Toll Proposes MXD Performing Arts Complex

JERSEY CITY, NJ-Toll Brothers City Living has put a proposal on the table to build a MXD complex anchored by a performing arts center. The centerpiece PAC would include a 550-seat theater, 16,000 sf of classroom and studio space, and a 25,000-sf arts-oriented plaza that would serve as an entranceway.

Also part of the proposed Provost Square project would be more than 50,000 sf of retail space, combining shops, eateries and galleries, and 32 residential units. The Horsham, PA-based Toll would also make a contribution to off-site affordable housing. Architecturally, Toll’s plans as designed by Carol R. Johnson Associates of Boston, call expansive setbacks of buildings and preservation of the façade of the shuttered Manischewitz matzo factory.

“This is the fastest growing city in New Jersey and could soon be its largest,” says Toll City Living SVP Ben Jogodnik. “Provost Square creates a cultural centerpiece for all of Jersey City and Hudson County.”

The site includes two adjacent full-block parcels bordered by Warren St. and Marin Blvd. on either side of Provost St. The location is within the city-designated Powerhouse Arts District, which consists of nine blocks of underutilized warehouse and five adjacent blocks on the Hudson River waterfront.

And Toll has picked up city council approval for its application for an amendment to PAD zoning that would treat the two separate blocks as a single site for development purposes. A timeline for final approvals and development has not been released. Cost of the project has similarly not been released.

“The Powerhouse Arts District was envisioned as an arts-oriented neighborhood,” Jogodnik explains. “We intend to fulfill this vision with Provost Square as an arts-oriented mixed-use development. PAD in general represents an opportunity to apply solid urban planning.

“Jersey City is a community with economic opportunities, insightful planning and a bright future,” he says. “We’re very gratified to move forward with our project.”

Toll currently has four other projects, primarily residential, in this Hudson County city and neighboring Hoboken–700 Grove, Harborside Lofts, Hudson Tea and Maxwell Place.