42-story residential tower and adjacent garage on the south and east sides of the Newkirk House.[34][35] A 13-story residential building is proposed for a parking platform adjacent to and overlooking the PATH tracks originally developed in 1984.[36][37]
In December 2012 the Jersey Journal sold its building and relocated to Harmon Plaza in nearby Secaucus;[38] however, a large sign with the paper's name was still in place atop the building in the square as of June 2015.[39]
Other mixed-use projects are planned throughout the district.[40]
^"Sip Manor House". Njcu.edu. Archived from the original on December 29, 2008. Retrieved November 1, 2008.
^Grundy, J. Owen (1975). ""I am the law.."". The History of Jersey City (1609 - 1976). Jersey City: Walter E. Knight; Progress Printing Company. p. 53.
^Cohen, A. Burton. "Hudson County Boulevard Bridge Plaza." Purdue Engineering Review 21, No. 4 (May 1926): 3-6, 22.
^ abAngel, Karen. "Journal Squared: A Jersey City neighborhood's housing multiplies." The New York Daily News. Friday November 13, 2009. 1Archived November 15, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved on November 13, 2009.
^Hack, Charles (April 8, 2009). "It's All Up from Here". The Jersey Journal. Archived from the original on December 20, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2014.