The Weehawken Planning Board will hear testimony next week to determine whether to give final approval to Hartz Mountain Industries to continue its plan to build the final two phases of the Lincoln Harbor office complex – a plan that was originally conceived and received first approval in 1989.
The first phase of the project was the existing Lincoln Harbor towers that house many businesses, including the township’s premier employer, UBS PaineWebber. It was built in 1982. The second phase was delayed for more than a decade because of a standing lawsuit filed by the American Littoral Society.
The lawsuit claimed that the view from the Lincoln Tunnel helix was going to be blocked by the development and the lawsuit remained in litigation until January of 2000.
The lawsuit has since been settled, clearing the way for the development of two office towers consisting of 855,000 square feet. The project will also include a new 135-room all-suite hotel and two office structures, one of 200,000 square feet and another of 90,000 square feet.
The plan for continuing the final phases of Lincoln Harbor were first reported in the Weehawken Reporter in the June 24, 2001 edition. The only obstacle that could prevent the final approval of the project would be an agreement between Hartz and the township to lower the heights of all the structures.
"This gives us the approval to build," said Allen Magrini, vice-president for Hartz Mountain Industries. "It removes a big cloud off the development and allows us to actively market the area for prospective tenants. We’ve received interesting requests from prospective tenants. It’s definitely very desirable. It’s a very handsome area, with the development, the walkway along the river, the boats, the view. It’s a glorious place and considering what used to be there, it’s an exciting place."
Added Magrini, "We had the approval from 1989, but we just needed to come back and make minor modifications that would protect the view from the helix. So we scaled back the buildings, two stories each building. That’s a significant reduction. The town made it clear that the residents had concerns, so we voluntarily agreed to scale it down. This makes it very comfortable for everyone to finish out the development."
Members of the Friends of the Weehawken Waterfront, a local development activist group, are still concerned with the scale of the project. But they are unlikely to be able to stop it because the approvals were received years ago.
Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner, who also sits on the township’s Planning Board, feels that the upcoming board hearing will be more of a formality than anything.
"The new meeting will be for Hartz to cement its application to continue the development," Turner said. "We wanted them to lower the heights of the buildings, and Hartz got the message by reducing each tower by two stories each. They’ve received their preliminary approvals with the changes and they’re coming back for the final approval. It was a concern of the board that they lower the buildings significantly and they’ve decreased everything across the board. We’re now dealing with less than more."
Added Turner, "The Planning Board goes through everything methodically to make sure that everything is in line to what was already approved back in 1989."
Turner said that the Planning Board will also push to insure that any further development will include a continuous walkway along the waterfront to connect with Hoboken, as per state law.
Emanuel Stern, the CEO of Hartz Mountain Industries, believes that the final two phases of the project can be built within the next year.
"Lincoln Harbor’s new phase can be delivered within 12 months of lease signing, because the new buildings have been designed, engineered and approved, where a project like this would normally take up to two years to complete," Stern said in a press release. "Lincoln Harbor set the standard for mixed-use waterfront office development in New Jersey and we’re raising the bar again. Lincoln Harbor offers the perfect mix of existing amenities, plus the unlimited potential for Class A commercial space that will appeal to most corporate users."
Stern said that the addition of a new NY Waterway ferry terminal, plus the arrival of NJ Transit’s Hudson-Bergen Light Rail in 2003, will make commercial tenants even more interested in coming to Lincoln Harbor.
Hartz Mountain has retained the services of New York-based commercial real estate broker GVA Williams as the exclusive leasing agent to the new office complex.