The Hudson County Improvement Authority, through the state Local Finance Board, has sponsored a loan that will allow Roseland Property Co. and Port Imperial, LLC, complete the construction on the riverfront walkway in both West New York and Weehawken.
"The Hudson County Improvement Authority has financed a loan to work with the developers to finish the walkway," said West New York Commissioner and Hudson County Freeholder Sal Vega last week. "It is a joint venture between the two municipalities and the Hudson County Improvement Authority."
This walkway will ultimately extend from Bayonne to the George Washington Bridge, linking Liberty State Park with the Palisades Interstate Park facilities. It will connect nine municipalities, including Jersey City, Hoboken, West New York, Weehawken, North Bergen and Guttenberg.
The strip of the walkway that will be constructed in West New York and Weehawken is approximately two miles long.
The concept for the walkway and passive area was first proposed by the Regional Plan Association in 1966. The Department of Environmental Protection adopted regulations in 1980 requiring owners seeking to develop the waterfront to construct and maintain the walkway and provide public access. In 1988, the Hudson River Waterfront Conservancy was created to over see the walkway’s future.
According to Vega, the developers are responsible for paying the HCIA for the loan. However, if the developer is not able to meet the obligation, the municipalities have agreed to take over the payments.
The total package includes up to $13 million in funding with more than $9 million to Weehawken’s Special Improvement District and about $3.5 million to West New York’s Redevelopment Agency.
No more waiting
The approximately $3.5 million loan will help complete the construction of the walkway in West New York. According to Roseland Property President Carl Goldberg, West New York’s walkway will be about one mile of the total riverfront walkway project.
"This loan will accelerate and facilitate the construction of the walkway," said Goldberg, adding that the area of the walkway in front of the Landings and Riverbend communities at Port Imperial owned by Roseland Properties and the Jacob’s Ferry and Harbor Place townhouse communities owned by K. Hovnanian of Red Bank is already completed.
"About one half of the walkway is complete in West New York, where the development [on the waterfront] has already been completed," said Vega.
Only one phase of the three-phase Port Imperial development project on the West New York waterfront property has been completed. Goldberg said that the remainder will take another four or five years.
However, Goldberg is expecting the walkway to be completed by Spring 2002 and will begin construction in the next few weeks.
"As soon as we receive the materials we will begin construction," said Goldberg, who added that he has already ordered the special brick, benches and lighting materials needed for the project.
The Hudson County Improvement Authority has also given another loan to complete the walkway in Weehawken.
However, according to Goldberg, who also owns property on the Weehawken waterfront, the construction on the Weehawken walkway is not on the same schedule as in West New York.
"There is still additional improvement work and construction activity the needs to be done before we can start on the walkway [in Weehawken]," said Goldberg.
As of now, no work has been done on the one-mile stretch of land in Weehawken that would be used for the riverfront walkway.
Part of the HCIA money will be used to create a six-acre park on Weehawken’s waterfront.