By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal 

A Downtown Jersey City office building will be transformed into a 250-room luxury hotel with a public space on the roof with views of Manhattan, thanks to the Planning Board’s near-unanimous approval last night of the project’s final site plan.

The building, located at One Exchange Pl., would look largely as it does now, with the exception of a glass-enclosed, three-story addition on the top, an exterior elevator on the building’s south side that would ferry non-hotel guests to the top floor and a narrow, 10-story extension on the east.

Seven Planning Board members voted last night in favor of the final site plan, while Nidia Lopez, also the Ward C councilwoman, abstained. Board member Karen J. McIntyre called the design “very, very simple.”

“I think it’s a great showcase for Jersey City,” McIntyre said. “I love this.”

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