Trump Bay Street

Trump Bay Street is a 50-story apartment tower named after Donald Trump and located at 65 Bay Street in Jersey City, New Jersey.[1] It is located adjacent to the Trump Plaza apartment tower, which was completed in 2008. A second Trump Plaza tower had initially been planned but was delayed, and the property for the proposed building was sold several times during the Great Recession.

Trump Bay Street
General information
StatusComplete
TypeApartments
Address65 Bay Street
Town or cityJersey City, New Jersey
CountryUnited States
Coordinates40.719687°N 74.035624°W / 40.719687; -74.035624
Named forDonald Trump
GroundbreakingMay 14, 2014
OpenedEarly November 2016
Cost$225 million
OwnerMorgan Street Developers Urban Renewal Company LLC
Height484 feet (147.5 m)
Technical details
Floor count50
Design and construction
Architecture firmDeWitt Tishman Architects
Humphreys and Partners Architects
DeveloperMorgan Street Developers Urban Renewal Company LLC
Other information
Number of units447
Website
trumpbaystreet.com

Kushner Companies – managed by Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner – and New Jersey-based KABR Group purchased the property in 2011. Groundbreaking for the second tower, Trump Bay Street, took place in May 2014. The project, built at a cost of $225 million, was opened in November 2016.

History

A 55-story twin-tower apartment project known as HarborSpire was initially planned for the property, located at the intersection of Washington Street and Bay Street. The project was approved in 1999, but never materialized.[2][3] In July 2005, Donald Trump became involved in a new, similar twin-tower project, to be built on the same property and to be known as Trump Plaza.[3]

The first Trump Plaza tower was completed in 2008. The originally planned second tower was delayed, and the property for it was ultimately sold several times during the recession.[4] Morgan Street Developers Urban Renewal Company LLC, a partnership of Kushner Companies and New Jersey-based KABR Group,[5] purchased the property out of foreclosure in April 2011.[6][7][4] Kushner Companies was managed by Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.[5]

In April 2014, the city council approved a five-year tax abatement for Trump Bay Street, the second phase of the Trump Plaza project.[4][8] Trump Bay Street was designed by DeWitt Tishman Architects and Humphreys and Partners Architects.[1] The structure, located one block east of Trump Plaza,[9] was designed to resemble its twin tower.[4]

Construction

Groundbreaking for the second tower was held on May 14, 2014. The 50-story tower was to have 447 apartment units, and was expected to take approximately 30 months to build,[4][9][10] with construction expected to cost $193.5 million.[9] The project was partially funded by $38.5 million from the partnership of Kushner Companies and KABR.[4] The project was also financed for $50 million by Chinese investors through the EB-5 visa program, which Trump criticized during his 2016 presidential campaign.[11][12][13] CIT Group also provided a $140 million loan for the project.[13]

On September 30, 2015, during construction, a concrete block fell from the building's 31st floor and injured a police officer's torso.[14][15] Most construction work was halted that day and the following day while the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, as well as state labor safety officials, investigated the incident. Before allowing construction to resume, city officials had construction workers remove debris from each floor and construct scaffolding on the building's side to protect pedestrians below. Police officers responsible for directing traffic between Trump Bay Street and another construction site also began wearing hard hats.[15][16] The project was completed at a cost of approximately $225 million.[13]

Opening and operation

Trump Bay Street began leasing apartments in early November 2016.[7] The building includes 50 floors and stands 484 feet tall.[1] After Trump was elected as U.S. president, Jared Kushner was appointed as a White House advisor. Kushner divested some of his stakes in Kushner Companies, but maintained economic interest in Trump Bay Street.[13]

Protesters outside the building (February 25, 2017)

In February 2017, local residents protested outside the building, stating their intention to boycott any retailers that occupy space on the ground floor. Explaining their reason for protesting, the residents cited President Trump's actions that targeted illegal immigration and refugees from Muslim majority countries, as well as comments that he made in 2015, in which he claimed that thousands of Jersey City residents cheered after learning about the September 11 attacks.[17][18]

In May 2017, it was reported that state officials allowed the project's developers to cite high unemployment rates in other parts of the city in order to qualify for EB-5 funding, as the area around Trump Bay Street had a low unemployment rate of less than three percent.[19] EB-5 advisor Michael Gibson stated that such a practice, although contrary to the original purpose of the EB-5 program, was still legal.[20] As of June 2017, more than half of the building was rented out, and the structure was valued between $340 million and $360 million.[13]

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References
  1. "Trump Bay Street". Emporis. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  2. Miller, Jonathan (March 2, 2001). "No dough for charter schools". Hudson Reporter. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  3. Kaulessar, Ricardo (October 2, 2005). "Trump Plaza: Jersey City 'The Donald' partners for $415M 50-story towers in 'hot location'". Hudson Reporter. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  4. Sullivan, Al (May 18, 2014). "A marriage made in heaven? Twin Trump Tower breaks ground in Jersey City". Hudson Reporter. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  5. "Ground breaking expected for second Trump tower in Jersey City". The Jersey Journal. May 12, 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  6. McDonald, Terrence T. (August 31, 2016). "Jersey City wins $2.1M court victory against Trump son-in-law". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  7. Rice, Andrew (January 8, 2017). "The Young Trump". New York. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  8. Conte, Michaelangelo (April 9, 2014). "Tax abatement allows 2 Jersey City construction projects to move forward". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  9. McDonald, Terrence T. (May 14, 2014). "$194 million Trump tower rising in Downtown Jersey City". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  10. Whelan, Robbie (May 11, 2014). "Trump and Kushner Families Are Coming Together for Another Union – This Time a Deal: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Tied the Knot Nearly Five Years ago". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  11. McDonald, Terrence T. (March 7, 2016). "Controversial visa program financing new Trump tower in N.J., report says". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  12. Danner, Chas (May 7, 2017). "Jared Kushner's Family Business Is Pitching U.S. Visas in an Effort to Woo Wealthy Investors in China". New York. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  13. Drucker, Jesse; Bagli, Charles V. (June 5, 2017). "Kushner Companies Seeking $250 Million to Pay Off Chinese Backers". The New York Times. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  14. "Falling concrete hits, injures officer at construction site". The Washington Times. Associated Press. September 30, 2015. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  15. McDonald, Terrence T. (October 1, 2015). "OSHA investigating Trump tower incident in Jersey City". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  16. McDonald, Terrence T. (September 30, 2015). "Cement piece falls from new Trump tower, injuring Jersey City cop". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  17. McDonald, Terrence T. (February 21, 2017). "Jersey City activists target Trump, Kushner". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  18. Conte, Michaelangelo (February 27, 2017). "'Donald Trump, go away!' -- protest at Kushner's Jersey City tower". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  19. McDonald, Terrence T. (May 31, 2017). "Kushner deal shines spotlight on Jersey City's struggling inner city". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  20. McDonald, Terrence T. (June 2, 2017). "Jersey City mostly mum on latest chapter in Kushner saga". The Jersey Journal. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
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