Commercial and Residential Construction Begin

            Mayor Jimmy Davis announced that City officials joined developers and others for two ground-breaking ceremonies at the former Military Ocean Terminal (MOT) on April 11.

            Across from the new fire station on Chosin Few Way, City Council President Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski began the Costco ground-breaking ceremony by saying, “Today is a great day for Bayonne.”  She reminded the audience that major construction was beginning at the former MOT “after eighteen years of false starts.”  Costco has a chain of warehouse department stores that offer consumer goods and multi-pump gas stations to the buying public. Council President Ashe-Nadrowski said that the new development would mean jobs for Bayonne residents and the arrival of ferry service.  “More and more good things are happening for Bayonne,” she said. 

Council President Ashe-Nadrowski pointed out that BCB Community Bank, a Bayonne-based financial business, is providing the financing for the Costco construction.  BCB President Thomas Coughlin exclaimed, “What an exciting time for Bayonne!”  He thanked the BCB loan team for working on the financial package for the storeâ€s construction.  Mr. Coughlin also thanked Mayor Davis for bringing Costco to Bayonne.

Joseph Forgione, President and CEO of JMF Properties, the developer, said that he first met with Mayor Davis two years ago.  At that time, Forgione said, Mayor Davis asked him to bring a Costco store to Bayonne.  Now that construction is starting, Mr. Forgione said, “Itâ€s exciting for Bayonne.” 

Mayor Davis thanked Council President Ashe-Nadrowski and the rest of the City Council Members for supporting economic development in Bayonne.  Mayor Davis noted that various people had made “many promises over the last eighteen years” concerning the former Military Ocean Terminal.  Mayor Davis said, “We are finally delivering on those promises.”  He pointed out that during the period of Bayonneâ€s ownership of the former military base, Bayonne has received little money from that property.  Mayor Davis said that now the land would be providing jobs and helping the finances of the City.  He referred to Costco as “one of the top employers,” and said that today was “a big day” and “a great day.”  Mayor Davis thanked BCB Community Bank for working with the City of Bayonne on the Costco development.

Following the spoken remarks, City officials, the developer, and BCB representatives posed with a construction worker and a piece of heavy equipment that broke ground for Costco.

After the ceremony at the Costco site, City officials moved to Atlantic Realtyâ€s property in the Bayonne Bay area for a second ground-breaking ceremony.  Atlantic Realty will be constructing a 525-unit luxury townhouse development that will include a clubhouse.  Jack Halpern, Chairman of Halpern Enterprises and former President of Atlantic Realty, thanked Mayor Davis “for his leadership.”   Mayor Davis said that the Atlantic Realty development would create “a new revenue stream for Bayonne,” and would also attract new residents to the community.  He thanked the City Council, Land Use Administrator Lillian Glazewski, and engineering consultant Andy Reichle for their work on the project.  City officials joined the management of Atlantic Realty for a ground-breaking with ceremonial shovels.

The Atlantic Realty development will include townhouse buildings designed by Berkowsky and Associates of Cranbury, New Jersey, and a clubhouse designed by the Appel Design Group of Livingston, New Jersey.

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Bayonne  Mayor James Davis announced recently that the City plans to respond to the request for proposals (RFP) issued by Amazon for the creation of the second headquarters in the United States.

Mayor Davis stated, “Given the fact that the City of Bayonne has over 200 acres of undeveloped land on the former Military Ocean Terminal-Bayonne (MOTBY), I believe we are uniquely positioned to respond to this request.” Bayonneâ€s ongoing transformation from a city of industry to a city of innovation and technology fits perfectly with Amazonâ€s objectives and, quite frankly, the City of Bayonne meets or exceeds every one of the logistical, cultural, communal and operational criteria set forth in Amazonâ€s RFP.  Simply stated, “I believe there are no other municipalities offering anything close to what Bayonne has to offer.”

The area being offered by Bayonne as the location for Amazon HQ2 sits on the Hudson River steps away from the Hudson Bergen Light Rail, adjacent to Route 440, within easy reach of three major airports and two Amtrak train stations with a soon-to-be-finished direct access to the New Jersey Turnpike.  The area currently has plans for development of residential and retail space on a portion of the former base that would fit in with Amazonâ€s goal of the headquarters being part of a thriving community. The area also offers great growth potential with many old warehouses and other abandoned industrial sites nearby.

Amazonâ€s current corporate headquarters is located in Seattle, Washington and its Chief Executive, Jeff Bezos, has announced that Amazon is looking to set up a second corporate headquarters outside of Seattle.  “Amazon is looking for a city located in a metropolitan area of 1 million or more people,” Davis added, “with a diverse, educated population, ample recreational opportunities and quick access to mass transit, major highways, international airports and major universities.  Sounds to me like Mr. Bezos wants to come to Bayonne.”

www.bayonnenj.org

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(Bayonne, NJ) – Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis today announced the sale of approximately 30 acres of the former Military Ocean Terminal (“MOTBY”) to Atlantic Realty of Woodbridge. Atlantic Realty was designated the developer in 2006 under Mayor Doria. The plan calls for construction of 525 residential units, park space, new roads and addition to the Hudson River Walkway. The Project has long been delayed by lawsuits that were finally settled in the spring of 2015 under Mayor Davis. According to the Developer, Jack Halpern, they hope to be under construction by the fall or early spring of 2018 at the latest.

Mayor Davis stated, “This is a long awaited event in the development of MOTBY and for the future direction of Bayonne. The actual transfer of land to a developer is the result of many hours spent by my administration in removing the obstacles to development that have long prevented Bayonne from realizing the potential of this land.” Council President Sharon Ashe Nadrowski indicated, “After sixteen years itâ€s time to deliver on the promises that were made long ago and begin building for our future. I am just happy that I could be a part of making this a reality and look forward to the other developments that are also scheduled to take place on MOTBY and throughout town.”

Bayonne Bay West is a small part of the overall plan for development at MOTBY. In addition to this development, the City expects Fidelco to begin construction shortly on 200 residential units at Harbor Station South and for JMF Development to initiate construction of substantial retail space at Harbor Station North. 

Mayor Davis noted, “Although this is a major development, it is part of an overall plan to redevelop the city. Bayonne is beginning to see the early signs of growth, with projects under way near the 22^nd street light rail station and on Broadway. Saint Barnabas is scheduled to be completed by July of 2017 and other developments are being planned for long abandoned empty lots and the expansion of South Cove Commons is on the horizon.

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By Evelyn Bonilla- Photos by Steveamack.com

     As a child born and raised in Bayonne, Mayor Mark Smith grew up enjoying all that his hometown of Bayonne had to offer. It’s way of life, its schools and the neighborhoods around him. The son of a Bayonne police officer and a nurse at Bayonne Hospital, he was taught to treat people with dignity and respect and to always put others before himself. These values were instilled in him and these are the values that he carries with him today. In retrospect, I’m sure he would’ve never imagined that his future would lead him down a path that would revolve around the future of Bayonne and its residents.





 

But now that he has received the support of the Bayonne community and he has officially been sworn in as Mayor, he’s prepared to make things happen. His goals and vision are clear and he has begun to put them into effect.  I recently had the privilege to sit down with the Mayor and discuss some of his goals for Bayonne’s future and current projects in progress that will in the future benefit Bayonne and its community.

I asked the Mayor about his short and long term goals for the City of Bayonne and he explained, “One of our short term goals is that we need to continue working on the reorganization of municipal government. We started that by moving some department’s directors and eliminating some departments and duplication services. We reduced our departments from nine to four.”

“We are also working on providing the public with some early evening hours, this will benefit residents who want to do business with the city or who have to do business and can’t because they work late or work in Manhattan.  We are thinking of a Flex time plan so that our employees are available to better serve the public.”

Another short term goal the Mayor and his administration are working on is there in house technology; they are currently working on updating their computer software system. By implementing this plan, it will allow other departments to share information on a real time basis and will incorporate everything into one centralized database. This will provide for quicker, faster and more accurate service to the community.

However, the main goal and focus for the Mayor and his administration is on Bayonne’s economic development, he explained, “One of the most pressing issues at this time is the structural deficit that this administration has inherited. Our objective is to develop a realistic plan to eliminate that.”  

So, with that focus in mind the Mayor and his administration have already begun to target that issue. Some of the things they are looking at are shared services between various entities of the city as well as county and state, reforms in Bayonne’s waste management system and possibly fee structures for services that the city provides. Presently they’re focusing in on a comprehensive health benefit package for all city employees and elected officials. The goal is to make one comprehensive health care system that should show a lower number of health care costs.

In long term the Mayor is adamant on one particular goal and that is to pay down city debt. The goal for the administration for the next four years is to aggressively target how to pay down the city’s structural deficit. The mayor explains, “The goal for this administration is to whittle down a debt that we inherited. This is something that has to be done and that needs to be done! It will take courage and discipline, but if we stay the course, we will come out of this a stronger and better community.” In doing this the Mayor ask only for the support and patience of the community. He explained, “This is a tough road were traveling down, were going through this together, it’s important to have courage and faith that were going to get through this.”

It seems that the Mayor is definitely on the road to “moving Bayonne forward”.  Recently signs can be seen with the development of the new Bayonne Crossing shopping mall. A project that has yield up to 1,200 union building trade jobs with mall construction and is expected to offer 900 retail and management jobs. Also, the development of a several new businesses and banks which are in view throughout the town.

Looking toward the future Mayor Mark Smith is confident and determined to replicate some of what Bayonne once was, with his perseverance and the values that were taught to him as a child, he can be sure that he is on the right road. As he looks towards the future along with his administration, he hopes to work hard to ensure that the future generation will have a community that they can be proud and confident in.

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