Study boosts district for arts, housing

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: : Study boosts district for arts, housing : : 03/11/02 : By John Petrick : Jersey Journal : Journal staff writer : The time is commercially ripe for the development of a major arts community in Jersey City that mixes market-rate and low-income housing with galleries, performing art space, restaurants and stores, a national land-use foundation has concluded in a study commissioned by the city's Planning Division. : How to bring such a community to fruition, however, remains as much of an open-ended challenge as the day former Mayor Bret Schundler uttered the acronym WALDO - a rubric for the same type of artists live and work district that never got off the ground. : While the report paints a stunning picture of what the Downtown warehouse district could blossom into and the reasons why it is economically feasible, it is unclear specifically where subsidies would come from to support the idea of affordable housing for artists. And, even then, preliminary findings of the study recommend that only 10 percent of all studio/housing space in the new district be designated for low- and moderate-income artists. : Eleven advisers from the Urban Land Institute, a national research and educational foundation, provided their recommendations in a formal presentation at City Hall Friday before an audience of city officials and more than 100 citizens, many working artists who live in Jersey City. : The ULI group, composed mostly of developers and planners, was hired by the city's Planning Division with $110,000 in state grants. The group's goal was to provide an unbiased, professional assessment of the potential for development of the Downtown warehouse district - be it for an artists' enclave or for other commercial uses. : Schundler, the city's Planning Division and the Downtown professional arts community had worked together for years trying to create an artists live/work community in the warehouse district. While zoning changes and the formation of a board to determine qualified artists who might be eligible to live there were established, a designated developer was never found. : Complicating matters further was a court challenge to the ordinance that created the concept of WALDO. Owners of 110 and 111 First Street - two major warehouses in the district that currently rent some artist studio space - contend in the pending litigation that the zoning aspect of WALDO is unfairly restrictive to other uses of their property that could generate more money. : Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham has said he supports the concept of WALDO and the affordable housing for artists that would come with it, and suggested incentive programs aimed at wealthy developers as a possible financial resource to support the district. The mayor did not attend Friday's presentation, however. : The panel recommended doing away with the WALDO name and re-dubbing the proposed arts community The Powerhouse Arts District, anchored by the historic Hudson & Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse. : The Powerhouse, located on Washington Boulevard, has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Constructed in 1908, it once served as the sole power source for the first system of trains and subways that linked Manhattan to New Jersey. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey now uses it to house some PATH-related machinery. : Using space within the powerhouse and other warehouses in the district, the report finds the potential for: : 360 condominium lofts (540,000 square feet) : 270 rental apartments (270,000 square feet) : 100 retail and personal service businesses such as gift shops, arts and crafts stores, clothing stores, specialty food, grocery and pharmacy, restaurants, bars and cabarets (300,000 square feet) : 800,000 square feet in office and flexible loft space (that could include hotel space) : The report spells out a long list of population and job growth data that the group says supports the economic feasibility of developing the Powerhouse Arts District. : There are about 100,000 professional artists in the New York metropolitan area, with about 5,000 of those in Hudson County and about 1,600 in Jersey City, according to the report. : Of all the artists in the metropolitan area, 72 percent earn an annual income of $35,000; 22 percent earn between $35,000 and $70,000; and 6 percent earn more than $70,000, according to the panel's findings. : The report suggests 10 percent of the housing be designated for low- and moderate-income tenants, supported through tax subsidies to keep down prices. : According to the report, the district's close proximity to the PATH and Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, combined with job growth projections, show there is a substantial population to be tapped both for patronizing the district and for purchasing or renting market-rate housing. : About 35,000 employees and 80,000 residents are located near the district, according to the report. Their median family income is $52,800 a year, of which about $17,700 a year is devoted to retail expenditures. : Former Jersey City Mayor Gerald McCann, a critic of the WALDO plan who attended Friday's public presentation, said the report is not the good news artists may think it is. : "It only affirms what I've said all along - you need subsidies," he said.

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