Roseland Properties has begun the first step that will eventually lead to the construction of the Port Imperial South development on the Weehawken waterfront.
Last week, Roseland started a voluntary $4 million environmental remediation project along the banks of the Hudson River.
The remediation project will enable developer Carl Goldberg to begin construction on the first phase of the project – approximately 42 brownstone homes – sometime this month, following the original plan approved by the township’s Planning Board and not an amended plan that later was agreed upon by Goldberg, township officials and concerned residents.
The amended plan has been scrapped due to a pending lawsuit filed by the Friends of the Weehawken Waterfront, contending that the process to receive approval for the project was not conducted in a proper fashion.
Goldberg has always stated that if the FWW drops the lawsuit, he will use the amended plan that includes a one-lane riverfront roadway. The original plan does not include any passageway to the waterfront.
However, as events continue to unwind towards the pending development, it is highly unlikely that the amended plan will be used in the development.
“Right now, we’re very close to being irreversible,” Goldberg said. “Within the next two-to three weeks, it will become irreversible. We’re pleased to have been able to put shovels into the ground and get some work done. It’s something we’ve been looking forward to for a long time.”
Goldberg thought it was important to inform the residents of Weehawken about where the building process currently stood.
“Environmental remediation was always part of the plan,” Goldberg said. “People might drive by the site and see the work going on and want to know. I think it’s important to give the information and enable the residents to understand what’s going on.”
The remediation, a culmination of nearly five years of environmental research on this state-designated Brownfield site, is part of the New Jersey Voluntary Cleanup Program and is subject to proper New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) procedures, including an extensive review and approval process. The site has been contaminated from decades of use as a railroad yard – including coal piers, rail repair shops and underground oil and gas tanks.
“The remediation will allow for a greater utilization of the waterfront for everyone,” Goldberg said. “It will eventually include a park, a waterfront walkway and linear green space throughout the development.”
Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner also agreed that the remediation means only positive results for township residents.
“The remediation had to be done before any buildings could go up,” Turner said. “The cleanup of the site was essential. Once that is done, then they can begin building. So the remediation is in effect the first step of the development. Dealing with the Brownfield site was very important. It’s the first time that the area has had a comprehensive cleanup in perhaps 100 years. That area had extensive contamination. But the soil has been capped and it will be cleaned up permanently.”
Added Turner, “Since it became contaminated, nothing could be done at the site.”
Turner said that the cleanup would enable the township to also continue its plan to build a recreation facility at the site as well.
When completed, Port Imperial South will include approximately 1,600 residential units, retail and office space and a full-service hotel. There will be more than a linear mile of public waterfront access, including an 11-acre park and a 30-foot wide riverfront walkway, with additional linear waterfront parkland. The development will eventually become one of the few intermodal transit hubs in the country, linking a new NY Waterway ferry terminal with the NJ Transit Hudson-Bergen Light Rail station.
Once the remediation is completed, Goldberg said, the foundations and footings for the brownstones will begin. However, it will begin under the original plan.
“We’re not even pursuing the lawsuit,” Turner said. “I’m very pessimistic. If [the FWW] lawsuit is not dropped, then Plan A will be built. It’s no longer even a court issue. Once the foundations go in the ground, it eliminates the possibility. I’m not optimistic about it.”
Goldberg said that he is pleased that the NJDEP will oversee the cleanup process, as will engineer Michael Campion from Accu-Tech, hired as the township’s engineering consultant.
“Not only will the state be in direct contact with us, but so will the township of Weehawken,” Goldberg said. “This way, everyone will have a piece of mind that it’s being done the right way. Once the remediation process is completed, then we can begin building.”
Goldberg said that the remediation should be completed within the next two weeks.