Stevens Institute of Technology is scheduled to present its proposal for a two building, 90,000-square-foot academic complex to the Hoboken Zoning Board of Adjustment this Tuesday. The project’s first major hurdle has already been cleared, as the Hudson Street Alliance, a coalition of concerned residents living in the posh brownstones that line Stevens’ western edge, has dropped its official opposition to the Academic Gateway Complex project.
All it took was a 25-foot reduction in the height of the complex, a redesign of its façade, abandoning a pedestrian plaza concept, and relocating a floor’s worth of mechanical equipment underground.
“The Alliance acknowledges that there has been tremendous movement,” said Adrienne Choma, a member of the Hudson Street Alliance Steering Committee. “There are a couple of issues that we still have concerns over, but we’re not going to be getting up and saying this is a horrible plan.”
In an open letter just three months ago, Choma had accused Stevens of “disregard for the intrinsic character of the surrounding neighborhood” based on its original plan for the Gateway Complex.
The support of neighbors, or at the very least their tacit consent, is crucial because Stevens is still seeking a use variance for the Gateway Complex, which under New Jersey land use law means the school must show that its plans are not a “substantial detriment to the public good” and will not substantially harm the intent of the city’s master plan.
Such criteria are ultimately more subjective than they are not, but it would have been much harder for Stevens to prove its claims if a parade of public speakers were lambasting the complex as a time bomb set to detonate the unique character of Hudson Street.
The design as it stands
The current Academic Gateway concept consists of two four-story buildings on the north and south sides of Sixth Street where it meets Hudson Street, connected with a two-story skybridge.
A key component of Stevens’ 10-year strategic plan, which could see the Institute’s total student population grow by almost 2,000, the Academic Gateway will add much needed classroom and laboratory space to campus, as well as a new vestibule that would double as an event space.
All told, the complex would add 11 classrooms, 10 labs, and 45 offices in its current conception.
In an interview this past Wednesday, Beth McGrath, the chief of staff to Stevens President Nariman Farvardin, said the changes made to the Academic Gateway plans were aimed at allaying the Hudson Street Alliance’s core concerns about the buildings’ height and bulk.
“We’re not going to be getting up and saying this is a horrible plan.”—Adrienne Choma
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Richard King, a senior associate with Wallace Roberts Todd, the architecture firm contracted by Stevens to design the Gateway complex, said his team spent a lot of time looking at old buildings in Hoboken and trying to make the Hudson Street façade of the complex more reflective of that style.
“We had a much flatter façade before,” said King, “so we’ve been trying to add a lot more richness and depth to it so that it feels like it’s much more in the spirit of turn-of-the-century Hoboken.”
King mentioned that the Academic Gateway complex would be built using a brick in the same spirit as neighboring buildings, a slate mansard roof, and window frames that would eventually take on a bronze patina.
Making nice with the neighbors
Since October, Stevens representatives have held five meetings with members of the Hudson Street Alliance to discuss the Academic Gateway. The first, according to McGrath, was a pure listening session aimed at gauging the Alliance’s concerns.
“I think we’ve developed a very positive and good working relationship with Stevens,” said Choma. “We’re very pleased because they’ve been receptive to our concerns and really addressed many of the issues that were high on our list.”
“We’re excited about the new design,” said McGrath. “We think that it is a great complement to our campus and a great interface between Hudson Street and the campus.”
Though the proposed buildings still exceed the maximum height permitted under Stevens’ special “R-1 educational district” zoning rules by 28 feet, Choma said the steering committee has backed off its insistence that the college follow the zoning book to a T.
“The fact that the Union Club is approximately the same height leads us to believe that it’s more likely that [Stevens] would get the variance anyway,” she explained, referring to the former social club turned condo building across the street from the Academic Gateway that currently exceeds the 40 foot maximum height as well.
However, said Choma, some members of the Hudson Street Alliance who have not been actively participating in the outreach process may still speak out against any variance from the zoning rules sought by Stevens before the Zoning Board.
Making up for lost space
In order to balance out the space lost by reducing the height of the complex, the proposed plan increases the height of a wing of the south building behind the Carnegie Laboratory from two to four stories.
Stevens would also commit to digging a cellar—“at some significant expense,” said McGrath—to accommodate mechanical equipment placed on the roof in its initial plan for the complex. If a mechanical penthouse covers more than 10 percent of a building’s floor area, it is considered an extra floor.
Still, not everything could be moved or redesigned. The final building plan trimmed 4,000 square feet from the complex, and with it two programs originally slated to relocate to the building; an electron microscopy facility and the Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education (CIESE). Both programs will remain in their current locations elsewhere on campus.
The reduction in the buildings’ total size made the skybridge all the more important, according to Robert Maffia, Stevens’ vice president for facilities and campus operations.
The bridge will carry pipes, wires, and people between the buildings, allowing the entire complex to have only one boiler, freight elevator, loading dock, etc.
Choma said she was not opposed to the concept of a skybridge, but was uncomfortable with its proposed size—30 to 45 feet tall, 20 feet wide, and 60 feet long.
“The dimensions of this skyway really make it a skybuilding,” she said.
“On that issue, “ said Choma, “we would voice our concerns, but I think that Stevens will face other hurdles because they have to get air rights from the City Council before they can build that as well.”
The new design makes the skybridge more glassy and transparent, but Richard King emphasized that it is only blocking a view of empty sky. “For folks walking on the sidewalk, the way the grades work there is…you don’t see New York City or the river until you get to the crest of River Street.”
Parking plans
According to Choma, the biggest remaining concern of Hudson Street Alliance members is parking. The north building of the Academic Gateway would replace a current 36-spot parking lot, and the strategic plan that the complex exemplifies will bring hundreds of new students and faculty to campus, some of whom will have cars.
According to McGrath, Stevens has committed to completing its Babbio Center parking garage by 2017, the same time it hopes to have the Academic Gateway done. The garage, which is partially completed and has been under construction for over ten years, should add 249 new spaces when complete, more than enough to cover the lost parking lot at Hudson and Sixth streets.
The Babbio garage received preliminary approval in 2009, according to Maffia, but it still needs final phasing approval from the Zoning Board before it can go forward. In the meantime, Maffia said the city had committed to leasing 60 spots in municipal garages to Stevens.
If the garage is not completed on schedule, McGrath said Stevens has a backup plan to lease private parking spaces in the city.
Choma said she would be satisfied with Stevens’ parking contingency plans as long as they were made an enforceable condition of approval by the Zoning Board.
“We just want to make sure that either that plan or a meaningful plan is enforced so that there isn’t a further strain on the community with the elimination of parking spaces and the additional traffic that will be happening,” she said.
In addition, Stevens excised a plan to turn parts of Sixth Street and River Street surrounding the complex into a pedestrian plaza, which would have eliminated 115 on street parking spots. Securing easements for the city streets would have required approval from the City Council.
Carlo Davis may be reached at cdavis@hudsonreporter.com.