Record heat blazed down upon more than 20 spectators who listened to Mayor Anthony Russo and developer Frank Raia detail the plans for the new Shop-Rite Supermarket on Hoboken’s west side on the corner of 11th Street and Madison last week. The volume of his speech was slightly drowned out by the sound of bulldozers clearing the way for the Hudson-Bergen Line Light Rail just feet away, but the message was clear: development is coming to the northwest section of Hoboken.
Although its planning has been in the works for months, the Shop-Rite is the first project to be officially announced by the city in the Northwest Redevelopment Area, which consists of land formerly occupied by industrial companies that have since left Hoboken. Three years ago, the City Council approved a redevelopment plan for the area and solicited developers.
Construction of the Shop-Rite will begin as early as the end of this week, and according to Developer Frank Raia, who is the designated developer for the site, the supermarket will take approximately nine months to complete.
Attendees at the press conference included David Scheck, Director of Finance for the New Jersey Redevelopment Agency, Dana Davis, director of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage and Finance Agency, and Sandra McCord, Senior Program Manager for the New Jersey Redevelopment Agency, as well as a smattering of local city councilpersons and politicos.
“Our senior citizens depend on being able to shop locally,” said Mayor Anthony Russo on Tuesday. “And they need completion to ensure lower food prices, since many are on fixed budgets. We are fortunate to have a plan in place that will provide a new Shop-Rite Supermarket for all of our residents as the first component of our redevelopment plan for this area of our city.”
The plan for the site describes the project as being a “supermarket, local retail, and a community park with food pavilions which is being built with the goal of creating a neighborhood center for the northwest redevelopment area.” According to city officials, the project complies with the intent of the city’s Urban Design Guidelines to form streetscapes compatible with traditional Hoboken neighborhoods, and the building will use materials and details compatible with the proposed adjacent residential buildings.
The lot for the store will cover 170,000 square feet with the actual supermarket covering 55,000 square feet. There will be 8,800 square feet of retail stores and a park pavilion that will cover 2,200 square feet. The total height of the Shop-Rite will be 30 feet. City zoning laws require the building to provide at least 157 parking spaces and as the plan stands now, there will be 216 parking spaces built in the Shop-Rite’s lot. This project was approved without any variances from the city’s planners.
Developer Raia believes that the Shop-Rite is just the first step in the completion of what he deems a new northwest community.
“Fifteen years ago I would have thought that this kind of public/private partnership would have been near impossible,” said Raia from the podium Tuesday. “But with the help of the administration, the city and the state, we are going to build the most state of the art redevelopment district in the state. This plans provides for more than just residential homes; it is going to create a community.”
In addition to the shopping market, the overall plan for the area will include space of a charter school, a mixture of affordable and market rate housing, a new baseball field, and new residential parking facilities. At the April 18 City Council meeting, the council authorized an agreement for Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT payments) for two blocks that will be adjacent to the Shop-Rite. Combined, the blocks will provide 432 units of housing, of which 100 will be affordable.
On the other corner abutting the Shop-Rite will be a 280 car-parking garage and a 20,400 square foot community facility which is designated to house a charter school.