The developer representing Roseland Properties, Inc. confirmed last week that the first phase of the proposed $500 million development project on the waterfront will break ground sometime this week, using the original site plans approved by the state and township and not the amended plan that also received approval.
According to developer Carl Goldberg, the first phase of the project, approximately 44 brownstone homes, will begin construction either Thursday or Friday, and it will follow the original site plan.
The amended plan, which had many compromises and concessions, including the addition of one-way linear road along the waterfront, is being contested in a lawsuit filed by the local activist group, the Friends of the Weehawken Waterfront.
Since Roseland Properties had already received formal approval from the Weehawken Planning Board and the state Department of Environmental Protection to build the brownstones without the amenities such as the waterfront roadway, Goldberg has decided to move ahead with the construction by using the original plan instead.
The final obstacles for construction were removed last week, when Roseland received its demolition permits to remove any standing facilities that would prevent construction, as well as the foundation and footing permits, which is the first step in any new building area.
“We’re all set to put in the footing and foundation for the brownstone structures,” Goldberg said. “So we’re going full tilt with the construction with the original plan. We’re going to install all of the improvements to the existing road [Port Imperial Boulevard], as well as the improvements for the sewage and the water lines, all of the infrastructure improvements. Then we will be ready to move on.”
An office trailer was placed at the site last week and a bulldozer is also there, ready for the approval to begin the work.
“The only reason why we hadn’t begun the project was that I was under the impression that we had come to a good compromise with the amended plan,” Goldberg said. “It was a compromise that was beneficial to all parties, but the FWW didn’t think so and moved ahead with filing the lawsuit. So the only appropriate thing to do at this point was to move full steam ahead with the original plan. You can’t have it both ways.”
Twisted road
Goldberg had originally received approval to build the first phase of the project, namely the brownstone homes, last September. However, Goldberg held off construction as a favor to the people of the town, many of whom had concerns about the layout and whether the development would provide sufficient and open access to the waterfront.
After months of meetings about making improvements to the original plan, an amended plan was adopted last January, which called for some compromises, including the installation of a one-lane road along the waterfront. However, the FWW has always insisted that the waterfront road needed to be two lanes with parking on either side. Goldberg has maintained that there is not sufficient land space to construct a two-lane road on the site. The one-lane road was perhaps the biggest concession made in the adoption of the amended plan.
“You can’t say you’re working toward a compromise, then turn around and file a lawsuit to stop the compromise,” Goldberg said. “That’s throwing new wrinkles into everything. Ultimately, it was all a stall. It shows that they are not in favor of any development, because if they were for development, then they would have embraced the compromise. The very nature, the definition of the word ‘compromise’ means that there is give and take on both sides. The amended site plan incorporated a vast majority of what the people of Weehawken wanted. I guess the FWW didn’t feel that way.”
According to Ben Goldman, a spokesman for the FWW, both plans are inadequate in their eyes.
“They [Roseland] said that the amended plan was better,” Goldman said. “We never said. They made some half steps around our position and said it was a compromise. But the amended plan was passed without our approval. We believe that both plans are deficient. We’re not choosing Plan A over Plan B.”
Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner expressed disappointment that the amended plan would not be utilized.
“I’m disappointed and frustrated,” Turner said. “When we went into the process of discussing an amended plan, I specifically begged the FWW not to draw a lawsuit. I asked the developer not to break ground on the original plan, to discuss the possibility of making improvements, and he held up his end for eight months. We had a big meeting with the FWW, the developer, lawyers, to discuss issues with the original plan. They said then that parking would never stop a settlement. Now, it’s a critical issue again.”
Turner added, “The developer can’t wait another year. He has always had the option to go back to the original plan and in all fairness, he can do so. He waited eight months for us to come in with an amended plan, we do, then the lawsuit is filed by the FWW. I told the FWW both publicly and privately that if you sue, he’s going back to the original and that’s what he’s doing. He has no choice.”
Goldberg agreed.
“I felt at this juncture that it was time to build the job under the original plan,” Goldberg said. “We have the permits and we have the approval. We’re mobilizing our equipment and our personnel and we should be in full construction mode by the middle of next week. All systems are go.”
Goldberg added, “It’s disappointing, very disappointing, that it had to come to this. Everyone has the desire to have the best development possible. It’s inconceivable that they would want to block it. As a businessperson, I’m left with no other alternative. It’s the building season and the real estate market is very good right now. I would be doing a great disservice to hesitate at this juncture.”
Goldberg was asked if he realized he was taking a risk to build, especially with litigation pending. The FWW has appealed the approval of the original plan to the State Appellate Court. The amended plan lawsuit has yet to be heard in State Superior Court.
“There is a risk involved, but we’re willing to take the risk,” Goldberg said.
“We had a plan that we worked hard to make better,” Turner said. “They want to throw out another proposal, but it’s too late. We will have a wonderful waterfront development; just a little less wonderful than what we thought. If we lose the land, we lose it forever and that’s the fault of the FWW. There will be less open space and there no longer will be a contiguous road. We lost an acre of open public space. This action defies logic.
Turner added, “I’ve been in public business for 26 years and I’ve never seen a more stubborn and more unreasonable small group of people. They no longer even represent a small portion of the population. A lot of their cohorts have dropped out. They’re using legal blackmail and unfortunately, because of it, we’re going to have a plan that is not as good. Once it’s built, you can’t stop it.”
Goldman doesn’t like that the FWW is being blamed for the developer using the original plan.
“The FWW is not an entity that can approve anything,” Goldman said. “We don’t have the power on what can and can’t be built. The blame lies solely on the shoulders of Richard Turner. It was his responsibility to protect the interests of the community and he approved two deficient plans. The idea that we’re at fault is incorrect. That’s just scapegoating and it’s typical of a political system that has had no opposition for a decade. It was the mayor’s choice to accept or reject this plan.”