Dear Editor: The sky is falling, the sky is falling! Or is it? There have been many pros and cons spoken lately about the proposed project slated for 1600 Park Avenue in Hoboken. Since I am the Realtor responsible for bringing the seller and the buyer together, I thought I’d share my point of view on the matter. The Broker: I started marketing real estate in 1961 for Louis Tamarin Inc., a well known and respected Hoboken firm. Over the past 39 years, my company and I have been involved in brokering over 10,000 real estate transactions. For the past 10 years my personal focus has centered on Industrial, Commercial real estate with an emphasis on land development and transforming defunct, obsolete industrial buildings to alternate uses. We sold U.S. testing labs and saw it turned into a 400+ parking garage; 1040 Grand Street went from a sweat shop to a self storage facility; Eighth and Madison changed from a defunct dairy to 128 residential units; 16th and Willow Avenue, a former warehouse, is now a multi million dollar dialysis center. I could go on and on. The point is, I am not just a “guy in the diner,” who has an opinion on everything that is not based on facts and experience! Here are my assertions: The Site: Marketing the site, which sits at the north end of town (part of it actually is in Weehawken) has proved a challenge. The 84,000 sq.ft. + site is just under two acres, a former trucking warehouse sold and razed in the early 80’s real estate boom. The Hoboken Board of Adjustment than approved two 23 story towers for 412 apartments. The developers lost the property in the mid 80’s real estate recession. The land has been vacant ever since, paying little taxes and has become a weed covered vacant lot, and has become a dumping ground. The fact that the land is located between two, 3 story bridges, makes low rise development impractical. The Marketing: For 12 months the site was multiple listed and widely exposed to virtually every type of user, including theaters, hotels, supermarkets, health spas, self storage facilities, office builders and residential developers. The only interests were generated from the residential sector looking to activate the prior approved plans. Sandy Weiss of Manhattan Builders contracted to buy the site. The Neighborhood: Or should I say, “what neighborhood?” The site is surrounded by a bar in Weehawken to the North, a warehouse (the former Tootsie Roll Factory) to the South, a dialysis center to the West and a soon-to-be built storage facility on 14 lots that my company also sold. To the East is the former Todd Shipyard site, known now as Hoboken Cove, a site that in my opinion will eventually become a marina. This project will create a neighborhood where now only a wasteland exists! The Developer: Manhattan Builders, headed by Sandy Weiss, is a Hoboken local who has built quality and esthetically attractive housing in Hoboken and continues to do so. He is respected in the industry for his vision, attention to detail and superior construction. The Design: A vision of award winning architect Dean Marcetto, the design maximizes the use of the property to fulfill its ultimate highest and best use as a residential project. Units have been set aside for senior citizens, shops will service the local occupants, public gallery space will be donated to local artists. The View: Some opponents of this project are upset that building on the site would obstruct “their view.” Question? Who’s view was obstructed when their properties were built? The view, like life, is subject to change! You can’t prevent someone from having the use of their property. That’s called an unjust taking without compensation! That’s also why the courts have upheld public access to the waterfront by creating a waterfront walkway (which is being provided by private developers with private funds). Parking and Traffic: Parking will be provided for 389 cars. Mr. Weiss is providing a third access road under the Park Avenue Bridge through to Lincoln Harbor which will assist in mitigating traffic problems. The Light Rail Link is in its final stage of completion between Bayonne and Jersey City. The Hoboken to Jersey City link is next. The Light Rail will significantly decrease vehicular traffic! Ferry service has increased and will continue to do so. Parking garages are being built in town, ( I just leased a 40,000 sq.ft. lot on the West side of Hoboken for parking) and several other sites are under consideration. In other words the market place is providing the solutions to the problems. The Vision: Hoboken recently blighted the Western industrial section of town South of the 14th Street Viaduct. The Town Council, together with a very competent city planner, Elizabeth Vandor, saw the trend of variances being granted for underutilized industrial properties and citing the decreasing manufacturing base, they virtually welcomed development by changing the zoning to accommodate residential development. Rumor has it that the properties North of the 14th Street Viaduct are next. This property sits in that zone and is consistent with the vision of transforming industrial properties to residential developments. Change: In my opinion most of the negative comments about the project are simply due to the fear of change! There are some who would oppose almost anything that would cause change. How many of you remember Hoboken when it had 70,000 + people? Nearly double the population now. What would our taxes be if Hoboken didn’t go through a renaissance? How many jobs would have been lost? How many residents would not enjoy what you and I enjoy, living, working, shopping, eating and recreating in this great urban community. We are not the suburbs, we are a city. In order for the city to prosper, our elected officials must keep the community vital. Hoboken’s future growth depends on its healthy real estate economy. You can’t get away from that fact! The free market drives the economy, a major portion of our gross national product is directly related to our healthy real estate economy. Our entire region along the Hudson is prospering. It is called growth. The master plan, like our Constitution, is open to amendments. We call them variances. Our forefathers knew the Constitution was not perfect, so it was designed to be open to change, so is our zoning ordinance. That is why variances are granted! Conclusion: This project will provide 344 homes for new and current Hoboken citizens. It will continue to fuel the local economy, create 100’s of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenues. It will not strain our services. It is a good thing. The positive benefits far outweigh the negative opinions of the doom and gloomers. Chicken Little the sky is not falling. I strongly urge the Board of Adjustment to approve this project. Robert DeRuggiero Inc. Realtors Bob DeRuggiero, President