Take a long look at that unattractive parking garage on 14th Street the next time you find yourself in uptown Hoboken because, sometime during the next year, it’s going to give way to a 12-story, 180-unit LEED Gold mixed-use condominium complex, developed by Teaneck, New Jersey-based Bijou Properties (image to the left via Bijou’s website). The $100 million project, designed by Hoboken’s Dean Marchetto Architects, will offer 30,000 square feet of ground floor retail space, 371 parking spots, and a green roof, among numerous other sustainable design elements.

While other projects in Hoboken (and Jersey City) have gone green (including Bijou’s Garden Street Lofts), I hadn’t read much about Bijou until I heard about this 14th Street project. According to its website, Bijou is “committed to providing first-class properties utilizing green building practices.” The firm’s philosophy is to acquire underperforming assets and upgrade them through sustainable construction techniques. For example, Bijou is currently converting the old Hostess Bakery building, also in uptown Hoboken, into a retail property that will house a New York Sports Club, a CVS, and a Washington Mutual branch.

While its green portfolio is just beginning to grow, I suspect that we’ll see Bijou’s name with more frequency in any discussion of green building on the New Jersey side of the Hudson. Bijou is demonstrating that sustainable building practices can be employed effectively in both commercial and residential contexts- it’s definitely a developer to keep an eye on.

Source: www.greenbuildingsnyc.com