JERSEY CITY, NJ – Mack-Cali Realty Corporation (NYSE: CLI), along with its Roseland subsidiary, broke ground Wednesday, Dec. 4th, on a project that will bring a brand new 38-story luxury rental tower to the ever-evolving skyline of downtown Jersey City.
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop led a group of local officials, executives from
Mack-Cali/Roseland, and other dignitaries in the ceremonious groundbreaking of the project. Known as M2, the new building will rise on the Marbella development site at 401 Washington Blvd. and will be connected to the existing Marbella rental tower via a shared parking garage. The new tower will be 38 stories tall and will include 311 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments.
“We talk about redevelopment in Jersey City and as you look around you can see there is a lot of activity,” Mayor Fulop said, standing on the seventh-floor roof deck of Marbella, with several cranes and construction sites looming in the background. “The beauty of it is people are coming here to invest in our city – big residential developers who know how to do things the right way – and we are seeing a consistent remaking of the Jersey City skyline. We want to continue to move forward and to find the right balance of development in the arts, residences, and businesses that will allow our city to grow to its full potential.”
Mitchell E. Hersh, president and chief executive officer of Mack-Cali and chairman and chief executive officer of its Roseland subsidiary, agreed that Jersey City offers enormous potential for responsible development.
“The luxury rental market in Jersey City is one of the most attractive real estate investments in the state right now,” Mr. Hersh said. “Demand for housing that offers the type of urban luxury and amenity-rich lifestyle Roseland is known for is extremely strong. M2 will fill that demand, providing a new choice for downtown Jersey City renters, and creating significant value for Mack-Cali’s growing portfolio of residential properties.”
Garden State Development, Inc. and Prudential Real Estate Investors have partnered with Mack-Cali/Roseland for the development of M2. JP Morgan Chase is the lead lender, with participation from Wells Fargo.
Marbella, the existing residential building on the property, is a 39-story rental tower with 412 apartments. It opened in 2004 and was the tallest residential building in New Jersey at the time. Marbella and M2 will share a 16,000-square-foot landscaped roof deck, with pool, which will connect the two buildings.
The amenities at M2 will be highlighted by a unique 1,200-square-foot resident event room on the 38th floor of the building, with an attached 800-square-foot terrace overlooking the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline. Other planned amenities include a 1,700-square-foot club room with lounge and billiard table, conference room, fitness center with yoga studio, children’s play room, and an on-site dog run. Most units will have floor-to-ceiling windows to maximize the spectacular views of the river, the Manhattan skyline, and Jersey City.
The exterior of M2 will consist of dark red brick masonry panels on concrete block back up with cast stone highlights, which matches the exterior of Marbella and several historic structures in the area. The building’s architect, SLCE, has designed many other towers in the neighborhood.
M2 is especially convenient for commuters due to its proximity to numerous mass-transportation options. The Harismus Cove station of NJ TRANSIT’s Hudson-Bergen Light Rail is located on the Marbella property, with access to the Hoboken Terminal to the north and Bayonne to the south. The NJ TRANSIT Washington Boulevard 4th Street bus stop is directly across the street from the development and the Newport PATH station, with service to Manhattan, is less than ¼ mile north of the property. For motorists, the New Jersey Turnpike, Route 78, Routes 1 and 9, and the Holland Tunnel are all easily accessible from M2.
M2 is projected to bring 400 new construction jobs, 18 new full-time jobs, and approximately 600 new residents to Jersey City. Roseland will oversee the leasing and management responsibilities of M2 upon completion of the project. Initial occupancy is scheduled for the first quarter of 2016.
About Mack-Cali Realty Corporation/Roseland:
Mack-Cali Realty Corporation (NYSE: CLI) is a fully integrated, self-administered, self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT) providing management, leasing, development, construction, and other tenant-related services for its class A real estate portfolio. Mack-Cali owns or has interests in 276 properties, consisting of 266 office and office/flex properties totaling approximately 30.7 million square feet and ten multi-family rental properties containing over 3,400 residential units, all located in the Northeast. The properties enable the Company, along with its wholly owned subsidiary Roseland, to provide a full complement of real estate opportunities to its diverse base of commercial and residential tenants.
Mack-Cali’s Roseland subsidiary is a premier real estate development and management company with a highly-acclaimed reputation for creating exceptional mixed-use communities in some of the most desirable settings across the Northeast. Roseland’s reputation for excellence and uncompromising quality has led to a number of designations as developer or co-developer for projects with national significance. As a part of the Mack-Cali team, Roseland benefits from the Company’s strong financial strength and stability, along with its unsurpassed expertise in the commercial office sector.
Additional information on Mack-Cali Realty Corporation and the commercial real estate properties and multi-family residential communities for lease can be found on the Company’s website at www.mack-cali.com. For more information on the Company’s Roseland subsidiary go to www.roselandproperty.com.
Statements made in this press release may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “may,” “will,” “plan,” “potential,” “should,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “continue,” or comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to certain risks, trends and uncertainties, many of which the Company cannot predict with accuracy and some of which the Company might not even anticipate, and involve factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those projected or suggested. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and are advised to consider the factors listed above together with the additional factors under the heading “Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Reports on Form 10-K, as may be supplemented or amended by the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, which are incorporated herein by reference. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events, new information or otherwise.
CAHN PR 