New Jersey turns a brownfield site into Steel Tech, a 3.3-acre mixed-use development

In Jersey City, N.J., a 3.3-acre redevelopment project called Steel Tech will turn a brownfield site into a mixed-use residential high-rise building, a community center, two public plazas, and a business incubator facility. Steel Tech received site plan approval in recent weeks.

Land use consultancy Dresdner Robin completed the planning, surveying, engineering and landscape architectural design, and 3D modeling and rendering work for Skyline Development Group.

The mixed-use development is anchored by an 18-story, 190-foot high-rise mixed-use building that will offer 420 units, 5% designated for affordable housing. The building will have 92 studios, 197 one-bedroom, 96 two-bedroom, and 35 three-bedroom apartments. The high-rise also will include 7,425 sf of retail space and about 24,000 sf of amenities for residents. 

Dresdner Robin worked with the architectural firm, Marchetto Higgins Stieve, to create a design that evokes the property’s steel manufacturing history. The main building’s red brick design, with large glass sections, is meant to evoke the site’s industrial past. Custom wayfinding signs and sculptural light poles carry the steel-focused design throughout the site and complement a public art installation at the entry plaza. 

The project also features a business incubator and a commercial shopping plaza, a 14,000-sf portion of the complex that will offer affordable commercial offices. Forty percent of these spaces will be designated as retail incubator spaces for businesses owned by minorities, women, and veterans. 

In addition, a three-story, 22,000-sf recreation center will be built next to Berry Lane Park, one of Jersey City’s largest parks. The recreation center will include a basketball court and other flexible rooms, as well as a 40-space public parking lot. The Steel Tech project will have a pedestrian mall connecting it to Berry Lane Park.