The nationwide housing crunch is prompting developers to get creative, and Jersey City officials recently signed off on a plan to create new residences in a waterfront high-rise that had previously been exclusively office space.
Jersey City’s Planning Board recently greenlit an application to revamp 480 Washington Boulevard in the city’s Newport neighborhood. The existing 29-story office building at the site was first approved way back in 2004 and includes an attached 6-story parking garage.
Owner LeFrak obtained approvals to convert the top nine stories of the structure from office use to residential use. The redesign of the property was drawn up by MHS Architecture and won’t expand the building upwards, but will make some changes to the exterior.
A total of 288 units, plus amenities, are included in the plan, broken down as 108 one-bedroom, 162 two-bedroom, and 18 three-bedroom apartments. No affordable housing component is included in the plan, as none is required under the area’s current zoning…