By The Garden State Gazette

A roughly $200 million financing package has locked in backing for a new 34-story residential tower in Jersey City’s Journal Square, with a promise of mixed-income housing and union labor from start to finish.

According to a release from JLL Capital Markets, the money will fuel Homestead Gateway, a high-rise planned for 701 Newark Avenue that aims to convert a former municipal parking lot into a dense residential community with open space and transit access.

What’s Being Built

The project is led by Lions Group and is designed as a 360-unit tower, including:

• 360 residential apartments total
• 90 affordable units reserved within that mix

Beyond housing, plans call for:

• ≈ 3,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space
• A rooftop lounge
• Fitness center
• Bicycle storage
• Shared workspaces

The building will sit three blocks from the Journal Square Transportation Center, giving residents direct access to PATH service into New York City and Newark.

How The Financing Is Structured

JLL describes the deal as a “structured capitalization” totaling around $200 million, assembled from several pieces:

• A forward commitment from Freddie Mac
• A capital solution from the Urban Investment Group at Goldman Sachs Alternatives
• A combination of:
  • Construction loan
  • Bridge facility
  • Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) equity
  • Aspire tax credit purchase

In plain English: this isn’t a simple bank loan. It’s a layered capital stack built specifically to make mixed-income, partially affordable housing pencil out in a high-cost, transit-heavy area.

Tied To The Journal Square 2060 Plan

JLL says the project is intended to advance the goals of the Journal Square 2060 Plan, which focuses on:

• Walkability
• Transit-oriented development
• Higher density near major transit hubs

Homestead Gateway’s location—steps from PATH and plugged into the Journal Square street grid—is being pitched as a textbook example of that “live on transit” model.

Union Labor From Construction Through Operations

One of the major talking points: union jobs.

According to the release, the project will:

• Use 100% union labor during construction under a Project Labor Agreement with Hudson County Building Trades
• Maintain union operations on the back end through 32BJ SEIU

For officials and labor advocates, that allows the project to be framed as both:

• Housing supply + affordability, and
• Job creation with union wages and benefits.

What Stakeholders Are Saying

From the capital side, Asahi Pompey, Chair of the Urban Investment Group at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, framed the deal as more than just housing:

This approach doesn’t just respond to the affordable housing crisis, Pompey said—it’s also about economic growth, neighborhood cohesion, and tangible benefits for families in Jersey City.

On the development side, Aaron Shirian, Principal at Lions Group, called the project unusual for how many community benefits it layers into a single building:

He described it as “extremely rare” to see one new development combine affordable units, union jobs, and community benefits on this scale, and said the team hopes to see similar deals repeated in the future.

JLL’s Capital Markets Advisory team on the transaction included:

• Nicco Lupo
• Christopher Peck
• Michael Shmuely
• Jillian Grzywacz
• Alex Staikos
• Jimmy Cochran
• Tom Didio Jr.

Timeline: When Does Dirt Actually Move?

Per JLL’s release, groundbreaking is expected in early December 2025, marking the official start of construction at 701 Newark Avenue.