Union City’s plans for the two-block bus depot property on 27th Street and Bergenline Avenue are still on hold. Commissioner of Public Works Tina Yandolino, along with Mayor Brian Stack, attended a meeting on Jan. 12 with representatives from each division of the state Department of Environmental Protection and NJ Transit, who hold a 60 percent interest in the property.
“They were 100 percent in favor of the project we have planned for the site,” said Yandolino. “The question is the remediation.”
Because the property was a garage for NJ Transit buses, the soil needs to be remediated before any residential property could be constructed there. The city plans to build a 22-story mixed-use facility in the two-blocks of property where the depot now stands.
The property, which is being leased to the city by NJ Transit for $1 per year, was once considered too contaminated to build residential property on. However, in early October, Yandolino said that it just needs the state’s Department of Environmental Protection to approve remediation to remove the contaminants from the site.
However, no further plans for the remediation of the property were made until the Jan. 12 meeting. “This was a very productive and very necessary meeting,” said Yandolino. “We should have had this meeting a long time ago. We are at a standstill right now. We are trying to expedite NJTransit so that we can get started immediately.”
NJ Transit will have to test the site and give the state Department of Environmental Protection full reports as to the level of remediation that is needed.
The sale of this property was the only one of former Mayor Rudy Garcia’s one-shot revenue deals from last year’s budget that went through.
Developing the property
The first proposal made for the property by Treeco, a North Jersey-based development firm, was rejected by the agency. The proposal was for a large supermarket with a 115-spot parking garage.
“There has to be something better for our community than a supermarket,” said Yandolino, after rejecting that proposal in September. “A city within a city could be built in that space. We want something with vision. This could be the beginning of the Renaissance of our city.”
In early October, the city changed the zoning of that property, which was originally zoned for commercial use only, to multiple-use.
“The amount of ratables in a mixed use property compared to the amount we would have gotten with a supermarket is extremely substantial,” said Yandolino, saying that the city would have only received $60,000 in taxes from a supermarket and parking lot. “It would be a tax benefit to the community.” “This will increase the value of the property that is there,” said Yandolino.
The city wants to construct a 22-story facility which will include some residential space, office and commercial property.
“Since we changed the usage of the property, many more developers are interested in the project,” said Yandolino. “I am very confident that it is going to be a positive for the city.”