Beacon, Jersey City

The Beacon is a new mixed-use development emerging from the rehabilitation of the original complex of the Jersey City Medical Center that also restores historical features of the exterior façades and public interior spaces. It is located on a 14acre site on Bergen Hill, a crest of the Hudson Palisades and one of the highest geographical points in Jersey City, in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. It creates the northeastern corner the Bergen Lafayette Section and is just east of McGinley Square. It includes 2000000sqft of residential and retail space, approximately 1,200 luxury residences and 80000sqft of retail space. The redevelopment stalled after a down-turn in the market, but was completed by April 2016.HistoryThe hospital began as the "Charity Hospital" by the Board of Aldermen of Jersey City who bought land at Baldwin Avenue and Montgomery Street in 1882 for a new hospital. The locale was chosen to remove the hospital from the industrial development at Paulus Hook. This building is now the Medical Center building. It was renamed the Jersey City Hospital in 1885 and had expanded to 200 beds. In 1909, the original hospital building was reserved for men and a second wing was added for women. When Frank Hague became mayor of Jersey City in 1917, he planned to expand the hospital. He had the original building renovated, and by the late 1920's started construction on a new 23-story structure for surgery. The new facility opened in 1931, and George O'Hanlon was the first director.