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The Jersey City Redevelopment Agency (JCRA) announced Friday that it has signed a long-term lease with the McDonald’s Corporation for space at the MLK HUB retail center in Ward F. The space, formerly occupied by Burger King, was one of several vacancies at the shopping center that on-site manager Ryan Struggers discussed in our June story on the city’s banking disparity.

According to JCRA executive director Robert Antonicello, McDonald’s has signed a 10-year lease with several 10-year options to extend. The restaurant is scheduled to open later in the summer, after an extensive renovation of the interior and exterior of the nearly 4,000 square foot building.

The JCRA took over management of the HUB after the previous partnership between the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation and the Martin Luther King Development Corporation disintegrated in 2007, after continued disagreements between the two agencies. Antonicello says his agency is working as hard as it can to reverse the shopping center’s fortunes.

“The HUB was a troubled piece of real estate for a long time,” he says. “We’re continuing to make great headway on creating a viable and vibrant retail center which will serve the community. Critical to the center’s success is drawing ‘Triple A’ tenants that create employment opportunities and pedestrian traffic for the HUB.”

With the Burger King vacancy now being filled, Antonicello says the HUB’s vacancy rate has dropped to 8 percent, with the empty former Ponderosa Steakhouse building the last large hurdle.

“We are actively marketing that space,” he says, “and hope to have good news — perhaps by the fall.”

Photo: Matt Hunger