111 First Street was an industrial building in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, at the intersection of First and Washington Streets in

Downtown Jersey City Downtown is an area of Jersey City, New Jersey, which includes the Historic Downtown and the Waterfront. Historic Downtown Historic Downtown was an area of mostly low-rise buildings to the west of the waterfront, but by the 2000s a number of ...

. Prior to its demolition in 2007, the 19th-century industrial building on the site had been converted to an arts center, artists' residence, and loft. , the site is the location of a proposed 52-story skyscraper.

Original building

Construction and industrial use

The original industrial building, constructed in 1866, was a

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

brick building fronting on Washington Street that housed one of the nation's first conglomerates, the American Screw Company. It was purchased in the early 1870s by P. Lorillard & Co., and for about 85 years it was a factory and warehouse of the

Lorillard Tobacco Company Lorillard Tobacco Company was an American tobacco company that marketed cigarettes under the brand names Newport (cigarette), Newport, Maverick (cigarette), Maverick, Old Gold (cigarette), Old Gold, Kent (cigarette), Kent, True (cigarette), True, ...

. In 1956, Lorillard moved its manufacturing operations out of Jersey City, and in the ensuing decades, a variety of other businesses used the building for purposes including light manufacturing, retail space, and storage.

Arts center

In the late 1980s, the warehouse was renovated after years of abandonment, and began to be shared by industrial tenants and artists. The building became known as an arts center, with galleries, studios, residences, and lofts that housed over 200 artists, including painters, sculptors, photographers, musicians, filmmakers, writers, and poets. The building's neighborhood, redeveloped as the Historic Warehouse District, was initially dubbed

WALDO Waldo may refer to: People and fictional characters * Waldo (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Waldo (surname), a list of people * Waldo (footballer), Brazilian footballer Waldo Machado da Silva (1934–20 ...

(Work And Live District Overlay), but soon became known as the Powerhouse Arts District. In the spring of 2005, the artists and other tenants were evicted in a dispute with developer

Lloyd Goldman Lloyd Goldman is a New York real estate developer and founder of BLDG Management. Biography Goldman is the son of real estate investor Irving Goldman.

, and the building was demolished in 2007.

Legacy

The building and its artists were the subject of a 2012 documentary film, ''

111 First Street 111 First Street was an industrial building in Jersey City, New Jersey, at the intersection of First and Washington Streets in Downtown Jersey City. Prior to its demolition in 2007, the 19th-century industrial building on the site had been con ...

'', directed by independent filmmaker Branko (Raul Romero), and largely filmed prior to the building's demolition. The documentary, subtitled ''From Paris to Jersey City, They Showed No Love'', included interviews with artists and political figures. In 2017, twelve years after their eviction, more than 40 of the building's artists reunited to display their work in an exhibition called "111 1st Street: A Community of Artists."

Proposed skyscraper

The approved new building is a 52-story skyscraper to be built in the Powerhouse Arts District of

Jersey City Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

. The mixed-use building is to include residences, a hotel, and retail space, as well as planned artist lofts and gallery space. Under the owner's preliminary agreement with the city that permitted demolition of the building, the facade is to be reconstructed using the previously existing brick.

Rem Koolhaas Remment Lucas Koolhaas (; born 17 November 1944) is a Dutch architect, architectural theory, architectural theorist, urbanist and Professor in Practice of Architecture and Urban Design at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Graduate School of ...

of the

Office for Metropolitan Architecture The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is an international architectural firm with offices in Rotterdam, New York, Hong Kong, Doha, and Australia. The firm is currently led by eight partners - Rem Koolhaas, Reinier de Graaf, Ellen va ...

(OMA), an

architectural firm In the United States, an architectural firm or architecture firm is a business that employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture; while in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and other countr ...

based in the Netherlands, was announced as the project's architect on September 18, 2006. It is divided into three vertical rectangular sections, at 90 degree angles to one another, overhanging the building's base. According to the architects:

References

{{Reflist, 30em, refs= 111 First Street
(project page).

. {{cite journal , title=111 First Street: Koolhaas raises profile of Jersey City , date=April 16, 2007 , journal=Architectural Record , publisher=BNP Media , url=https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/3448-first-street?v=preview , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412184341/https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/3448-first-street?v=preview , archive-date=2018-04-12 , url-access=registration {{cite web , title=Building Directory – 111 First Street , website=Emporis, url=http://www.emporis.com/building/111-first-street-jersey-city-nj-usa , url-status=usurped , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412184302/https://www.emporis.com/buildings/275040/111-first-street-jersey-city-nj-usa , archive-date=2018-04-12 {{cite news , first=Summer Dawn , last=Hortillosa , title=Urban Historian Discussing Local Arts Community and The Last Days of 111 First Street , date=October 19, 2012 , newspaper=Jersey City Independent , url=http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/2012/10/19/urban-historian-discussing-the-last-days-of-111-first-street-and-local-arts-community/ , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220201730/http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/2012/10/urban-historian-discussing-the-last-days-of-111-first-street-and-local-arts-community/ , archive-date=2018-02-20 {{cite web , first=Carmela , last=Karnoutsos , title=P. Lorillard Tobacco Company, 111 First Street , website=Jersey City: Past and Present , publisher=New Jersey City University , date=June 15, 2007 , url=http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/Pages/L_Pages/Lorillard_Tobacco.htm , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170410190451/http://www.njcu.edu/programs/jchistory/Pages/L_Pages/Lorillard_Tobacco.htm , archive-date=2017-04-10 , access-date=2018-04-12 {{cite news , title=Documentary looks at former artists enclave torn down for real estate development , first=Terrence T. , last=McDonald , newspaper=The Jersey Journal , date=November 23, 2012 , url=http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2012/11/a_tale_of_real_estate_versus_a.html , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055053/http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2012/11/a_tale_of_real_estate_versus_a.html , archive-date=2016-03-04 {{cite news , title='111 1st Street' exhibition features work from Jersey City warehouse, artist enclave 12 years later , date=October 14, 2017 , first=Corey W. , last=McDonald , newspaper=The Jersey Journal , publisher=

NJ.com NJ.com is a digital news content provider and website in New Jersey owned by Advance Publications. According to ''The New York Times'' in 2012, it was the largest provider of digital news in the state at the time. In 2018, comScore reports that ...

, url=http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2017/10/12_years_later_111_1st_street_exhibition_features.html , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171101070851/http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2017/10/12_years_later_111_1st_street_exhibition_features.html , archive-date=2017-11-01 {{cite journal , first=John A. , last=Trosky , title=Jersey City and the Beginning of Big Tobacco , date=November 2013 , website=New Jersey Postal History Journal , url=http://njpostalhistory.org/nov13featuredcover.html , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160626101846/http://njpostalhistory.org/nov13featuredcover.html , archive-date=2016-06-26 {{cite journal , title=Stacking up a good design: OMA designs mixed-use tower for Jersey City's arts district , journal=World Architecture News , date=February 26, 2007 , url=http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=899 , url-status=dead , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180412180518/http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/project/2007/899/oma/111-first-street-in-jersey-city.html , archive-date=2018-04-12 , access-date=2013-06-16

External links

111 First Street
– project page at architectural firm OMA Buildings and structures demolished in 2007 Demolished buildings and structures in New Jersey Proposed skyscrapers in the United States Rem Koolhaas buildings Skyscrapers in Jersey City, New Jersey