Stevens to restart construction on long-stalled garage near Hoboken waterfront

HOBOKEN – The Stevens Institute of Technology filed an application with the Hoboken Zoning Board of Adjustment this month to complete the 436-space Babbio Parking Garage on Sinatra Drive. If they get approval, they hope to complete the garage by the first half of 2017.
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More than 10 years ago, the university got approval to build its Babbio Center on the waterfront, and started building an adjacent garage. But an activist group sued because they hadn’t gotten permission to build the garage. Construction of that portion stopped.
Still, the institute had managed to add 144 spaces. Now they seek to add 296 more.
The university said in a press release, “It will more than accommodate the spaces needed for Stevens’ planned Gateway building, as well as a separate 39 new spaces required to offset removal of the Sixth Street surface parking lot at the planned Gateway site.”
The spaces will be for students, staff, and visitors.
“Through an aggressive community outreach process, we heard that the garage façade should be both aesthetically pleasing and create minimal waste,” said Robert Maffia, Vice President for Facilities and Campus Operations. “Fabricated using a high-tech printed fabric screen, the façade will camouflage the interior of the garage along the waterfront elevation until the second phase of the project, a ‘wraparound’ building, is completed. Consistent with Stevens’ sustainability initiatives, the mesh façade is designed to maximize fresh air in the structure and reduce construction waste when it is removed. The façade will provide an attractive elevation to the garage until the wraparound building is added in Phase 2.”
Additionally, as part of the Babbio Garage project, Stevens will enhance pedestrian access to the waterfront from its campus, replacing an old wooden staircase that now connects the campus at Sixth Street to the waterfront. The staircase will include a landing that will frame views of the Manhattan skyline as well as a bicycle ramp that will enable pedestrians to walk their bikes from the campus to the waterfront.