Fort Lee Redevelopment Associates broke ground this morning on a $500 million luxury rental project set to transform Bergen County’s Fort Lee.
The Modern will include 900 luxury rental apartments in two 47-story glass towers on eight acres near the entrance to the George Washington Bridge. Fort Lee Redevelopment Associates is a partnership of real estate developer SJP Residential Properties, Bergen County attorney James Demetrakis and real estate investment firm Palisades Financial.
The ground breaking marks the culmination of a long and storied history at the site, which has sat vacant since the late 1970s. It was the subject of a federal investigation 40 years ago when Fort Lee’s then mayor Burt Ross tipped off the Federal Bureau Investigation that he’d been offered a bribe by corrupt developers with links to the mob in return for approving plans for a controversial skyscraper at the site. Ross agreed to don a wire and later helped the authorities bust the developers.
The new development, slated for completion in 2014, will feature studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Rents are slated to range from $1,650 to $6,500 a month. A landscaped public park, public theater and a museum will also be built at the site. – Katherine Clarke