The long-underused municipal parking lot at 701 Newark Avenue is about to change in a big way. Soon, it’ll become a 34-story, mixed-income residential tower that combines market-rate apartments, affordable housing, union jobs, and new public open space right in the heart of Jersey City.
A New Skyline Anchor for Journal Square
Lions Group Homestead Gateway is leading the charge on this project. They’re bringing 360 apartments to the neighborhood, and 90 of those are set aside as affordable housing.
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That’s a pretty big deal for Journal Square, considering it’s the first major batch of affordable units here in years. Housing costs and availability are on everyone’s mind in Hudson County, so the timing feels right.
The tower will stand right on Newark Avenue, just a few minutes’ walk from the Journal Square PATH Station. It’s not just a place to live—it’s a new transit-friendly hub that connects to the wider region.
Mixed-Income Housing With Long-Term Impact
The mix of units aims to keep Journal Square open to more people. By reserving 90 of the 360 apartments as affordable, the developers want to balance out all the luxury buildings popping up nearby with something more inclusive.
Key residential features include:
A Complex $240 Million Financing Structure
Pulling off a project like this on public land, with a big affordable component, takes some serious financial gymnastics. JLL Capital Markets put together almost $240 million in funding, with Goldman Sachs’ Urban Investment Group backing the effort.
The capital stack really shows how these mixed-income projects get built in New Jersey’s high-cost world.
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Layered Public and Private Investment
The financing taps into a bunch of different tools to line up private money with public policy goals. You see these strategies more and more in big urban housing projects, where affordability, construction costs, and public benefits all have to play nice together.
The funding package includes:
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency helped coordinate public subsidies. The state’s Aspire Program, which started in 2021, plays a big part here. It offers tax credits to projects that boost economic growth and help workers, low-income residents, and the neighborhoods around them.
Union Jobs, Public Space, and Community Benefits
The tower isn’t just about housing. It’s also set up to bring real community benefits, both at street level and above.
The developers made a big commitment to union labor for both construction and ongoing operations. Under a Project Labor Agreement with Hudson County Building Trades, all construction will use union labor. Once it’s open, 32BJ SEIU will represent the workers, which should mean better wages and working conditions.
Open Space and Neighborhood Connectivity
The site used to be a parking lot, but now a third of it will turn into public open space. A new pedestrian pathway will link the project to Homestead Place Plaza and the Journal Square PATH Station, making it easier to walk and tying the tower into the neighborhood instead of cutting it off.
Planned amenities include:
Transit Connections and Regional Access
If you commute or travel a lot, it’s tough to beat this spot’s transit options. Residents will be just a short stroll from PATH trains, with quick rides to Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan, the World Trade Center downtown, and Newark Penn Station to the west.
All this connectivity is helping Journal Square come back as a true transportation crossroads, not just for Jersey City, but for the whole metro area.
What This Means for Jersey City’s Future
Journal Square has been steadily transforming. It’s shifting from an overlooked transit hub into a dense urban center with a growing residential crowd.
This project nudges that change even further. It links private investment to affordability, open space, and union jobs—no small thing in a city like this.
With more visitors coming to explore and check into Jersey City hotels, developments like 701 Newark shape what people actually experience here. Tall buildings, focused on transit, and a real mix of incomes—it’s not the Jersey City of the past.
Anyone scoping out where to stay in Jersey City will notice Journal Square’s growing lineup of towers and amenities. It’s starting to stand alongside Downtown and the waterfront, at least in the conversation.
Locals, meanwhile, get more things to do in Jersey City—new restaurants, cultural events, and all sorts of happenings that spill into the city’s diverse districts.
If you’re getting to Jersey City by PATH, bus, or even by car, the new tower at 701 Newark Avenue will catch your eye. It’s a marker for how Journal Square—and honestly, the whole city—is rethinking urban growth with transit, affordability, and public space right at the heart of things.
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Here is the source article for this story: This 34-story N.J. tower will transform a parking lot into 360 apartments with 90 affordable units
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