Just as the Hoboken Train Terminal celebrates its 100th anniversary (see story, p. x), the City Council last week approved a Planning Board study that found the terminal and yard next to it to be in need of redevelopment, but it is not known yet whether the new construction will involve residential units, or will only include retail or office space.
City Community Development Director Fred Bado said last week that both residential and retail construction are likely.
The study that was approved by the council last week, which the Planning Board conducted from June to November, determined that approximately 52 acres of New Jersey Transit’s 65-acre Hoboken Terminal and Yard complex are an “underutilized resource.” The study declared that “significant portions of the Study Area are in disrepair, vacant, obsolete, [and] unsafe.”
After naming 13 areas within NJ Transit’s property that the Planning Board felt impacted negatively on Hoboken, the study recommended that the city enter into a development agreement with the transit agency to increase revenue for the city through someday taxing areas of the site that are not used for transit purposes. In other words, if NJ Transit redevelops them for housing or other uses, the city will get the tax dollars. Currently, NJT is exempt from paying local taxes due to the transportation service it provides.
According to Fred Bado, the city’s director of Community Development, the study was part of a joint development process between Hoboken and NJT.
Now, the city will hire a planner to prepare a redevelopment plan to submit to the City Council. The plan will outline what the city would like to see built on the property. Once the plan is put into an ordinance and accepted by the council, it can subsequently be implemented by NJT.
Bado mentioned that community involvement will be an essential aspect to the development process so that the city can represent the interests of its residents.
Bado said that the anticipated plans appear to call for a mixed-use complex that will include residential, commercial, and retail space.
NJT Spokesman Dan Stessel responded to Bado’s assessment of the future property by calling it a “safe assumption,” but would not provide further details.
“NJT hasn’t formerly announced any plans,” he said, “[but we] are exploring ways to make the terminal work better for its customers and Hoboken residents.”
Council divided on matter
Not everyone on the council was supportive of the measure, as seen in the 5-3-1 vote that approved the resolution.
Both 1st Ward Councilwoman Theresa Castellano and 3rd Ward Councilman Michael Russo voted against the resolution and wanted to know more abut the redevelopment process before they endorsed it.
The other dissenting vote came from 5th Ward Councilman Michael Cricco, who felt the city and NJT had not gone far enough in reaching out to the community and getting residential input in the process.
Cricco proposed creating a resident-led committee for the upcoming project.
Councilman-at-Large Peter Cammarano abstained from vote due to what he considered a conflict of interest, because the law firm he works for has NJT as a client.
In response to doubts about public involvement, Bado said, “I know the city and I know the City Council, and we’re not going to accept some plan already done. We will have input into [the plan] and we will openly decide what that [plan] is going to be.”
Questions were also raised by the public as to why a state agency, which does not need local municipal approval to build on its property, would include Hoboken through the redevelopment plan.
Bado acknowledged that NJT could have used several different agencies to complete the development, such as a state redevelopment agency, economic development administration, or regional improvement authority, but they wanted to work with Hoboken to ensure local input into the process.
Stessel reaffirmed this point this week, saying, “Whenever we undertake a project of this nature, we look for the community to advance any development idea.”
Although Bado reinforced the positive aspects of the redevelopment plan, he also acknowledged the complexity involved with constructing a mixed-use building surrounded by a mass transit system and making sure that it does not interfere with the train’s operations.
Bado mentioned an idea of putting a deck over the rail yard and building over the redevelopment zone. But later he said it would cost too much money.
The master developer and its history
In October of 2005, NJT announced that it had selected LCOR Inc., a national real estate investment and development company that specializes in transit-oriented and mixed-use development projects, as its master developer for potential Hoboken Terminal and Yard development.
The Pennsylvania-based firm was formed in 1992 and has developed more than 20,000 residential units and over 16 million square feet of commercial space so far.
The recent renovations of Grand Central Terminal in New York City and the Washington Union Station in the District of Columbia as well as the newly constructed “Terminal Four” at John F. Kennedy International Airport can all be accredited to LCOR.
The developer will produce a master plan for the site, which will then go before NJT and the city of Hoboken for approval before being implemented.
Although the specifics are not yet available, the goals of the plan include enhancing operational efficiency between rail, light rail, ferry, bus, and PATH operations, and maximizing economic return through a transit-oriented development based around a mixed-use complex.
Michael Mullins can be reached at mmullins@hudsonreporter.com