The Re-Birth of Jersey City, curated by Senior Partner Eugene T. Paolino, Esq. of Genova Burns LLC

Genova Burns has been servicing its clients for more than 35 years. John Quincy Adams said that whoever tells the best story wins. Let me tell you our story.
My name is Eugene Paolino, I'm a partner at Genova Burns, and my specialty is real estate development and zoning law. We're in Hamilton Park in Jersey City, not far from the Jersey City waterfront, and certainly near the magnificent development that has taken place on what is now known as the Gold Coast. The financial condition of the city, the economic condition of the city in the 1960s was not good.

As we know that there were racial issues, and there were economic issues that tore the city apart as it did other cities, Jersey City rebounded. Jersey City found its way back. Why did the city ever even decide to develop? How did this happen? How did the development along the waterfront, how did this development, how did the development at Journal Square, which is another central business area of Jersey City, happen?

It happened basically because the city of Jersey City decided to use a tool that the state of New Jersey allowed to, promoted, which is the redevelopment process. Basically take over the zoning for a certain area to do one thing and one thing only, to cure blight. If you're in a blighted area, that would be subject to a potential redevelopment plan. And that's what Jersey City did throughout the city through the waterfront, general square area, south of the city, north of the city. Redevelopment plans were passed in Jersey City with the sole goal of promoting development and bettering the lives of its citizens.

What was the tool that the city utilized to develop properties? One of the prominent and necessary tools for doing that was the institution of tax abatements, also known as pilots, payments in lieu of taxes, which allowed developers for a period of time to pay an abated amount of taxes, and the entire abatement amount would be payable to the city, unlike what regular taxes do. It's a complicated process, but the whole process is to allow for buildings to be financed. in places where they would not normally be financed and lenders would not normally be lending. That tool was used as well as an important tool that the Redevelopment Agency had and was given by the state legislature which was the ability to condemn property in blighted areas and transfer title to those properties to developers but subject to a redevelopment agreement that would require the developers to build what they say they're going to build. That tool was used over and over again throughout the city so that's why you saw the explosion of development on the waterfront and the subsequent minor explosions, maybe as great as the explosion on the waterfront, but as those projects became attractive to investors, lenders, developers, the process moved further west and you see that I'm in a park that is oh probably a half a mile from the waterfront and it is surrounded by new developments and rehabilitated buildings, brownstones surrounding the park. It's a beautiful spot. If you go further west you'll see that the city climbs, the elevation climbs and you get to Journal Square and at Journal Square which was an important commercial hub, maybe the biggest commercial hub in Jersey City and now certainly the largest commercial hub in Jersey City, you'll see tall buildings whose height is even enhanced by the location of those buildings. Since they're on top of a hill, a tall building on top of a hill is even taller than the same size building on the waterfront and those buildings are now exploding into the redevelopment, all around town, all around that area, that same process, the same redevelopment of blighted areas, areas that are abandoned, deteriorated, unused, and dilapidated, those areas are being developed to the south of the city and a place called the Lafayette area of the city and to the north, the Jersey City Heights.

It is what has made Jersey City what it is today, which is a vibrant city of all kinds, of all peoples, who may work anywhere, may work at home, may be working in the city, may be working in fact in Jersey City.

Gentrification

I know there were concerns about gentrification. The question you might ask is how did the city handle it? The city has attempted to prevent that. various ways, various tools have been used to do that. But with the process of renovation and rehabilitation and new building, gentrification has occurred, there's no doubt about that, but that's also made more employment opportunities for its local residents, more economic opportunities for its businesses. It's been a boon to the city and in some, if you had to have a ledger on this, you would say that gentrification, the new redevelopment of Jersey City has been a benefit to all of its residents, including the local residents that are here. If that weren't happening, the kind of park I'm sitting in today, the kind of buildings that surround us, the kind of services that are provided to its citizens would not have occurred. And I think it continues. Developers still see and residents still see Jersey City as an extremely attractive, economical place to live, far better than any other place, far better than its competitors in Manhattan and in Brooklyn. And I think that will continue for some time.

My name is Eugene Paolino. I'm a partner at Genova Burns. If you have any further questions or interest in the development of Jersey City or you have a development in Jersey City or you're interested in living in Jersey City, please contact me. I'm sure I can get you my contact information.