Development along New Jersey’s PATH transit line continues to boom, and the latest town to feel the effect is Harrison, Newark‘s eastern neighbor. As first reported by Jersey Digs, Manhattan’s GRO Architects have been tapped to design a multi-block, mixed-use development that includes what will become the town’s tallest tower.
The office tower, with its sloping, biomorphic massing, is set to rise 20 stories and will sit on top of a “floating” retail podium. Both sections will feature rounded punch windows and filleted corners, as well as linear metal fins, used as horizontal louvers on the tower portion. The tower itself will contain an as-of-yet unspecified amount of hotel space and 242,276 square feet of offices, with 15,027 square feet of retail below. The building is just one piece of the Harrison North of Guyon (NOG) project, an 11-acre redevelopment of the land just north of Harrison’s New Jersey PATH station. A large glass wall has been carved from the office tower’s skin and will offer up views of the rest of the project to the north along with sweeping views of the adjacent Passaic River, which wraps around and bounds Harrison.
The development will include three mixed-use buildings which will all contain residential and commercial space—up to 518 residential units and 85,000 square feet of retail—as well as three or four eight-story parking structures. A public square has also been included, potentially with a movie theater and bowling alley.
NOG will be constructed in two phases and will adhere to the Harrison Waterfront Redevelopment plan, which, according to New York YIMBY, advises “neo-traditional downtown styling.” The seven-story buildings will be without front setbacks to encourage walkability, with the ground floors of each set aside for retail. The residential portions will likely contain a mix of studios and one-bedroom apartments. The development will also include a new glassy Harrison PATH Station entrance and capital investments in the surrounding roadways.
According to Richard Garber, Partner at GRO Architects, the aim of the project was to create a sense of place in a location frequented by commuters from all over the tristate area. One of the challenges will be to attract residents from Jersey City and Hoboken, other cities along the PATH that are easily reachable from Manhattan.
Construction is expected to begin in 2019, with no completion date given at the time of writing.
