AVIVA (formerly Scholars Village), 225 Phillip Street, Jersey City, New Jersey

Alpine Residential has finished AVIVA, the 500-unit rental project at 225 Phillip Street in Jersey City that was known as Scholars Village through construction. Completion was announced Oct. 26, 2026, and the building is the residential piece of SciTech Scity, the 30-acre innovation campus Liberty Science Center is developing next to its museum.

Leasing started at the end of summer, and the opening offer says plenty about the market. Studios started in the $2,200s a month, a figure that included incentives of up to four months free on a 23-month lease.

Project Scope

AVIVA is two 12-story buildings tied together by a one-story lobby base with about 4,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Units run from studios to three-bedrooms, many with floor-to-ceiling windows and some with balconies or terraces, and views take in the Manhattan skyline, the Statue of Liberty and Liberty State Park.

GRT Architects and Ismael Leyva Architects designed the project. KL Masters Construction Co. was the general contractor, and the towers topped out in April 2025. Bank OZK provided the construction loan. Alpine’s affiliate South Oxford Management handles leasing and management.

The amenity list is long: a rooftop pool and lounge with grilling stations and water gardens, a fitness center with a CrossFit room, coworking and conference space, a demonstration kitchen, a children’s playroom, a pet spa, 24-hour concierge, bike storage and on-site parking with EV charging. Alpine hasn’t disclosed a project cost.

Why It Matters

Liberty Science Center picked Alpine in 2021 to build housing as part of a live-work-learn campus. SciTech Scity also includes Edge Works, a startup incubator, and Liberty Science Center High School, a public STEM magnet run by the Hudson County Schools of Technology, plus three acres of public commons. AVIVA is the piece that puts people on the campus around the clock.

It’s also Alpine’s biggest bet in Bergen-Lafayette. Before AVIVA, the developer had delivered close to 1,000 apartments across five mixed-use buildings in the neighborhood, so this one project adds roughly half again to its local count.

The concession package is the number to watch. Four free months on a 23-month lease takes about 17% off the effective rent, and that’s the kind of discount lenders and appraisers notice when the next Hudson County project goes out for financing.

Project Team & Details