The sounds of sawing, drumming, and drilling often echo through the hallways of the downtown Neumann Leathers Building. Many residents may be surprised to learn that the old factory site on Observer Highway is not empty, but the home to many small businesses and artists.
It has also been the focus of years of debate about its future.
The Neumann Leather Company stopped operating in Hoboken in the 1960s, but the industrial zoning assigned to the property remains. The Hoboken City Council recently asked the Planning Board to review the complex as a site for possible rehabilitation.
‘I need 1,000 feet per worker.’ – Tom Newman, tenant of the Neumann Leather Building
____________
The process of designating an area in need of rehabilitation does not require a public hearing, but the council has requested one in this instance, so that people can weigh in.
According to the city’s Community Development office, the designation means they could allow uses and densities different from the existing zoning. Some cities will also designate an area that way mainly so that they can award a short-term tax exemption to encourage development.
The assignment of an area in need of rehabilitation in Hoboken has never been done before.
Unlike a mere designation for redevelopment, a rehabilitation designation does not permit the city to condemn private properties in order to develop them.
Artisans versus owner
Vic Zarish is the general manager of the Neumann Leathers Building complex and represents the private owners, who would like to turn it into a residential/retail development.
Zarish has spoken out at City Council meetings about the property.
“What we want is a mixed use residential complex,” Zarish said after a recent council meeting.
A site zoned residential would most likely sell for a lot more than an industrial zoned site in a city like Hoboken, where apartment towers often rise to meet the high demand for housing in the waterfront city.
Zarish said that if they developed the complex as a mixed use site, they’d also provide some sort of protection for the current tenants.
Zarish made those comments in an interview after a recent council meeting, but did not return phone calls afterward for follow-up.
Good location
“It’s all about location,” Zarish said after the meeting.
The complex is located five blocks from the downtown New Jersey Transit hub, which provides access to New York City and most of New Jersey.
The existing tenants of the Neumann Leather Building say the prime location makes their small businesses viable.
Eric Chapeau owns Chapeau Design, an antique restoration and interior design company based in the Neumann Leathers Building. Chapeau said that his business needs approximately 1,000 square feet of space per worker. He also said the proximity to Manhattan allows his business to thrive.
In 2009, the complex was a controversial topic in Hoboken.
Artist Tim Daly and custom furniture builder Tom Newman helped form the Neumann Leathers Tenants’ Association.
On March 5, 2009, a hearing of the city’s Zoning Board went on for approximately five hours as tenants passionately opposed an application for variances that would have allowed the construction of large residential towers, and ultimately the destruction of the Neumann Leathers complex.
The Zoning Board denied the variances unanimously. However, the board wasn’t singing praise for the complex at the March 5, 2009 hearing.
“In general, I think the building needs to go,” said Commissioner Joseph Crimmins. “But I don’t believe we heard enough reasons to grant the use variance…I absolutely do not like the building.”
The city’s 2004 Master Plan calls the Neumann Leathers complex “a reminder of old Hoboken,” but also describes it as “a desirable location for redevelopment due to its proximity to Hoboken Terminal and its direct views of the Manhattan skyline.”
“For these reasons, the Neumann Leathers property warrants special consideration as well as flexibility in its development regulations,” according to the city’s 2004 Master Plan. “Any development of this should include a mix of uses.”
James Burke is the Hoboken-based attorney who represented Trammel Crow, the applicant for the variances in 2009. Trammel Crow wanted to buy the building, but did not do so after the application was denied.
Burke no longer represents the applicants.
He said he currently has “no interest as an attorney” in the property.
“Having worked here and lived here, I love this community,” Burke said last Thursday. “I’d like to see something reasonable done. [The complex] is paying about $140,000 in taxes when it could be paying over a million dollars [annually].”
Daly, however, doesn’t buy the tax argument.
“Hoboken has had 30 years of build, build, build,” Daly said. “Taxes still have gone up. The promise was always that all these buildings are going up, but taxes will go down.”
Burke said the process to rehabilitate the building could be very expensive.
If nothing is done to the building, Daly, a tenant of the building since 1989, said that would be fine with him.
“My concern is the overwhelming nature of housing development,” Daly said in his fifth floor 1,000-foot studio last week. “It destroys good things like this.”
Daly believes workspace for companies like his are disappearing.
“This space is irreplaceable in Hoboken,” Daly said. “Having to move would sink half of the businesses in this building.”
Daly understands why the property owners may be upset with the industrial zoning.
“They’re stuck,” he said. “But there are things you can and can’t do. I’d love to turn my Caravan into a Jaguar, but it’s just not going to happen.”
Daly also said he recognizes that residential buildings would generate the most dollars, but he said residential zoning is not the best use for the building.
“This is the best use for this building,” Daly said, walking through Chapeau’s workspace. “I’d love for the building to stay the way it is, but that’s not realistic; something will change.”
Open to compromise
Newman said the tenants are open to compromise, such as the development of the parking lot. The tenants even proposed a hybrid development plan in 2009.
“If you change the zoning you would pull the rug out from under us,” said Newman, whose similar name is merely coincidental.
Newman’s custom furniture company and has been in the building since 1996.
“We can’t compete [with the rent for regular offices],” Newman said. “I need 1,000 feet per worker. An office can put at least 10 people in that space. I don’t need amenities. I need large raw space.”
Ray Smith may be reached at RSmith@hudsonreporter.com