History of the Powerhouse Arts District

For the past ten years Pro Arts and the Jersey City artist community have been actively supporting the creation of an arts district in the historic warehouse section of downtown Jersey City. From the beginning this district has been envisioned as a place where artists could live and work, as a magnet for artists and art lovers from all over, and as a place that would become a focal point for both the Jersey City community and the hundreds of artists living in this area. During the past few years especially this idea has gained support and recognition.

The area now referred to as the Powerhouse Arts District is an approximately 8-block section of historic 19^th century warehouse buildings, located alongside Jersey City’s waterfront between the newly developed Newport area and Harborside. This district of industrial warehouses was originally established as an industrial zone feeding into the Pennsylvania Railroad system, and at that time formed a backbone to the city’s economic base. At the turn of the century one of the worlds largest retailers (A&P), largest manufacturers (Lorillard Tobacco) and largest wholesalers (Butler Brothers 5 and 10 cent suppliers) all had warehouses in this district. Over the course of years, the warehouses and railroad lines fell into disuse. However, the warehouse district remained intact and the buildings were eventually used for storage and other light industrial uses, including artist studio space.

In the mid 1990’s discussion began in the Jersey City community to formally designate the area an art district. Artists were already attracted to the area for its proximity to New York City as well as the availability of warehouse loft spaces which are well-suited for artist work and live/work space. Initially, commercial space was quite affordable compared to rising prices in nearby art districts in New York. As a result many artists arrived and established studios in the Jersey City warehouse district. Initially, the area was zoned for light industrial and commercial use only. However, as artists increased their presence in the area, the desire and need for affordable legal live/work spaces began to come into focus as a guiding principle for what was hoped the district would become. The question remained, how to develop the area so that residential uses would be allowed, but at the same time keep costs affordable so that a critical mass of artists could afford to live and work there.

In 1999, the City of Jersey City passed the first zoning ordinance that supported the development of the area as an art district. This is the first ordinance that allowed for residential use of the buildings by artists, provided, of course, the buildings were brought up to code. The "WALDO" name actually started out as an acronym for the ordinance creating an art district (Work And Live District Overlay) and caught on as the name for the district itself. The WALDO ordinance required that anyone living in the district must be an artist. In addition, only art-related uses were to be allowed in the retail spaces. The thinking was that by restricting the district to art uses, rental costs to residents would be kept low as individuals in trades that generally earned higher income could not move into the neighborhood and drive up property values by their sheer ability to pay a higher rate than the art community. Rental fees would remain at a level that many artists could afford, and so they would not be displaced by gentrification. WALDO was conceived as an overlay so that building owners could choose to adopt it, or to retain the current industrial zoning. Unfortunately, this strategy was slow to develop, especially compared to the rapid development that was occurring just adjacent to the area on the Jersey City waterfront.

On April 11, 2001, Jersey City re-assessed the WALDO zoning in an attempt to attract development. Still an overlay, the new WALDO plan allowed for a 51% majority of artist live/work space to exist within each new development project, and permitted the remaining 49% to be offered as market-rate residential space. Retail art uses were to occupy 1/3 of retail space, while 2/3 could be occupied by restaurants, cafes, and other retail uses. These changes were significant as WALDO began to be seen as an area that would serve the entire community of Jersey City as an art and entertainment district. It was also hoped that the new less-restrictive zoning would encourage development where the old zoning had not. There was indeed some interest, but the projects proposed in the area were not immediately successful . An artist-run live/work project at 110 First Street was proposed but did not come to completion. Other similar projects were proposed that did not come to pass. Some of the property owners expressed their unhappiness with the zoning that they saw as inhibiting the value of their property in relationship to the surrounding area. WALDO in fact offered greater opportunity over the existing industrial zoning in the immediate area, but did not come through with the rapid development seen on other parts of the waterfront. Although interest in developing the area as WALDO did continue, any progress made seemed to be moving forward very slowly, complicated by the now sharp rise in property values on the waterfront. Supporters of WALDO believed that the value of preserving the arts community in the area, together with the high value that an arts district would add to the City (and ultimately to the properties concerned) made the City’s tenacity worthwhile in upholding the zoning. However, many still felt that another plan was needed to develop the district at a faster rate.

In 2001, the City of Jersey City commissioned the Urban Land Institute (ULI) to evaluate the feasibility of an arts and entertainment district in the area. The ULI studied the area and history of the progress, and submitted a comprehensive report detailing how they believed the arts district could best be encouraged. Their recommendations allow for a mixed use of the buildings to further encourage development, while at the same time providing measures to protect affordable artist housing and encourage arts development in the district. They embraced the idea of creating an "Arts and Entertainment District" as a vibrant area that would serve the entire City and be a focal point for the arts. They envisioned a district that incorporates art uses with retail, commercial and office use. It is their recommendations that serve as guidelines to what we now call "The Powerhouse Arts District."

The complete ULI report can be downloaded at www.proartsjerseycity.org.

The City of Jersey City is currently working on a redevelopment plan based generally upon the ULI’s recommendations. The ULI plan seems to be a good match for the district, as new development projects have now progressed after years of very little growth, and have been evaluated to a large extent based upon ULI recommendations. It is our primary hope that the Powerhouse Arts District will develop into an area filled with working artist studios and galleries, and that it will maintain a significant percentage of live and work space for artists, which has inspired this district from the beginning.

Some of the redevelopment goals that are currently being examined by the City Planning department are:

• To encourage a variety of uses to transform the underutilized district into a vibrant neighborhood with primary emphasis on the arts, entertainment and culture.
• To Create a mixed-use neighborhood with both rental and for-sale units, particularly loft-style units, striving to create both affordable and market-rate live/work units.
• To Maintain the district’s industrial character and implement design standards that will maintain its historic integrity.
• To Accommodate at least one major arts anchor within the new district, such as, an arts magnet high-school, university program center, or museum.
• To Reinforce the pedestrian connections between the Powerhouse arts district and the surrounding areas.
• To Require that all market rate housing projects make 10% of their units available to low and moderate income certified artists.
• To Encourage public art installation throughout the district
• To Require a percentage of ground floor gallery space or art related retail to be developed concurrent with other retail use.

To date, Jersey City has made a commitment that ten percent of residential units developed in the district are to be subsidized low-income live/work spaces for artists, encouraging emerging and under-represented artists to live and work here. This is a crucial element to creating the district as a bona fide arts district where a diverse community of artists can actually live, work and thrive, in an environment where rapid development, though desired, might make the district cost-prohibitive to many artists.

Pro Arts would also like to see the development of a single building devoted entirely to affordable artist studios and housing. The Urban Land Institute strongly urged the city to "Move aggressively to implement a tax-subsidized artists live/work project with an accredited developer." Although the 10% affordable housing throughout the district is an outstanding commitment, we agree with the Urban land Institute’s assessment that additional affordable artist live/work space would greatly enhance the diversity of the district.

We would like to see the character of the Powerhouse Arts District defined forever by the magnificent warehouse buildings that exist today and we encourage the City to protect them by giving the area historic landmark status. We feel this is a key step to take to preserve the historic buildings and ultimately the character of the district.

The importance of the Powerhouse Arts District happening now, in Jersey City, is that it underscores the wholly unique community and the unique opportunity that exists here today. The Powerhouse Arts District encompasses a neighborhood of intact 19^th century warehouse buildings, an important part of Jersey City history and a neighborhood that exists nowhere else. There is already a large established art community here, with over a hundred studios currently maintained within the envisioned Powerhouse Arts District area, while an estimated 1,600 artists are living and working throughout the city. The Powerhouse Arts district would serve the entire Jersey City community as a focal point for its arts and culture, and as a center for entertainment and tourism. In the future district, we hope to create opportunities for programs that will enhance cultural understanding and unite different Jersey City interests.

On September 30th of 2003, A ceremony was held for the official ground-breaking of the first new development project in the Powerhouse Arts District at 140 Bay street, fondly referred to as the Cooke Brothers warehouse building. This building originally housed the Eckerson company, an early 20^th century margarine producer.

This first project is a residential live/work loft conversion produced by Greentree Construction of Hoboken. Scheduled for October 2004 occupancy, the project offers 59 residential loft condos specifically designed for artist live/work. 10% of these units, which is 6 units, will be purchased by the City of Jersey City and rented in perpetuity as affordable artist housing in the Powerhouse Arts District. Candidates for this space must be professional artists, certified by Jersey City’s Artists Certification Board. These candidates will also be expected to meet hud's guidelines for low-income housing. The units will be owned and maintained by a city agency.

The remaining units will be sold as market-rate condos, and have been marketed exclusively to artists during the first four-months of the marketing campaign. It is hoped that focused marketing to artists will encourage a high percentage of arts professionals to relocate to the district, which will in turn generate greater and greater interest from nearby art communities and enhance growth and diversity.

In addition to 140 Bay Street, other projects are in the planning stages. A new construction loft project is planned for 159 Second Street, which will include over 80 loft condominium units and will maintain the character of the surrounding warehouse buildings, and include 7 affordable units. A rental conversion is planned for the National Historic Landmark A&P warehouse building, located at 150 Bay street, which will include 24 affordable units. Both projects offer residential units designed to be desirable for artist live/work situations, and to be exclusively marketed to artists for a period of time.

Perhaps the most unique element which will help define and shape the future arts district is the wonderfully vibrant artists community which already exists in Jersey City. It is this community that will be the heart of the future Arts District, and the success of the district will be directly related to our ability to sustain the energy, inventiveness and quality of this community. In all our efforts to help foster the Powerhouse Arts District, it is our greatest desire to create a district that will allow the existing artist community to thrive and grow, and to foster a place in which this city’s unique cultural assets can be enjoyed and shared by the entire community.