Hugo Neu Breaks Ground on Building 197 at Kearny Point

On Jun 28, 2017

Joined by Kearny Mayor Alberto Santos, Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise, and Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly, Hugo Neu broke ground on Building 197 at Kearny Point. The approximately 200,000-square-foot light industrial building, designed for small-scale manufacturers, food processors, and other creators, is the second building to be redeveloped under Hugo Neu’s master-planned mixed-use redevelopment of the 130-acre former shipbuilding complex.

In one of the most environmentally progressive and economically significant adaptive reuse initiatives in the country, Hugo Neu is reinventing Kearny Point as a modern workplace home to a diverse community of pioneering businesses. Following the resounding success of the revitalized Building 78, which now houses over 100 small businesses along with a popular co-working facility, construction has commenced on Building 197, which will cater to creative tenants with storage or manufacturing requirements.

“Today’s groundbreaking signifies another major milestone in regenerating what was once one of the great economic drivers in Hudson County,” said Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise. “What’s happening in South Kearny is already beginning to reverberate throughout the region, as we’re attracting more businesses, residents, and visitors back to this historic site.”

Added Kearny Mayor Alberto Santos: “We’re thrilled to watch the Kearny Point redevelopment continue to take shape. Building 197 will add an in-demand industrial asset to this evolving business hub, and, more importantly, will bring hundreds of new jobs back to South Kearny.”

Located adjacent to the Hackensack River waterfront on the southwest portion of Kearny Point, Building 197 will feature 36-foot ceilings, 700-pound floor loads, and five loading docks per module. The state-of-the-art facility will offer an ideal strategic location for its users, situated in the Urban Enterprise Zone approximately five miles from the Holland Tunnel, and within close proximity to Port Newark, Newark International Airport, and the New Jersey Turnpike. Distributors will also have near-direct access to Routes 1,9,7, and 440.

“There’s a common perception that industrial facilities exist solely in desolate, isolated settings,” said Steve Nislick, Chief Financial Officer at Hugo Neu. “Building 197 is not your typical manufacturing and storage facility. It’s not every day that you find a new, state-of-the-art light industrial building amidst such a diverse and growing community of innovative companies, surrounded by new green space and a restored waterfront.”

Today, Kearny Point is home to a wide range of creators, from craft-food artisans to tech trendsetters to filmmakers, concentrated in the aforementioned Building 78. The collaborative work environment offers a variety of flexible office options, pre-furnished team offices and a co-working facility known as Kearny Works. On the building’s ground floor, Dry Dock Bistro, a 2,500-square-foot nouveau American bar and grill, accommodates Kearny Point’s growing roster of businesses and visitors. The building is also home to a 5,000-square-foot roof deck and lounge, along with a 3,000-square-foot indoor event space, managed by JPO Concepts.

Later this year, Hugo Neu will break ground on the former craneway adjacent to Building 197, known as Building 100, which will be transformed into a technologically advanced creative office environment geared toward larger office users. Hugo Neu has brought on a world-class New York-New Jersey brokerage team from Cushman & Wakefield – led by Executive Director Mitch Arkin and Associate Director Dan Johnsen – to market Building 100.

Kearny Point’s master plan, conceived in partnership with STUDIOS Architecture and WXY architecture + design, features over 25 acres of new open and civic space, including restored native habitat, a continuous waterfront promenade, and a living shoreline. The plan also calls for high efficiency building systems, solar and wind energy, and a multi-modal “complete streets” strategy.  As part of its mission to promote sustainability, Hugo Neu will implement additional green infrastructure measures, including green roofs/blue roofs, naturalized detention basins, bio-swales and the removal of impermeable surfaces throughout the site, replacing them with a variety of permeable surfaces limiting run-off into the Hackensack River.

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