$600-Mil Waterfront Project Underway

The Florham Park, NJ-based Kushner's Landings at Harborside LLC group is financing the 50-acre project privately. At completion, it's expected to generate upwards of $15 million in tax revenues annually. "Most people can't visualize the scope of this project," Perth Amboy Mayor Joseph Vas told reporters after the approval late last week. "We are very happy to see this project underway."

The initial phase will focus on some 10 acres formerly occupied by a US Naval Reserve center. It will encompass some 30,000 sf of ground-floor retail space in two buildings, with a second floor of residential condos on top of them. Including an adjacent complex of mid-rise condos, the phase will total just less than 400 residential units. It will feature an interior parking garage, and most of the fully-phased project's parking will be below grade.

The project is expected to complement other commercial and industrial redevelopment projects in this city of 45,000, situated just across the Arthur Kill from the southern tip of Staten Island. Perth Amboy traces its history back to the early Colonial era, when it was the capital of the East Jersey Colony, and it has a number of historic sites that date to that era.

Architect for the Landings at Harborside is Lindemon, Winckelmann, Dupree, Martin & Associates of Jersey City. The landscape designer for the extensive esplanade areas is the Montclair, NJ office of EDAW, and the project engineer is Manalapan, NJ-based Schoor DePalma. Existing buildings on the phase one site will be razed, beginning next month, and actual construction is slated to be underway by early summer.