New Jersey’s long-planned Centre Pompidou outpost is dead

A New Jersey outpost of Paris’ Centre Pompidou that had been in development since 2021 is officially dead, the institution confirmed to Urgent Matter.

“We will not be doing Pompidou, to be clear,” Jersey City Mayor James Solomon, a Democrat, said at a news conference last week. “It is dead.”

The announcement came after Solomon, who recently took office, revealed that Jersey City is facing a $255 million budget deficit, local news outlet NJ.com reported.

“Centre Pompidou has worked closely with Jersey City's partners and stakeholders since 2021 to realize a multidisciplinary center for art and culture that would be inclusive, interactive, and complementary with the existing cultural scene,” Centre Pompidou said in a statement to Urgent Matter.

“The newly elected mayor, Mr. James Solomon, decided not to pursue this project. Centre Pompidou has acknowledged this decision, which is part of long-term projects contingencies. “

When the Centre Pompidou x Jersey City project was first announced in 2021, city officials said the 58,000-square-foot museum would open in a city-owned building on Journal Square by 2024.

“We are proud to welcome the Centre Pompidou to New Jersey and we look forward to the opening of what is destined to become one of the premier cultural attractions in North America,” then-Gov. Phil Murphy said at the time.

Solomon, then a member of the city council, was among those who voted 8-1 in favor of approving the agreement to begin planning Centre Pompidou x Jersey City.

But Republican lawmakers began to criticize the project in 2023, claiming that the project would cost taxpayers $58 million. The state of New Jersey later pulled its portion of funding from the project.

In 2024, it was reported that the project had been renewed at a new location—a 100,000-square-foot space within a planned luxury skyscraper project. That plan included a tax-abatement deal between Jersey City and the skyscraper developer, the Kushner Real Estate Group, a company started by the uncle of Jared Kushner.

Still, Centre Pompidou said its plans to open three other outposts in 2026 remain intact. The projects expected to open this year include Centre Pompidou Francilien - fabrique de l'art in Massy, France, as well as locations in Seoul, South Korea, and Brussels, Belgium.

Another, scheduled to open in Paraná, Brazil, in 2028, is also moving forward.

The news came as it was separately revealed that a hidden camera was found in Centre Pompidou's administrative headquarters in Paris. The institution said a staff member was quickly identified and suspended.

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