Mack-Cali buys Jersey City dev site from L+M for $53M

Construction at 25 Christopher Columbus Drive set to start sometime this year

Michael DeMarco and renderings of 25 Christopher Columbus Drive (Credit: Handel Architects/L+M Development Partners)
Michael DeMarco and renderings of 25 Christopher Columbus Drive (Credit: Handel Architects/L+M Development Partners)

Mack-Cali Realty Corporation has added to its Jersey City holdings with a $53 million purchase of a development site.

The company purchased Jersey City’s 25 Christopher Columbus Drive in the fourth quarter of 2017 as part of a 1031 exchange, according to a report the firm released on Wednesday. The site is part of the Jersey City waterfront submarket and has been approved for residential development. Mack-Cali hopes to launch construction in the next several months.

A joint-venture by major New York City developer L+M Development Partners and Low-Income Housing Corporation had planned a mixed-use tower with as many as 750 apartments on the site before selling to Mack-Cali, which is one of New Jersey’s most prolific developers.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

Mack-Cali’s project will span about 600,000 square feet with about 718 luxury rental units, along with space for retail, a school and a possible daycare center.

The company’s portfolio includes several other multifamily and office properties in Jersey City, as well as the Hyatt Regency hotel at 2 Exchange Place. The real estate investment trust named Michael DeMarco as its new CEO in April, demoting former chief executive Mitch Rudin to vice chair.