New Jersey City rental tower relies on students

Maryland-based Sora Development is setting its sights on Jersey City with plans for a 20-story, $165 million residential tower that will target college students as well as working professionals facing a shortage of rental apartments. The building will have 300 apartments for students as well as 375 market-rate apartments and will be built in a joint venture with nearby Saint Peter’s University.

Sora would own the majority of the building, while the university will provide the site in McGinley Square, south of the Journal Square area, and pay Sora an annual rent, the Wall Street Journal reported. No exact address was provided.

The project is yet to receive final approval from the city, but Mayor Steven Fulop told the newspaper that the developer would likely have the necessary support.

“We have made a commitment to redeveloping areas off the waterfront and projects such as this in McGinley Square will be a focus of the administration,” Fulop said.

Sora partner Timothy Elliott told the Journal that the developer was expecting to command rents of about $3.25 per square foot. He added that the two groups of tenants – students and working adults – “won’t even mix” as the building would have separate entrances and elevators.

Jersey City is seeing a development boom, as The Real Deal reported. Nearly 5,000 residential units are currently under construction, a city spokesperson told the Journal, while over 12,000 units are approved. [WSJ]  – Hiten Samtani