Kerrie Joyce 
The Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, JCRA, has made new progress in the previously stalled redevelopment plans for the historic Pathside Building located at 84 Sip Avenue. Also known as 25 Journal Square, the building was purchased by the City in 2018 with the original intention of being converted into a museum and community center. Plans then evolved, and eventually fell through, for the site to be the first American location of the Pompidou, a Paris-based international art museum. As of September 16th, 2025, the JCRA approved a new conditional redeveloper for the property. Read on for more information about the saga and what the future might hold for the Journal Square property.
Photo: Courtesy of OMA
Previous Plans
Following the purchase of the building, the City announced that the space was meant to be dedicated primarily to the visual arts, with the Fulop administration noting an emphasis on local arts and culture. Come 2019, conversations began with Centre Pompidou, a French art museum with multiple outposts in other countries, including Belgium, China, and Spain. As the timeline of the development agreement aligned with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, contracts were concluded before anyone representing Pompidou was able to visit the site. Per the New York Times, “It is the first time we’ve concluded a contract without being there,” Serge Lasvignes, President of the Pompidou Center, said.
The pandemic was not the only hurdle that the redevelopment plan faced, as many New Jersey representatives raised concerns about the budget plans for the project, for which Jersey City had agreed to pay Pompidou $30M in consulting, branding, and naming rights in addition to the loans of artwork. Amidst financing questions, there were also flags raised surrounding a lack of transparency regarding the ongoing costs to operate the museum.
Ultimately, the New Jersey Economic Development Association put the plans to an end in June of 2024, concluding via a letter to Pompidou stating, “Due to the ongoing impact of COVID and multiple global conflicts on the supply chain, rising costs, an irreconcilable operating gap, and the corresponding financial burdens it will create for New Jersey’s taxpayers, the Legislature has rescinded financial support, leaving us to determine that this project is unfortunately no longer feasible.”
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While the Pompidou saga has ceased at 25 Journal Square, the plans are ongoing at a new Jersey City location. The Jersey City outpost is now set to open at 808 Pavonia Avenue, scheduled to open in 2030. According to Jersey Digs, the renewed plans for Pompidou will be an addition to the original plan for the two-tower project, conducted by the Kushner Real Estate Group in collaboration with Silverstein Properties. In addition to the towers’ 1,189 residential units, an art walk connecting the towers, and a 6,000 square foot gallery space, one of the towers will now house a Centre Pompidou. As part of the Pompidou plan, the City will own the 100,000 square foot space for 30 years.
As of HG reporting in November of 2024, the Pompidour’s new location also faced challenges in approvals, especially in regards to budget. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy commented on the project’s shaky progress, saying, “We still love the project,” but concluding that it was “an unending loss position.” The City passed a 30-year tax abatement for the developer of the project, the institution of a Special Improvement District (SID), an amendment to the 2025 JCRA budget to add $1.1M for Pompidou-related expenses, in addition to other approvals. On report of the Jersey City Times, the addition to the project still requires approval from the Jersey City Planning Board.
The New Proposal
Per Jersey Digs, the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency considered a proposal from 84 Sip Owner LLC, a subsidiary of Kushner Real Estate and Ironstate Properties, following its request for proposals earlier this summer. According to the same reporting, the new proposal plan is two-fold:
“The first portion would convert the existing Pathside building into a 38-key independent hotel complete with a ‘destination food hall,’ a rooftop bar facility, and a wellness spa.”
The second portion of the proposal, via Jersey Digs, regards 68-74 Sip Avenue site across the street. For that property, which is currently Hudson County Community College Housing, the proposal outlines plans to demolish the existing building and construct a new, 34-story high-rise with 320 units, including 10% affordable housing. HCCC has plans to vacate the soon-to-be-demolished building in light of its own $96M development plans for a new tower, named the Center for Student Success.
The new plans for The Pathside Building are in early stages, as it still requires approval from the Jersey City Planning Board, and the development company still needs to purchase the property from the JCRA. The hotel plans for the building come not long after the JCRA’s recent approval of another hospitality property, The Albion Hotel Project, which faced its own challenges in the approvals process.
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