"NEW LIFE TO OLD MEDICAL CENTER" - Jersey Journal

[LamarA]

It appears that the shuttle now goes to JSQ. I must have missed this tidbit from George's last letter. Was this announced during one of our recent fire drills?

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/jerseyc ... xml&coll=3

NEW LIFE TO OLD MEDICAL CENTER

Monday, November 12, 2007
PAUL KOEPP
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Life is being breathed into the old Jersey City Medical Center, Mayor Frank Hague's Depression-era model for medical services for the poor.

George Filopoulos, president of Manhattan-based Metrovest Equities, recently gave city officials a tour of the Beacon condo complex after they attended a ribbon-cutting for the new police motorcycle garage around the corner on Cornelison Avenue.

The developer spent $1.4 million to build the garage and is leasing it to the city for $1 a year for 10 years.

Prices are a bit steeper at the Beacon, with one-bedroom condos starting at $370,000 and two-bedroom units at $550,000, plus a $550 monthly maintenance fee. The penthouse of the Capital building has already sold for $2.3 million, Filopoulos said.

Workers were polishing floors and doing exterior work at the Capital and the attached Rialto. Of the two buildings' 315 units, 275 are under contract and 200 are occupied, Filopoulos said.

The first phase of the project also includes 103 units in the Mercury building expected to be ready in late 2008 and going on sale next month, and 110 units in the Orpheum, slated for completion in 2009.

The entire project will eventually have 1,200 units in 10 buildings at a cost close to $400 million, according to Filopoulos, who said the hardest part is fixing the buildings' facades.

"Until you strip away the brick, you don't know how much brick you have to replace and how much steel you have to replace," he said.

Metrovest is trying to recapture the buildings' Art Deco feel by restoring the original 1930s light fixtures and paint colors in the halls and lobbies. A refurbished bas relief made of 24 marble panels weighing 800 pounds each adorns the walls of the former Rialto entrance, now a billiards room. Down the hall, Mayor Hague's office is being turned into a poker room and the old auditorium has become a great room and events center.

The complex offers high-end amenities like a spa, indoor grotto and shuttle service to the Journal Square PATH station.




© 2007 The Jersey Journal
© 2007 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

[Verena]

I'd guess it's a case of a reporter not doing proper research.....

[RFBComp]

I would love to have the $550 maintenance fee their talking about ours is $830 a month.

[MarcH]

Mine is in the 700's

I think we originally were going to do JSQ path station but noone was using it so they just did Grove Street/Exchange place and added th ferry/light rail station

[LamarA]

Hack reporting aside, it is definitely good to hear quoted rumblings involving the Mercury and Orpheum. It suggests that Metrovest is still somewhat on plan and hopefully means that the parking deck/town center is not far behind.

It sure is nice to hear the sounds of progress (that is, when they're not obscured by the wailing of fire alarms and heavy construction equipment). 8)

[LamarA]

Photographs from the Jersey Journal on You Tube:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwQR5ESe ... 7.new.html