Home Culture Pompidou x Jersey City: The Latest Updates

Pompidou x Jersey City: The Latest Updates

by Hoboken Girl Team
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In June 2021, Jersey City leaders announced plans to open an outpost of the internationally renowned French art museum, The Pompidou. At the time, the museum was set to open in 2024. Now 2024 is drawing to a close and the plans are being revived for a second attempt. Millions of dollars in tax cuts and City bonds are involved in the project, which has drawn criticism from throughout New Jersey. With the project getting new energy and attention, The Hoboken Girl took a closer look at what happened here. Read on for more about plans for the Pompidou x Jersey City.

pompidou jersey city

Photo Credit: KRE

About the Pompidou

The Centre Pompidou is headquartered in Paris, France, and is known for its collection of modern and contemporary art. It was designed by architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, and opened in 1977. The multi-disciplinary building has performance spaces, a reference library, a music center, and performance halls in addition to the art exhibits. The Pompidou is one of Paris’ most popular museum attractions, as much for the art as for the building, which is known for its ‘inside out’ structure, with several pipes and shafts on the exterior of the building.

There are Pompidou outposts in other international cities, including Metz, France; Malaga, Spain; Brussels, Belgium; and Hong Kong, China. A location in Seoul, South Korea is opening in 2025. The Pompidou has signed agreements for satellite locations in Saudia Arabia and Brazil, according to the New York Times.

A Jersey City location would have been the first American spot. Previously, the Pompidou team had explored a Chicago location, but it didn’t work out, according to the New York Times. In addition to having one of the world’s largest art collections at over 120,000 items, the Pompidou provides an incredible international network of experts and other resources.

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During the summer 2024 Olympics in Paris, the building’s iconic exterior was covered with a promotional screen for the Nike Air Max 1 sneaker, which was inspired by the building’s architecture, per the New York Times.  The Paris location is set to close for five years of renovations in 2025.

Read More: Essex-Hudson Greenway Aiming for 2025 Groundbreaking, Open House on 11/13

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Selecting Jersey City

In 2018, Jersey City purchased a building located at 25 Sip Avenue known as the Pathside Building, for $10 million. At the time, plans for the five-story, 58,000-square-foot building were vague but the space would be used for cultural purposes. The building was built in 1912 and formerly was a trolley storage facility, meaning it has high ceilings and big windows. Per a press release from the City, The Pathside Building would be transformed into the home of a new Jersey City Museum and community center, as the Fulop Administration continues to bring new life to Journal Square through an emphasis on local arts and culture.

Centre Pompidou

^ Pathside Building. Courtesy of OMA.

“As a city that encourages arts and celebrates culture, I am proud that we are moving forward with our plans to create a new museum that will complement our city’s dynamic communities, and will help to bring new energy into Journal Square,” said Mayor Fulop. “Last night’s vote sets the table for the development of an exciting cultural destination that will attract residents from all neighborhoods and visitors from throughout the region.”

At the time of the announcement, the price tag for the project was stated to be between $10-30 million, according to the New York Times. The partnership was set to last for five years with an option for an extension. Part of the agreement would see the City pay Pompidou an annual fee to cover branding, project development, and exhibition management. The fee was $6 million over the term of the contract.

Jersey City was selected for its proximity to Manhattan, its diverse community, and its burgeoning art scene, according to the press release announcing the partnership. The partnership was the culmination of several years’ worth of partnership work between representatives of Jersey City, the state of New Jersey, and the Centre Pompidou.

“I am incredibly proud that Jersey City will be the beneficiary of Centre Pompidou‘s North American partnership,” Governor Murphy stated at the time, calling it a “historic first” that is a clear indicator of Jersey City’s revival, per the Hudson County View.

The Journal Square area where the Pathside Building is located has been a rapidly growing area, with several large-scale residential and multi-use buildings under construction. The most notable is the One Journal Square project, which will have over 1,700 residential units across two towers, per Jersey Digs. Another notable Journal Square project is the restoration of the historic Loew’s Theater, which opened in 1926 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

 


 

Facing Challenges

While conversations between Jersey City and the Pompidou teams began in 2019, no one could visit in person or see the site until 2021 due to the pandemic. “It is the first time we’ve concluded a contract without being there,” Serge Lasvignes, President of the Pompidou Center said via the New York Times at the June 2021 project announcement.

The Jersey City Council approved the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the City and the Pompidou in June 2021. Per the Hudson County View, several council members had questions about the project at the time, many citing the lack of financial specifics provided by Mayor Fulop as the main challenge. But, Council Members voted in favor of the MOU since there would be time to work out details. The final version of the MOU included an agreement for the City to pay Pompidou $30 million in consulting, branding, and naming rights in addition to the loans of artwork.

The French team visited New Jersey in fall 2021, meeting with the Jersey City Council, local arts groups, and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. Governor Murphy approved a statewide budget in 2021 that allocated $24 million for the state’s contribution to the project, per the Hudson County View.

Not much happened publicly in 2022, and in February 2023, the Jersey City team visited Paris. The visit was not disclosed to the public until after it happened, and it was also revealed that Mayor Fulop had taken a previously undisclosed trip to Paris in fall 2022, per the Jersey City Times. Council President Joyce Watterman, Ward B Councilwoman Mira Prinz-Arey, Director of Cultural Affairs Christine Goodman, Business Administrator John Metro, Housing, Economic Development, + Commerce Director Annisia Cialone, Jersey City Free Public Library Assistant Director Kate Davis, Cultural Affairs Director Christine Goodman, Jersey City Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Diana Jeffrey, Department of Housing, Economic Development and Commerce Director Annisia Cialone, and Business Administrator John Metro were on the trip, per the Hudson County View. “Paris and Jersey City officials and experts covered important decision-making topics ranging from the schematic design of the Pathside building to the featured collections and acquisitions of masterpieces for the Jersey City location,” said City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione, who also noted the trip was not taxpayer-funded but did not get into specifics, per the Hudson County View.

In June 2021, Jersey City Council members wanted more information about the budget for the project. By the time of the February 2023 trip, there was still no budget. In April 2023, Mayor Fulop announced that the 2024 opening of the Pompidou would be delayed until at least early 2026, per NJ.com.

In July 2023, New Jersey Senator Michael Testa (R-Cumberland) took aim at the project, asking the Senate GOP office to review the budget. Senator Testa cited his main complaints focused on the project’s ballooning costs, lack of oversight, ‘the influence of pay-for-play arrangements’, and “Jersey City not having to raise the bulk of the funds.” The memo referenced over 100 documents related to the project, dating back to 2017 and the purchase of the Pathside Building. It also provided information to compare the operating costs of the Pompidou to other New Jersey museums. The memo called for an audit of the project and greater involvement by Governor Murphy.

Per the New Jersey Monitor, Mayor Fulop’s office pushed back on the criticisms. At the time, Jersey City spokesperson Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione said Testa never sought relevant documents from the City that he could have obtained through public records requests.

In November 2023, after filing an Open Public Records request with the Jersey City Redevelopment Authority, a team from the Jersey City Times was able to see a budget for the project. Reporter Aaron Morrill wrote that 23 out of 47 pages of the budget were redacted, or blacked out. No other budget-related materials had been made available at this point in time. The materials that Aaron received were dated 2022, despite the project being agreed to in 2021.

Using information from the 2018 Art Museums By The Numbers survey, Aaron was able to pull relevant information about the costs associated with running a museum and the mechanisms by which they are funded. The study is performed by the Association of Art Museum Directors to understand museum performance in the context of the economy as a whole. Aaron estimated that the costs of running the Pompidou would be more than $16 million per year.

He concluded, “Ultimately, however, the finances of Pompidou x will have to be made public. According to the 2022 “Phase 2 & 3 Implementation Agreement,” Pompidou x is to be operated by a New Jersey nonprofit corporation. Nonprofit corporations are required to make their annual financial statements available to the public by way of the filing of a Form 990. A search of the records of the New Jersey Department of Treasury did not turn up a nonprofit containing the name Pompidou.” The Hoboken Girl team searched in September 2024 and also did not find any records.

Summer 2024 Updates

Budget issues for the project continued into 2024. Behind the scenes, the two main entities working on the project’s budget, the Jersey City Redevelopment Authority (JCRA) and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), couldn’t come to terms on a workable budget. In spring 2024, NJEDA wrote to JCRA saying that the budget was not acceptable, and that if a resolution couldn’t be reached soon, NJEDA would pull its funding.

“We kindly request an updated revenue and expense model for the CPxNJ project that rectifies the annual operating deficit. If JCRA cannot provide an updated model by May 26, 2024, we will have to consider whether it is more prudent for the State to use these funds for other fiscal priorities that the Legislature and Governor might identify through the budget and federal fund process.”

In June of 2024, the NJEDA pulled out of the project. In a letter to the Pompidou organization, NJEDA CEO Tim Sullivan wrote:

“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.”

At the same time, the JCRA received a similar letter from the New Jersey Department of State. Deputy Executive Director Michael Greco wrote reiterating the State’s change in position to not support the project. “As you are aware, the Department of State has disbursed 56 million to the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency for this project. Because the project is no longer viable and none of the disbursed funds have been expended, we ask that you return the funds to the State before August 1, 2024.”

As of June 2024, the City had spent nearly $22 million on the failed project, per the Jersey City Times. The largest expense was the acquisition of the Pathside building, followed by payments from the City to the Pompidou and expenditures for architectural services.

See More: A Guide to Public Art in Montclair, New Jersey

Fall 2024

While many observers figured that the Pompidou project was dead in the water, that is not the case.

In July 2024, Mayor Fulop hinted at another go for the project, per the Jersey City Times. “There may still be opportunities to make it a reality,” the Mayor said, without elaborating. The new effort will be located at 808 Pavonia Avenue, still in Journal Square but a change from the originally planned Pathside Building, per Jersey Digs. The 808 Pavonia Avenue project was approved in 2022, and the Pompidou facilities would be an addition to the original plan, per Jersey Digs. The project has two towers with over 1,000 residential units. The original plan also included an ‘art walk’ connecting Pavonia and Van Reipen avenues. The project also had space for a 6,000+ square foot gallery space.

pompidou jersey city

pompidou jersey city

Photo Credit: KRE

In this new plan, the Pompidou space would occupy 100,000 square feet in one of the towers, and the City would own the space for 30 years, per Jersey Digs. At a community meeting held on September 21st, Mayor Fulop spoke for over four hours explaining the project and answering resident’s questions, per the Jersey City Times. The town hall meeting was requested by Councilmen Rich Boggiano and Frank Gilmore and hosted by the Journal Square Community Association. In his remarks, Mayor Fulop clarified that the facility would be more of a cultural institution than a museum because of its educational and community resources and compared it to Liberty Science Center, per the Hudson County View.

pompidou jersey city

Photo Credit: KRE

On September 6th, 2024, Mayor Fulop shared an op-ed via the Hudson County View outlining how the project can still move forward without NJEDA’s financial support. That came in advance of a Jersey City Council meeting on Wednesday, September 11th where a new proposal for the project was shared. In the essay, Mayor Fulop argued that “The choices before the City Council are whether to do nothing and allow this opportunity to pass us by with limited community giveback or to grant a PILOT [payment in lieu of taxes]  in exchange for a transformational, multigenerational opportunity for our residents.”

Jersey City Councilmember James E. Solomon shared a statement pushing back on the new proposal. “I want to make world-class arts and culture available to all in Jersey City as much as anyone who calls our city home. But we are in a budget crisis fueled exactly by the kinds of tax breaks to wealthy developers proposed to fund this museum. This is not a good deal for Jersey City residents,” he said in a statement.

Per the Jersey City Times, a 30-year tax abatement that “[the] administration argues is necessary to bring the world-renowned art museum to Journal Square in Jersey City,” was passed on its first reading by a vote of 6-2 (with one abstention) at the September 11th City Council meeting — though Councilmembers did voice their concerns about the project. Councilmen James Solomon and Frank Gilmore opposed the measure, while Councilman Rich Boggiano abstained. The abatement would result in a little less than half of the projected tax revenue on the future mixed-use project, per a previous comment from the City’s financial consultant.

The proposal’s second reading for final approval happened at the September 25th, 2024, City Council meeting. Per the Hudson County View, the meeting was long and contentious, with several council members exchanging heated remarks. The proposal passed with a vote of six to three. Councilmen Boggiano, Solomon, and Gilmore voted against the proposal.

In the meantime, the City still owes the state $6 million from the first go-around. State Senator Mike Testa wrote a letter to Governor Murphy on September 10th encouraging the Governor to withhold future monies for Jersey City until the money has been repaid, per the Hudson County View.

At a recent press event in Hoboken, Governor Murphy expressed skepticism about the project’s future. Per the Hudson County View, the Governor likes the project in concept, but the finances weren’t workable. ” it was an unending loss position, that in the projections we were working with, never got better. And it would’ve been multiples, many multiples of what we put every year to say Liberty Science Center or NJPAC in Newark,” he said.

On Thursday, November 14th, the Jersey City Council will consider the first reading of a new special improvement district (SID) to help fund the project, per the Hudson County View. Mayor Fulop explained this part of the project on X:

 

Per the Hudson County View, the Jersey City Council approved the special improvement district (SID) to fund the Pompidou project on its first reading at the November 14th meeting, 6-3. The approval came with pushback from several Council Members who believe the SID should be withdrawn.

Jersey City Redevelopment Agency Counsel Joe Baumann said the ordinance had been “tweaked significantly” to address concerns, including exemptions for rent-controlled properties, multi-family homes of four or less, and properties of $4 million or less.

A final vote will likely take place on December 11th or later, but more details about the SID need to be worked out before that vote can happen. We’ll update this post as more details become available.

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