McGinley Square is located in “the heart” of Jersey City just south of Journal Square. Its principal retail center is on McGinley Square itself. A variety of locally owned retail establishments are located in the Square along the intersection of Bergen Avenue and Montgomery Street. This area also encompasses most of the McGinley Square Special Improvement District (SID).
Saint Peter’s College, located along Kennedy Boulevard and Montgomery Street, is the primary institution in the McGinley Square neighborhood. It has an expanding student enrollment and, together with the City, has recently completed the construction of a pedestrian overpass connecting College buildings on both sides of Kennedy Boulevard.
Other institutions contributing to the vitality of the area are St. Dominic’s Academy, Hudson Catholic Regional High School and Horizon Health Care. Although the Jersey City Medical Center complex that was an economic engine in the area has relocated to the Historic Downtown District, the massive seven-building site still dominates the skyline on the eastern portion of McGinley Square and is now a mixed-use residential development.
There is a high concentration of one and two family homes in the McGinley Square neighborhood, with most of the two family homes of row house interspersed with old Victorian style single-family homes. There are also several multi-unit rental buildings units in the area. Rental units comprise about 75% of all housing in the area. However several buildings in the area have recently been converted to condominiums.
