Sweeping changes are in store for Jersey City’s West Side neighborhood.
Late last year, city officials announced an ambitious 22-acre redevelopment plan known as the University Place project. Anthony Bastardi, CEO of Strategic Development Group, is the brains behind the $400 million project. In conjunction with New Jersey City University (NJCU), Bastardi wants to create a town where residents can live, work, dine, and shop.
The project includes a 500-seat performing arts center, the development of a “restaurant row,” and a new 50,000 square-foot academic complex specializing in the performing arts.
In addition, the project calls for new luxury apartments, which this week were doubled from 160 to 320 units. City officials also approved a height increase for the residential buildings, bumping them from six to ten stories.
“University Place will be ‘the place’ on the West Side to live, learn, dine, and have fun,” says Bastardi.
Another major update is that NJCU is partnering with New York’s Joffrey Ballet School, which will relocate from its Greenwich Village-based location to University Place by 2021. As part of the partnership, NJCU will offer Joffrey Ballet School students a bachelor of fine arts degree in conjunction with the certifications offered by the ballet institution.
Construction on the University Place project will begin this fall.
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