The county is seriously considering vacating their Newark Avenue court administration building and erecting a new one across the street – which could mean taking over private property by eminent domain.
Residents of the area are criticizing the move, saying it would prevent private development that would contribute to the tax rolls. And one developer who owns property there said he has been told by his attorney not to try to build on his land because he may have to sell it to the county.
The current building for court employees, located at 595 Newark Ave., was built in the 1960s. It contains state and county courtrooms, the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, and other county offices. The new building would contain mostly courtrooms.
Several sites are being considered, including a block of land bounded by Newark Avenue, Hoboken Avenue, Oakland Avenue and Cook Street, across the street. It is that block that residents of the “Hilltop” section are upset about.
The county has gone as far as to send a memo to the Jersey City Planning Board stating that they “will soon begin acquisition activities” at the site.
In a June 20 letter from Hudson County Administrator Abraham Antun to Jersey City Planner Robert Cotter, Antun said the county has started a study of the Hoboken Avenue/Oakland Avenue/Newark Avenue/Cook Street city block as a potential site. The letter refers to the proposed building as the “Government Center Project.”
The letter states, “Upon completion of the studies, the county will be seeking review and recommendation from the Jersey City Planning Board…the studies which have been completed to date indicate that the county will soon begin acquisition activities within the above described area.” Cotter could not be reached for comment about the letter since he was on vacation last week.
Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise reiterated that the plans are still preliminary and that a number of sites are being considered. He also said that it would be several years before any ground was broken, since estimated construction costs for the new building range from $150 to $170 million.A burden on the taxpayers
Richard Boggiano, a resident of the area for 24 years and the president of the Hilltop Neighborhood Association (which includes the blocks near the county offices), said that he first heard about the county plans from “people he knew” and was not happy.
“I checked the facts first and found out that there was a developer who was looking to build two high-rise buildings in the area,” Boggiano said. “What the county is doing is ridiculous, since it would stop development, and ratables are needed. The county owns the Block Drug Property [on Cornelison Avenue] that could be developed [instead], since there’s so much land there.”
The county bought property last year from the Block Drug company in order to expand county offices, as they have a number of buildings that are falling apart.
Boggiano said that he found out that the county had gone to the Jersey City Planning Board to ask that they not give any approvals for the developer to build in the area.
Local developer Tony Deluco, who owns property on the block in question, confirmed the report. He said that his attorney advised him not to build because the county is hoping to come in.
Deluco’s property is at 15-23 Oakland Ave. He said he has been talking with city officials for two years about building an 11-story building with 92 one and two-bedroom condo units there.
Deluco has built homes in Jersey City and in Queens and currently has a redevelopment project on Oak Street. But he said the proposed project on Oakland Avenue would be his biggest to date. He said he also has plans to build another 11-story building on a lot on the corner of Oakland Avenue and Washburn Street.
“I only found out about the county’s plans in June through my attorney,” said Deluco.
Deluco said he then met with County Administrator Antun about their considering the area of his project.
“I told him that the county has a lot of other places where they can build, such as Block Drug, but he said that the judges in the county do not want to relocate there,” said Deluco.
Deluco added, “My attorneys told me that since the county has been meeting city officials about taking this area, I would probably be rejected by the Planning Board.”
Deluco said that by law he would have to consider any offer for his property if the county decides on acquisition, but relishes the idea of developing in this area.
“My project would be the first in this area of this scale,” he said. “There’s not much in downtown left to develop, and I would like to maintain a strong presence in Journal Square.”
Deluco said that based on his knowledge of property value in Jersey City, he estimated that his land is worth about $9 million. He said that he received an offer of 9.2 million from a New York-based developer whom he declined to identify. Secret plans
Boggiano said he is irked that county officials apparently have been talking in private about the issue.
“These people want to take over, and in the process are going to stick the taxpayers with the cost,” Boggiano said. “Many residents in the area are angry because their taxes are going to go up to pay for this.”
If the county court offices move across the street, the county might turn their old building at 595 Newark Ave. into a multi-tier parking facility to raise money, said DeGise.
Freeholder Bill O’Dea is against the county’s plan to buy the property in question. He said that the county should look elsewhere instead of considering an area occupied by homes and businesses.
Offices on the site include a plumbing company, a doctor’s office, and a drug rehabilitation center. There are also parking lots there.
“The county should look to build on the Block Drug property,” O’Dea said, “which is over 20 acres and has several acres behind its primary parking lot. That would be a $15 million savings even though there are estimates that the new building would cost over $150 million. I don’t think you should have to take some person’s home or business.” Current building ‘ugly,’ outdated
DeGise refers to the current administration building as the “ugly building.”
For DeGise, the building is not only unsightly but outdated and unsuitable. “This building was built in the 1960s/1970s, and there were probably corners cut on the construction,” he said, adding that the building either gets “too hot or too cold” due to problems with the heating and air conditioning.
DeGise also said that the new building should comply with the post Sept.-11 environment.
“It needs to be built with today’s security needs in mind,” he said. “Especially a courthouse building, where there’s armed criminals coming through every day. And there have been complaints about the security issues at the current building.”
DeGise also believes that a new building would spur development of the section of Newark Avenue between Palisade and Summit avenues that he said is “a dead area after five o’clock.”
But he cautioned that there are snags with any such plan. “This building could possibly cost up to $170 million, and quite frankly, the county does not have the money,” said DeGise.
The county still owes $30 million to the Hudson County Improvement Authority, which currently owns 595 Newark Ave. The county had sold the building to the HCIA in the late 1990s to fill a budget hole, but is leasing it back from the HCIA.
DeGise said that he formed an unpaid committee of officials and professionals to discuss plans and financing for a new building.
DeGise reiterated that other sites were being considered such as the Block Drug property, the site of the old county jail on Pavonia Avenue, and the location of the old Arena Lanes on the corner of Newark and Baldwin Avenues.
But he admitted that the site in question across from 595 Newark Ave. would be ideal because of its proximity to the William Brennan Courthouse at 583 Newark Ave.
DeGise said he is aware of the opposition to the plans, but has not had conversations with the Hilltop association. “Nobody has called me,” he said, “and if they did, I would be happy to sit down and talk about the project. And I would let them know that these are preliminary plans and nothing substantial in is place yet.”
DeGise also said that it would be up to Mayor Jerramiah Healy to allow any construction of this magnitude to take place in Jersey City, especially in an area that requires acquisition of city properties.
Mayor Healy recently commented that the plans are in their early stages and that there’s “a perfectly good building at 595 Newark Avenue where court offices are located.” He said he sympathized with the area residents.