New hotel, 5,000 more apartments...
On 20th anniversary,
A groundbreaking took
place Thursday for a new hotel in the city's
The groundbreaking was reminiscent of the initial one 20 years ago today (June
4), when the late
The Jersey City community of Newport has grown into 600 acres of waterfront
land, 3,922 residential units, and over 10,000 residents, all between 18th
Street and Sixth Street.
It has a major shopping mall, a variety of office buildings, a private
elementary school, and a childcare center as well as high-end restaurants, a
yacht club and marina, and several small parks and playgrounds.
At the ceremony before the groundbreaking, Richard LeFrak,
chairman and president of the LeFrak Organization,
made a "second public promise" to complete the remaining undeveloped
land within
"We will build 5,000 more apartments, dozens more shops, a thousand more
hotel rooms and a million more square feet of office space," said LeFrak.
He went on to say that the completion will include 11 acres of parks and
plazas, and a skating rink.
LeFrak continued, "As you can see, we are not
resting on our laurels."
The Lefrak Organization also will celebrate their first groundbreaking with a
20th Anniversary Extravaganza scheduled for Saturday June 3, an all-day
celebration including a performance by 1980s pop star Deborah (Debbie) Gibson.
And LeFrak has also unveiled a website
(www.newport20.com) to inform the public about the history of
Last week's groundbreaking saw not only LeFrak, but
his sons Jamie and Harrison (who were also at the original groundbreaking), and
also dignitaries such as Mayor Jerramiah Healy,
Governor Jon Corzine, and U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg.
New
projects for Newport
The groundbreaking on Thursday was for the Newport Westin Jersey
City Hotel, to be built on the corner of
The 253-foot tall, 429-room hotel will include a conference and banquet center,
a 10,000 square foot ballroom; a 5,000 sq. ft restaurant and a pool and fitness
center.
Manhattan-based William B. Tabler Architects will be
overseeing the construction of the hotel, which started after the
groundbreaking with an anticipated completion date of spring 2008. Tabler said after the groundbreaking that the hotel project
had been put on the shelf for nearly six years because of a drop off in tourism
immediately after 9/11.
Also announced during the ceremony was the ongoing or soon-to-come construction
of three new residential towers:
* The Shore Club Condominiums at
* The Aqua located on
* The Ellipse, a 460-foot high tower that will be located adjacent to the
Richard LeFrak was adamant that a 3.5-acre park will be built in
the future, as designated in the Newport Master Plan, between 14th and 16th
Streets. Criticism has been expressed by various
He also expressed confidence that an extension of the Hudson River Waterfront
Walkway will be built from the northern edge of
"I spoke to Governor Corzine, and he assured me
that the extension would be built within two years," said LeFrak.
'A Promise Kept'
Representatives
from the worlds of politics, business and construction gathered under a tent on
a humid Thursday afternoon to hear the LeFrak family
not only beam with pride over
The ceremony started off with a short film on the history of
After the screening, Healy spoke of how about
"The people that really started the tremendous resurgence and renaissance
here in our great city of
Lautenberg, who was U.S. Senator when he also attended the 1986 groundbreaking,
recalled how the late Sam LeFrak's dynamic
personality made
"Anybody who knew Sam LeFrak and who had contact
with him were never quite sure whether if it was a dream - or simply a
boast," said Lautenberg. "Sam came on it like a sledgehammer."
Corzine commended the LeFraks
on the financial success of
"For a fledgling governor, I am most appreciative to hear of the $750
million that will be going into the ground in the years ahead," said Corzine. "That's more jobs, and that's sustained
economic growth."
Corzine also referred to a recent independent study
conducted by
The study also found that