New buildings, green pastures Residential development, open space projects surge around county

To read the article from the beginning: http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/21930255/article-New-buildings–green-pastures-Residential-development–open-space-projects-surge-around-county-?instance=secondary_stories_left_column

LeFrak isn’t the only developer who continues to make a name in downtown Jersey City. While he focuses on building anew and developing previously untapped properties, Paul and Eric Silverman have long directed their attention to revitalizing existing neighborhoods. They are credited with the leading the renaissance of the Hamilton Park neighborhood and the restoration of the Majestic Theatre near the Grove Street PATH station.

The brothers were a subject of a Jersey City Magazine article in 2011, and described the renaissance they have witnessed throughout the city over the course of the past three decades.

While they described the nineties as a period of slow growth, the past decade has been nothing but progress for residential development. Paul described the possibilities for the downtown area as endless.

“Our slogan, ‘Building Neighborhoods,’ says it really well,” he said. “We’re very holistic developers.”

And so they are.

Already responsible for developing the JC Lofts, Hamilton Square, Majestic Theatre Condominiums and the Schroeder Lofts, the brothers announced in 2012 plans for a new 7-story development will be located on the corner of Grove Street and Montgomery Street, and in addition to luxury apartments on the upper floors will contain retail space on the ground floor and office space on the second floor. The project will break ground this year.

Furthermore, Silverman has already broken ground on another building on Ninth Street, also near Hamilton Park, which will house 25 apartment units and the Scandinavian School of Jersey City.

“When we’re building a building, it’s more than just the physical building. We like to think we’re building a relationship with the community,” Paul said.

And while LeFrak and the Silvermans are certainly the deans of Downtown, they are not alone in capitalizing on the available real estate the area has to offer. Less than a mile from Newport, on the corner of Jersey Avenue and 18th Street, the 155-unit Cast Iron Lofts opened in February, and is being marketed as the first step towards the development of a new neighborhood known as SoHo West.