If you want to see how development in Hoboken has changed in the past five years, look no further than the new seven-story condominium complex in northwest Hoboken approved by the City Council this past Wednesday.
The residential building at 11th and Adams streets will bring nine new three- and four-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom to the city, but at a level of luxury beyond the price range of most local families. A raft of environmentally friendly features will place the project on the cutting edge of sustainable design, while adding to the sticker price. And although the redevelopment agreement includes a payment to Hoboken’s affordable housing trust fund, the final dollar amount is both more than the developer wanted and less than activists had hoped for.
The project only came before the City Council because it sought amendments to the Redevelopment Plan that governs part of the city’s northwest area.
Despite Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s wariness of big development, the same debates remain over balancing affordability and feasibility, speed and caution. In a real estate market as finite and attractive as Hoboken’s, it seems, you can never make everyone happy at once.
Going green
On Wednesday, council approved developer Frank Pasquale’s plans to build Lórien Lofts, a 10-unit condominium complex at 1024 Adams St., in a quiet residential neighborhood just north of JFK Stadium. Named for the elvish Eden in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, the development will cater to the growing demand for luxury accommodations on New Jersey’s affluent Gold Coast.
In addition to offering much sought after three-bedroom apartments, the new building will pay full taxes rather than receiving an abatement like some past projects. It will also fully comply with the design standards promulgated after Superstorm Sandy to emphasize water retention.
In fact, Pasquale’s project will go far beyond that, including solar panels, a white roof that reflects more heat than it absorbs, gray water recycling, an electric car charging station, and natural gas cogeneration for heating and power.
“Green isn’t really a give back. It’s a give them.” – Cheryl Fallick
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The Passive House model was developed in Germany and remains exceedingly rare in the United States. The American branch of the Passive House Institute lists only 13 completed projects on its website.
Pasquale believes the project will be the first in Hudson County to incorporate both cogeneration and a Passive House design. He also hopes to secure LEED Platinum status for the building’s construction, and would be the first mid-rise residential building in New Jersey to do so.
“When a building is Passive House certified, it’s 85 percent more efficient than every other building,” John Nastasi, the architect behind Lórien Lofts, said at the meeting.
“If that’s not a giveback to the city, then I don’t think we understand what we are talking about,” he later added.
Asking for more
Some on the council were excited to see the new development’s environmental focus. “If cities that are most in the crosshairs of the negative effects of climate change and things being done to our environment don’t take the lead and set an example,” Councilman Dave Mello asked, “then who is going to?”
For others, the amount of affordable housing support associated with the project was a bitter pill to swallow. The complex contains no affordable units, but the developer agreement mandated a $40,000 payment to the city’s affordable housing trust fund.
About the three and four bedroom luxury condos at Lórien Lofts, long-time local affordable housing activist Cheryl Fallick said, “We are looking at three or four million dollar dwellings, but we’re giving $40,000 to the…trust fund. We can’t operate that way, because it’s sending a message.”
New residential developments in Hoboken with 10 units or fewer are not required to provide any affordable housing at all. But Pasquale’s project falls in the area governed by the Northwest Redevelopment Plan, the most recent plan completed by the city.
Approved in 1998, the designation gives the city more oversight over projects sought within it. Without it, some council members said, Pasquale’s concessions on affordable housing would have been even less likely.
Supporters of the agreement noted that the $40,000 quote had come from a professional analyst hired by the city.
“The developer wanted less, we insisted on that number,” said Councilman Ravi Bhalla, “and I think in that regard, we met our obligation in terms of requiring a contribution that’s appropriate and fair.”
For Peter Cunningham, whose 5th Ward encompasses the Lórien Lofts block, the benefits extend beyond a single development.
“I know that Mr. Pasquale is looking for space here in Hoboken to produce building materials to support passive housing,” said Cunningham, “so this could become a hotbed from a global perspective for this type of housing.”
But Fallick suggested that estimates of the building’s cost didn’t take into account the premium that a green or sustainable label allows landlords to charge. “Green isn’t really a giveback,” she said, “it’s a give them.”
Beneath the debate over the specific figures surrounding Lórien Lofts was a deeper frustration over years of stagnant construction of new affordable housing in the city. As Councilwoman Theresa Castellano pointed out on Wednesday, the city hasn’t even made public how much money is in the trust fund, much less devote it to a new project.
Nastasi said his client shouldn’t be responsible for solving every problem in the city.
“Let [Frank Pasquale] fight this battle,” said Nastasi. “Let’s produce a Passive House building, but don’t let him carry the weight of the fact that we haven’t built an affordable unit in 25 years.”
In the end, the majority of the council came around to Nastasi’s viewpoint. The redevelopment agreement was not amended, and only Councilman Tim Occhipinti voted against it.
City will test valet service
On Wednesday, the council also approved a resolution launching a competitive contracting process for a pilot valet service in Hoboken. The three-month pilot will establish two valet stands in loading zones on Hudson Place and Second Street near the PATH Terminal where cars can be dropped off and ferried to municipal garage B on Thursday and Friday nights and most of Saturday and Sunday.
The city hopes the program will alleviate parking pressure on the weekends. Transportation director John Morgan said Garage B consistently had vacancies on weekend nights, whereas the streets downtown were often full.
There is no public cost associated with the program. In fact, the city will receive $8 of every pickup fee charged to drivers by the valet company selected.
The request is the first real hint of what the city will present this Tuesday at the public meeting on its Parking Master Plan proposal.
Sinatra Park Café coming back
Also on Wednesday, the City Council granted Nutley-based Italian restaurant Queen Margherita a five-year lease to occupy the empty waterfront café in Sinatra Park. The space has been vacant since Crepe Grill shuttered in 2011. The concessionaire will pay Hoboken $5,100 per month.
Keeping the business going was a perennial challenge for Crepe Grill. During their time in the concession stand, the creperie owners had to deal with the construction of Pier C, years of repairs to the nearby soccer field, an unheated building, mice infestations, and annual sales downturns during the winter months. The owners began withholding rent and ultimately sued the city for negligence.
In the form lease agreement provided by the council, Queen Margherita will be responsible for “all maintenance and repair work” except for major and structural repairs resulting from wear and tear, which fall under the city’s purview.
Queen Margherita does not have one of Hoboken’s scarce liquor licenses, but Health and Human Services Director Leo Pellegrini said he believed the business’s owner wanted to secure one eventually. David Anthony, the original lessee of the Sinatra Park stand, told the Hoboken Reporter in 2007 that most of his profit came from liquor sales.
Carlo Davis may be reached at cdavis@hudsonreporter.com.