One of NJ's Tallest Buildings Coming Up In Jersey City

JERSEY CITY, NJ — What is soon-to-be one of the tallest developments in New Jersey is rounding the corner to competition. The Charlotte, located at 25 Christopher Columbus Drive, will be 57-stories tall and hold over 750 apartments as well as retail space, a school and more.

The development encompasses one whole block of Downtown Jersey City. The main building will sit on Christopher Columbus Drive and Warren Street, a plaza and outdoor space will stretch through the middle of the plot of land and rest between Warren and Montgomery Street. A housing development already stands on part of Montgomery Street and Washington Street.

The land was bought in 2018 by Mack-Cali, the Realty group behind Harborside JC, and is rounding the corner to completion. Jersey City Digs, which has been following the progress and construction of the development from its inception, reported that the tower portion of the development is almost done.

The Charlotte will have 750 housing units, with 37 units, or 5 percent, designated as affordable housing units. The 5 percent marker is the minimum requirement per city regulations. In December 2020, Mack-Cali tried to move the required affordable units to one of its neighboring properties, but the proposal was rejected by the Planning Board.

According to planning board documents, the development includes 17,000-square-feet of retail space and a 36,000-square-foot public elementary school.

Some of New Jersey's tallest buildings already reside in Jersey City, including 99 Hudson Street, which is 79-stories. Jersey City's tallest residential building, Journal Squared Tower 2, is 70-stories and the URBY Harborside Tower is 69-stories.

These highly-sought-after apartments are changing the real estate industry in Jersey City — in April, a penthouse in the 99 Hudson building sold for $3.9 million making it the highest priced residential condo closing in Jersey City history.

As new buildings continue to rapidly shoot up in Jersey City, Mayor Steven Fulop is taking time to slow down and reassess the city's building inspection legislation. Encouraged by the wake of a deadly Florida condo collapse, Fulop plans on introducing new legislation to the city council to strengthen and protect local building inspections. The enhanced mandates will require ongoing inspections at a minimum of every five years for façade inspections and every ten years for structural inspections.