Former SI Navy Homeport Seals The Deal!

Ironstate Development of Hoboken plans to invest $150 million to build apartment buildings, stores and a public plaza as part of the long anticipated redevelopment of the Homeport on Staten Island’s waterfront.

Ironstate, formerly known as Applied Development, is teaming up with the city of New York to make over a portion of a former Navy homeport in Stapleton on the northeastern side of Staten Island. Plans call for building two residential buildings up to six stories tall with about 800 apartments on a seven-acre site, according to the city’s Economic Development Corporation. Rents for one-bedrooms would run between $1,200 and $1,500 while two-bedrooms would rent for $1,500 up to $2,000.

The complex would include 30,000 square feet of shops and restaurants on the ground floor with wide sidewalks and a public plaza for outdoor dining. The city has committed $33 million for infrastructure improvements including road reconstruction that would improve access to the site from the Stapleton neighborhood and a new waterfront esplanade next to the apartments, which would give the public access to the waterfront. The project would generate more than 1,100 construction jobs and 150 permanent jobs including retail and building maintenance positions. Construction is expected to start in early 2011.

Ironstate is recognized for developing mixed-use urban waterfront projects including the sumptuous W Hoboken hotel, which opened earlier this year on the Hudson. The Staten Island project is a natural fit, said Greg Russo, a principal at Ironstate. The project is appealing because of its location in the middle of the city, transportation links and spectacular views of Lower Manhattan and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, he said.

And while the recession has brought new development to a virtual standstill in the city, Russo and his colleagues say they believe economic recovery is on the horizon.

“Of course the economy is slowing things down,” Russo said. “Financing is challenging, but we’re moving forward with selected projects that have potential. We think we’ve hit the bottom. It’s hard to predict how quickly the recovery will happen but we don’t see it getting worse from here.”

- By Lynne Miller of The Real Deal

Sphere: Related Content