Jersey City desperately needs more affordable housing, and Jim McGreevey, who’s running for mayor, says he’s got just the plan.
His pitch is bold—1,000 new affordable housing units, all ma🐲d𒆙e possible by redirecting money from the Pompidou museum project.
But there’s a lot of skepticism about wheꦆther his plan holds up under closer inspection.
Katie Brennan, a Jersey City local who works in affordable housing🍰, isn’t buying it.
She’s dug intoဣ the numbers, and they just d𝕴on’t add up.
- McGreevey’s idea to use redirected Pompidou PILOT funds for affordable housing is complicated and probably won’t cover the 1,000 units he promises.
- Programs like LIHTC and ASPIRE are competitive and provide limited help, making large-scale projects in Jersey City difficult.
- Expanding local housing policies and focusing on new rules could lead to more affordable housing in a more realistic way.
Breaking Down the Plan for 1,000 New Units
McGreevey says he’ll use $150 million from the Centre Pompidou’s PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) deal to help pay for the new housing units. But this plan isn’t as simple as it sounds:
- Problems with Using PILOT Funds: The Centre Pompidou deal is legally tied up, and changing it could take a long time and be expensive. Even if the city wins that battle, the $150 million wouldn’t be available as a lump sum.Instead, it would trickle in each year, making it hard to use for quickly building housing.
- Limited Support from LIHTC and ASPIRE Programs: McGreevey also counts on tax credits from programs like LIHTC and ASPIRE. But these programs have their issues:
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- LIHTC Challenges: Jersey City hasn’t received a major LIHTC award since 2018, making it difficult to rely on this funding.Plus, the city only received one smaller grant in 2024, which shows just how competitive the process is.
- ASPIRE Program: This program offers tax breaks, but it’s also competitive and has yet to bring many affordable homes to the city. So, it’s not a reliable funding source for many new units.
- Doubts About the Affordable Housing Trust Fund: McGreevey says the Jersey City Affordable Housing Trust Fund could be $50 to $100 million, but the numbers don’t support that.
The Trust Fund brings in about $2-4 million each year, so it’s unlikely to hold that much money. The city already collects the maximum fee allowed, so there isn’t an eas𒉰y way ꦿto increase the amount coming in.
What’s More Realistic for Jersey City?
Even if McGree📖vey’s plan seems shaky, there are other options 𓃲out there that might actually make a difference. Katie Brennan, who’s been keeping a close eye on these issues, has some ideas that sound a bit more realistic:
- Building on Local Policy Successes: The Journal Square 2060 Redevelopment Plan introduced Jersey City’s first mandatory affordable housing requirement.
Under this policy, ne�🥀�w developments with more than 30 units must include 10% affordable housing.
If similar regulations had been in place earlier, projects like the KRE Pompidou site would have been required to include affordable housing. To clarify, this would have been possible without the need for PILOT funds or tax credits.
- Expanding Affordable Housing Rules: Brennan and other housing advocates are pushing the city council to extend these rules. They want to see them applied across all of Journal Square, and eventually, throughout the whole of Jersey City.
This approach could create more affordable units without jumping through the hoops of state and federal programs.
- Turning Old Buildings into Affordable Housing: McGreevey actually agrees on this point—finding new uses for empty or rundown properties can be a great way to create more housing.
It’s quicker and cheaper than building from scratch, and it’s s🍨omething the city can do without relying on complicated funding schemes.
McGreevey’s Plan: Challenges and Concerns
While McGreevey’s pla🐻n is full of big ideas, it raises some real concerns about whether it can be trusted:
- Misleading About the Pompidou Funds: McGreevey makes it sound like it would be easy to take the money meant for the Pompidou museum and use it for housing.
But, undoing that deal would be complicated, and even if the funds were freed up, they wouldn’t come in a lump sum. And this makes it hard to use them for immediate housing needs.
- Trust Issues Among Residents: Some residents worry that McGreevey’s close ties to developers might mean he’s more focused on helping his wealthy connections than on helping the community.
Because of this, these concerns make people question whether he would truly prioritize affordable housing.
- Overpromising and Under-Delivering: Building 1,000 homes, each costing about $500,000, means the city needs $500 million.
McGreevey’s plan relies on a mix of funding sources, but it🅺’s not clear that he can actually secure all that money. Sure, his promises might sound great, but the details don’t inspire much confidence.
A Way Forward for Jersey City
Everyone agrees on one thing: Je🐠rsey City needs more affordable housing.
But turning that dream into reality isn’t easy.
McGreevey has put forward a bold plan, but it seems like mo🌺re of a wish list th🐷an a real solution.
The city needs a leader who can turn plaꦗns into tangible results, not just ideas that sound good on paper.
Instead of waiting for uncertain funds, a better approach might involve expaꦿnding local housing rules, reusing underused properties, and focusing on things the city can control.
These ideas could create more homes and help more people without ꦫrelying on uncertain sources of mone🌃y.
As Jersey City prepares for its next election, residents should closely examine the candidates’ platforms.
Does McGreevey’s plan seem realistic, or is there another candidate with a mꦬore practical approach?
As we can see, the choice will shape the city’s future, and 𒁏it🔯’s up to the voters to make sure it’s a good one.
