Ground has been broken this morning on 111 First St.

After years and years of haggling and battling, ground was broken and machines are moving at the 111 First. St. site bordered on the east by Washington, to the west by Warren and to the south by Bay St. Last we heard this was approved for a 52 story residential masterpiece (we realize appreciation lies in the eye of the beholder) by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.

Here is a look at what the the building, proposed to have 1.3 million square feet including 710 condominiums, 120 live/work units, 16,000 square feet of art galleries, and about 52,000 square feet of retail space, is supposed to look like:

Crazy huh? Arty enough though to look really good in the PAD.

Since this is Jersey City we once again wonder if this huge new residential building had any kind of impact report on how it would affect the less than desired road conditions around that particular neighborhood, or how such a huge new residence would impact sewers or say on street parking.

So indeed ground is broken in the Powerhouse Arts District on a plan at least 7 years in the making. Here are a couple shots from this morning: