Jones Lang LaSalle
JERSEY CITY TO JETS: LAND HERE
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Jets running back Curtis Martin could soon be practicing his moves in Jersey City, if the plan pitched by city officials for a new headquarters and practice facility is a touchdown with the team.
The New York Jets announced on its Web site earlier this month that the team has narrowed its search for a new practice facility to five places in New Jersey and Jersey City made the cut.
"I think it's an excellent marriage," Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said. "We have the best location, all of the amenities, and access to New York City."
The team has its eye on a 28-acre area along Caven Point Road, next to the Liberty National Golf Course being built at Port Liberté and adjacent to Cochrane Field.
Nearly 18 of the 28 acres are owned by the Jersey City Board of Education, which purchased the land from the city for roughly $8 million six years ago. The Jets have already begun to negotiate a sale price for a privately-owned warehouse that occupies the other 10 acres on the site, said Carl Czaplicki, the mayor's chief of staff and the city's point person in the negotiations with the Jets.
A ferry ride away from Manhattan, one Turnpike exit from Newark Liberty International Airport - and with Lady Liberty visible in the distance - the location is just what the Jets ordered, city officials said.
"The Jets were impressed with the site's potential," Czaplicki said. "They saw everything would fit."
Jets officials, who said they intend to chose a site by March 1, didn't return phone calls for comment.
Since agreeing to build a new stadium in the Meadowlands with the Giants, Jets officials said they want to open the new training facility in New Jersey by summer 2007. The Jets currently practice at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
This facility, they predicted, would generate more than $10 million annually in new tax revenue for the state.
In keeping with requirements laid out by the Jets, a conceptual site plan of the training facility prepared by a city architect calls for four practice fields - three outdoor, one indoor - a three-story, 150,000-square-foot main building with training rooms; seminar space; an auditorium and parking for more than 300 cars.
The land would be officially purchased by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and leased to the Jets, Czaplicki said. The authority would pay significantly more than the $300,000 per year in taxes the warehouse pays now, Czaplicki said.
The state approved a new law last month allowing the sports authority to buy property for the new facility.
The Jets are expected to issue a formal request-for-proposal this week, Czaplicki said.
The Jets also want to be good neighbors, city officials stressed.
"They've told us to come up with a wish list, and don't be shy," Czaplicki said.
That list already includes a pool and recreation center for newly-opened Elementary School No. 3 and new turf at the Ferris High School soccer field and the Caven Point field, city Recreation Director Bob Hurley said.
The other cites still in the running: Berkeley Heights, Florham Park, Millburn, and Wood-Ridge.
JERSEY CITY TO JETS: LAND HERE
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Jets running back Curtis Martin could soon be practicing his moves in Jersey City, if the plan pitched by city officials for a new headquarters and practice facility is a touchdown with the team.
The New York Jets announced on its Web site earlier this month that the team has narrowed its search for a new practice facility to five places in New Jersey and Jersey City made the cut.
"I think it's an excellent marriage," Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said. "We have the best location, all of the amenities, and access to New York City."
The team has its eye on a 28-acre area along Caven Point Road, next to the Liberty National Golf Course being built at Port Liberté and adjacent to Cochrane Field.
Nearly 18 of the 28 acres are owned by the Jersey City Board of Education, which purchased the land from the city for roughly $8 million six years ago. The Jets have already begun to negotiate a sale price for a privately-owned warehouse that occupies the other 10 acres on the site, said Carl Czaplicki, the mayor's chief of staff and the city's point person in the negotiations with the Jets.
A ferry ride away from Manhattan, one Turnpike exit from Newark Liberty International Airport - and with Lady Liberty visible in the distance - the location is just what the Jets ordered, city officials said.
"The Jets were impressed with the site's potential," Czaplicki said. "They saw everything would fit."
Jets officials, who said they intend to chose a site by March 1, didn't return phone calls for comment.
Since agreeing to build a new stadium in the Meadowlands with the Giants, Jets officials said they want to open the new training facility in New Jersey by summer 2007. The Jets currently practice at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.
This facility, they predicted, would generate more than $10 million annually in new tax revenue for the state.
In keeping with requirements laid out by the Jets, a conceptual site plan of the training facility prepared by a city architect calls for four practice fields - three outdoor, one indoor - a three-story, 150,000-square-foot main building with training rooms; seminar space; an auditorium and parking for more than 300 cars.
The land would be officially purchased by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and leased to the Jets, Czaplicki said. The authority would pay significantly more than the $300,000 per year in taxes the warehouse pays now, Czaplicki said.
The state approved a new law last month allowing the sports authority to buy property for the new facility.
The Jets are expected to issue a formal request-for-proposal this week, Czaplicki said.
The Jets also want to be good neighbors, city officials stressed.
"They've told us to come up with a wish list, and don't be shy," Czaplicki said.
That list already includes a pool and recreation center for newly-opened Elementary School No. 3 and new turf at the Ferris High School soccer field and the Caven Point field, city Recreation Director Bob Hurley said.
The other cites still in the running: Berkeley Heights, Florham Park, Millburn, and Wood-Ridge.
posted by Jones Lang LaSalle NJ News Blog at 1:59 PM
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