Local officials gathered for the groundbreaking of a new parking garage across from the NY Waterway ferry terminal at Port Imperial on Wednesday, one of several groundbreakings that have taken place along the Weehawken waterfront over the past year.
Last fall, ground was broken on a roadway improvement project on Baldwin Avenue (which connects the waterfront with the Lincoln Tunnel area), work on a waterfront walkway began between Weehawken and Hoboken, and just a few weeks ago officials gathered for the beginning of a 9/11 memorial to be completed by the 10th anniversary in September.
The project is estimated to take approximately 12 months to complete.
“Everywhere you look in Hudson County you will see cranes,” said Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise at the groundbreaking on Wednesday. “We’ve slowed down in these difficult economic times, but we haven’t stopped.”
Mayor Richard Turner said that this particular project, which he called a “major step forward” in the township’s master plan, is necessary for the ferry from Port Imperial to operate and for development to continue.
“I cannot overstate how tremendous an opportunity, how tremendous a project this is for the Township of Weehawken,” said Turner.
New parking spaces, new jobs
The $58 million project is being funded via a public-private partnership between Roseland Property Company and the township of Weehawken, as well as a grant issued by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA.)
DeGise said that public/private partnerships are the only way to complete such projects.
“Nobody has all of the money to do things all by themselves,” he said.
The final product will be an 850-space parking garage that will service commuters who take the NY Waterway ferry service to Manhattan, as well as retail customers visiting the ground-floor shops and restaurants at Port Imperial.
The project will take an estimated 12 months to complete.
In addition to the new parking spaces that will be created, Turner said that anywhere from 250 to 350 construction jobs could be created during the process, as well as approximately 30 to 40 permanent jobs for local residents.
Most importantly, he added, after one year of operation the garage will provide $1.2 million in tax revenue to the township to help balance the budget and provide services.
“In these tough economic times, you cannot underestimate how important that is,” said Turner.
Poster child for state programs
Timothy Lizura, senior vice president for business development for the NJEDA, attended the groundbreaking on behalf of Gov. Christopher Christie.
Lizura congratulated officials on the project’s “tremendous success” and said it is an example of how state programs can be a catalyst for development. He called the project the poster child for the Economic Redevelopment and Growth grant program.
Established in 2009 under former Gov. Jon Corzine, the grant program provides incentives to developers and helps fill in financing gaps, according to the NJEDA website.
Lizura said that the state will provide incremental tax revenue as a reimbursement to the developer over a 20-year period.
He added that the project is also beneficial to the community and the state because it helps to clean up a once blighted site and puts it back into constructive use.
Bridge project
While the groundbreaking of one waterfront project was celebrated last week, others are still under scrutiny – including the failure to complete a Port Imperial Light Rail Bridge in the area, which has been criticized multiple times since the project began in 2005.
When the Reporter revisited the issue a few months ago, the delay was blamed on the economic slump and bureaucracy. Last week, Fox NY news released a scathing report on the “$8 million bridge to nowhere,” calling it a “glaring concrete example of how a public agency can spend millions and take forever to get something done.”
According to the report, NJ Transit said they are in the final design phase for the last section and work may begin sometime in the fall after a contractor is selected.
Lana Rose Diaz can be reached at ldiaz@hudsonreporter.com.