Jersey City, N.J., planners say closed Heights hospital site qualifies for eminent domain; hospital operator calls it unnecessary

Photo: Christ Hospital, now the closed Heights University Hospital, at 176 Palisade Ave. in 2011. Jim Henderson / Wikimedia Commons (CC0).

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Jersey City’s planning staff has concluded that the closed Heights University Hospital campus on Palisade Avenue, the former Christ Hospital, can be designated an area in need of redevelopment with the power of eminent domain, according to a city report publicized Oct. 16 ahead of a Planning Board hearing on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

The hospital’s operator, Hudson Regional Health (HRH), says that power isn’t needed. “HRH believes a resolution can be achieved and eminent domain is unnecessary,” the company said in a written statement to Hudson TV attributed to Otto Angulo on behalf of Hudson Regional Health.

The 23-page report, prepared by Planning Director Tanya Marione, covers 14 tax lots, mostly along the east side of Palisade Avenue from 112 to 218 Palisade, plus 169 and 179 Palisade on the west side. It recommends condemnation power for 12 of the lots, including the main hospital parcel at 176 Palisade. The other two, 188 and 202 Palisade, are homes that show signs of current occupation, the report says; it recommends including them in the redevelopment area without eminent domain.

The hearing is item 16 on the board’s Oct. 27 agenda, case P2026-0156, and the agenda says “formal action may be taken.” The Planning Board makes a recommendation; the City Council makes the final decision. The council authorized the study 8-0 on March 25 (Res. 26-130).

What the report found

• Main hospital parcel (176 Palisade, about 4 acres): “The structure is abandoned, with boarded up windows on the ground floor,” with peeling paint, debris, “unrepaired holes in the building, and cracks in the beams that cantilever the structure over the Palisades Cliff.” An unsafe-structure violation issued Oct. 21, 2024, “remains open and fine is unpaid,” and a new summons was issued Oct. 13, 2026. An engineer’s report submitted for the owner found the structural framing safe but listed needed repairs, including a rusted steel column, damaged brick and rusted lintels.
• 206 Palisade (Lot 9, including vacant buildings at 190–210 Palisade): vacant, boarded structures and a partly abandoned parking lot, with vacant-property violations dated Oct. 12, 2024, Nov. 14, 2024, and April 2, 2026.
• 218 Palisade (Lot 13, a little over 2 acres): a mostly vacant medical building, cracked parking-lot asphalt and an abandoned security kiosk.
• 216 Palisade (Lot 8): vacant land with Planning Board approval for a 10-story, 51-unit senior building (P22-189, memorialized April 30, 2024, with a one-year extension granted May 12, 2026). It is in the recommended condemnation area.
• The report cites statutory criteria a, b, c, d, e and h, including the “diverse ownership” of the real estate and the hospital operation.

What Hudson Regional Health says

HRH’s full statement: “Hudson Regional Health is committed to restoring health care in the Heights community with a new hospital. HRH is working with the Department of Health, the Mayor’s Office, local and state elected officials and the community to bring about this goal. Because the facility has lived well beyond its useful life, a redevelopment plan is appropriate. Furthermore, HRH believes a resolution can be achieved and eminent domain is unnecessary.”

The statement was sent to Hudson TV on Oct. 21 by HRH Chief Strategy Officer Adam Alonso.

Ownership and history, according to the report

• The certified owner list shows the hospital lots held by J.C. Opco, LLC and Castle Realty Partners LLC, both in care of Alaris Health. Other lots in the condemnation area are owned by Palisade Avenue Properties, LLC (192 Palisade), Palisades Ave. Properties LLC (194 Palisade), Gullo Realty Inc. (212 Palisade) and 214-216 Palisade Ave., LLC (216 Palisade).
• In December 2022, the real estate was sold to J.C. Opco, CH 750 Park and CH Castle. In May 2025, HRH took over operations and renamed the hospital Heights University Hospital.
• On Oct. 13, 2025, HRH asked the planning division to begin a redevelopment study for the campus. The report quotes HRH citing “a yearly loss of over $60 million attributed to the Jersey City facility alone” and warning that without a plan “we unfortunately must preserve our option to proceed forward with alternative proposals for the land.” The report says that alternative was a senior-housing proposal with no medical or hospital facilities.
• On Nov. 14, 2025, all services except the emergency department closed. The emergency department closed March 14, 2026. On April 14, 2026, the state Health Department wrote that the hospital “ceased operating as a licensed general hospital.” The State Health Planning Board held its public hearing on Aug. 27, 2026, and the Health Department had issued no final decision as of the report.

When the study was announced in March, Mayor James Solomon called it “the beginning of a process, not the end,” according to a city release. News 12 New Jersey reported in April that HRH said eminent domain “would be an extraordinarily costly and time consuming process for Jersey City.” Jersey Digs reported in February that the property’s owners sued over the city’s medical-zone changes.

The city

Hudson TV emailed city spokesperson Kimberly Wallace Scalcione on Saturday, Oct. 17, asking for a copy of the report; what it found for the condemnation and non-condemnation areas; when the administration expects to bring a designation to the council if the Planning Board recommends one; and whether the city plans to use eminent domain and has estimated the cost. A response will be added if received.

How to weigh in

The Planning Board meets Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 5:30 p.m. at 4 Jackson Square (also known as 39 Kearney Ave.). The report is on the city’s online permitting portal under case P2026-0156 and at the Division of City Planning, 1 Jackson Square; questions go to 201-547-5010.

Hudson TV asks: Should Jersey City use eminent domain to take the Heights hospital site, or work out a deal with the owners? Reply A: Use eminent domain. Reply B: Negotiate a deal.
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