After more than 500 days, six hearings, and nearly 18 hours of testimony, members of the Stevens Institute of Technology community were thrilled to finally get approval for a new two-building complex.
Thunderous applause reverberated throughout the Multi-Service Center this past Tuesday, Nov. 17 after the Zoning Board of Adjustments voted 6-1 to green light the $63.5 million Academic Gateway Complex on Hudson Street.
The edifice, which Stevens plans to erect by 2017 (perhaps at the same time as the Babbio Parking Garage, which the board will consider for approval in the near future), has been a point of contention for locals since it was proposed in June 2014. At the meeting this past week, a glass two-story “sky bridge” connecting both structures was perhaps the most debated aspect of the development.
Stevens has had to scale the project down to meet with public approval. The 90,000 square foot complex is made up of two four-story buildings on the north and south sides of Sixth Street where it meets Hudson Street. In all, the Gateway Complex is about 66 feet tall, similar to the Carnegie building to the south at 64 feet, and the Union Club to the west at 62 feet. Originally the structures were close to 93 feet tall.
Although Stevens owns the land where the complex will replace a parking lot, it still needed to seek variances to adhere to the city’s zoning map. These included a use-variance for the north lot because it surpassed the boundary of a residential area, a height variance for both lots that exceeded the 40 feet limit by 25 and 26 feet, and a bulk variance (which relates to dimension requirements).
The new complex will be reminiscent of some of Hoboken’s older buildings and maintain the neighborhood’s historic feel, as well as add 11 classrooms, 10 labs, and 45 offices.
Stevens hopes to expand to 8,000 students by 2022.
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“I see a bright future for the institution and an equally bright future for the city of Hoboken because of the closer collaboration between the university and the city,” said Stevens President Nariman Farvardin Tuesday.
Approved…but with conditions
At the meeting, Zoning Board Attorney Dennis Galvin read a list of conditions Stevens must meet.
Stevens must limit the complex to academic uses, conduct no toxic operations in the labs, limit access to Hudson Street for emergencies to not fringe upon residents, shut off lights by 10 p.m., prohibit deliveries to the complex on Hudson Street, forbid garbage dumpsters outside of the complex, follow recommendations made by the Historic Preservation Committee, and participate in the city’s bike share program with a 50-bike capacity rack.
Parking is also a major factor.
“We understand that parking is a primary concern within the neighborhood,” wrote McGrath in a letter to the community dated Nov. 2. “To further address neighbors concerns we will make 20 overnight parking spaces to neighborhood residents in Stevens Eight Street lot for the period when Sixth Street is closed for construction.”
The Board made the twenty spots conditional, as well as 60 parking spaces at city garages for staff members that work 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday to help alleviate street parking.
Stevens also filed in September for approval of their Babbio parking garage which, if approved, would add 249 spaces for students and faculty.
McGrath said that alumnus Greg Gianforte has donated $10 million toward the complex, and another $10 million has been earmarked from various donations. The school will likely finance the rest of the cost, McGrath said.
When originally proposed to the board last year, some residents living in the brownstones along Stevens’ western edge spoke out against Stevens’ plans.
School officials responded that the complex encourages a thriving and growing student body, and by extension, helps the Hoboken community thrive.
Stevens made changes such as a 25-foot reduction in the height of the complex and a redesign of the façade. They abandoned a pedestrian walkway and relocated a floor’s worth of mechanical equipment underground.
Gateway allows for growth
The new classroom and lab space will allow Stevens to accommodate growth in its undergraduate student body from nearly 2,700 today to around 4,000 by 2022, according to school officials.
Stevens also hopes to expand its graduate school population from 3,412 to around 4,000.
Mixed feelings on sky bridge
In their original plans, Stevens planned to have a collaboration space and conference rooms on a glass bridge that connects the buildings. However, residents voiced concerns. The current plan simply calls for the bridge to act as a way to get from building to building. The amended plans also made the bridge lighter and more transparent.
Stevens ultimately hopes the bridge will reduce student pedestrian traffic in the immediate area and “provide flexibility so that the two buildings can function as one for users and deliveries,” said McGrath.
“The part I cannot support deals with this sky bridge,” said longtime Hoboken resident Leah Healy during the hearing. “And one of the reasons I can’t support it is, it’s not a use permitted anywhere in our zoning and in our master plan. It’s specifically prohibited.”
Patrick J. Dwyer, an attorney from Nusbaum, Stein, Goldstein, Bronstein and Kron, represented Hudson Street residents Scott and Alla Sobel during the hearings.
“That issue [of the bridge] has been beaten to death here,” said Dwyer in his closing remarks. “I think you heard both sides and think you and I do agree [with the comment] made by Ms. Healy when she said the right of way, the streetscape of Hoboken, is a view space as well as public thoroughfare. To cross it condemns public land. I think that’s an important aspect of your consideration on whether or not a sky bridge ought to be allowed.”
A subsection of the city’s Master Plan, appointed in 2004, is called, “Prohibit the construction of additional pedestrian skywalks.” The plan refers to the bridge over Clinton Street that connects the Midtown Parking Garage with St. Mary Hospital (now Hoboken University Medical Center), saying that while that structure “may make sense for this particular part of town, future skywalks in any other part of the city should be prohibited as they detract from the pedestrian-oriented nature of Hoboken and are not consistent with the city’s character” (page 36 of the plan).
Chairman James Aibel voted no but said if the bridge was not part of the project, he would be more lenient toward it.
Zoning Board members Antonio Grana, 1st Ward Councilman-elect Michael DeFusco, Phil Cohen, 2nd Ward Councilwoman-elect Tiffanie Fisher, John Branciforte, and Diane Fitzmeyer-Murphy voted to approve the project.
“I understand there will be [development] in the area no matter what Stevens does,” Aibel said. “It’ll impact light and air to some degree, but to me one of the key issues here is the very large looming sky bridge which to me is usurping part of our open air.”
Michael Flett, a member of the steering committee for the Hudson Street Alliance (HSA), spoke of how his organization was formed in 2014 specifically after overwhelming concerns from neighbors to the initial plans for the Academic Gateway.
He said a petition was signed by 300 residents supporting a statement saying the complex will damage resident’s quality of life if built and they would be “in support of a revised plan that complies with existing zoning ordinances.”
The HSA representative said they were pleased when Stevens’ planners met with them to cooperate on amending the original plan, but held their ground opposed to the current version partly because of the bridge.
Although the plan for the Academic Gateway Complex was approved, the sky bridge is not set in stone. Stevens must now seek an easement from the City Council. An easement is the right to cross or use someone else’s land for a specified purpose – in this case, the public’s property since the bridge technically interferes with public space.
Some defended the bridge.
Hoboken Chamber of Commerce Richard Mackiewicz said during the hearing that the bridge is great way to encourage teamwork and Stevens has potential to break ground on the technology of tomorrow. He even invoked Alexander Graham Bell, saying that if Bell had had to go down stairs and cross the street to go to the adjacent building, we may not have the telephone today. The crowd laughed.
Board member and 1st Ward Councilman-elect Michael DeFusco also supported the bridge, saying that despite the most recent technological advances, there’s no replacement for a face-to-face partnership.
Steven Rodas can be reached at srodas@hudsonreporter.com.