The Planning Board approved the St. Francis Redevelopment Plan 8-0 at their March 28 meeting, allowing private developers to turn a 135-year-old hospital near Hamilton Park into more than 300 housing units.
Purchased by local developers Eric and Paul Silverman, the hospital, along with two parcels of land within a two-block radius, will also get 200 units of parking.
The development had evoked opposition from nearby residents over issues such as the amount of density for each building, building larger structures than permitted in the Hamilton Park neighborhood, and altering the landscape of a designated municipal historic district.
The vote was continued from a previous Planning Board meeting on March 14. At that meeting, many residents opposed the project, so the board required the developer to schedule a community meeting on March 20 to address their concerns.
Eric Silverman commented the day after the March 28 meeting about the project approval.
“Certainly, I am excited, and it’s good to have the community’s input,” said Silverman. “And it was good to have the board vote unanimously.”Three phases, three years
The Silverman project will be done in three phases, with construction to begin in the spring or summer of 2006 and completed in three years.
The first phase would restore a 1920s building on the corner of Erie and Tenth streets, construct a six-story infill building on McWilliams Place and Ninth Street, and demolish the hospital’s main building near Eighth Street.
Also during this phase, Pavonia Avenue will be opened as a cobblestone road. It has been closed for years because one of the hospital buildings was constructed upon it.
When the first phase is completed, the result will be two 13-floor, 140-foot towers with a total of 225 dwelling units, ground level retail limited to 2,500 square feet, and underground parking. There will be a wine shop, a preschool, doctors’ offices, and a health club.
The second phase will entail constructing a nine-story 105-foot tall building on the site of an existing garage on Erie Street that will include 56 dwelling units, ground floor retail, and parking.
The third phase will include the construction of a 35-unit, five-story residential building on a vacant parking lot on Tenth Street, with no parking.
The Silvermans also plan to improve Hamilton Park by installing new lighting, changing the parking on McWilliams Place from head-on to parallel, and rebuilding the sidewalks. Changes from original
The final plan differs from the original in that the amount of units in the two non-hospital complexes was reduced and the retail establishments will not face Hamilton Park.
Also, residents of the Park Hamilton Condominium on 10th Street were able to get 22 more parking spaces they would have lost if the lot they were using were built over. This is due to conditions set down by the city’s Historic Preservation Commission and the residents’ complaints. St. Francis receives the go-ahead
At the March 28 meeting, the Silvermans heard more praise for their project than at the previous Planning Board meeting.
Warren Curtin, who lives on West Hamilton Place, said the Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association supported the project, especially the retail construction.
William Kinzle, who lives in the Park Hamilton Condominium on 10th Street, gave the Planning Board a petition that he and other residents in the building signed. Their concern was that apartments to be built on the surface parking lot on 10th Street next to the condominium would be too close and high enough to block out sunlight and allow criminal elements to access to their building from the proposed one.
However, Kinzle expressed gratitude to the Silvermans for meeting with the residents on March 20 at St. Francis Hospital.
“As a group we want to see the project go forward, we just have a few concerns,” said Kinzle.
Pat Sullivan, a Jersey Avenue resident, welcomed the St. Francis project but voiced concerns that the new parking spaces would be rentals rather than deeded parking, meaning the parking would not be part of a condominium purchase.
Janice Monson, a Hamilton Park area resident since 1977, supported the project, saying the existing hospital, built when the old St. Francis hospital was razed in 1977, was a “monstrosity.”
The board voted in favor of the project after hearing the public commentary.
Commissioner Leon Yost said that before construction began, the project had to meet the requirements of the Historic Preservation Commission, and sufficient parking, plus green space on the rooftops, should be guaranteed. Yost added this was a “very good” redevelopment plan that would allow for improvements to Hamilton Park.
Commissioner and City Councilman Michael Sottolano commended the Silvermans on their “goodwill effort” in reaching out to the community.
Commissioner Jeni Branum, a past critic of the Silvermans for sometimes being “aggressive” in building too many units, credited them for working with the Park Hamilton residents.
But Branum added that eliminating 41 head-on parking spaces directly in front of the hospital to restore a previous section of the park was “a big mistake.” Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com