Despite a recent report that a New York development company is putting the finishing touches on plans for a large commercial complex in northern Hoboken, town officials say the developers would still have to get local board approvals to proceed. And because the city can’t yet fund a redevelopment study for the area that they voted to commission in 2009, they’re not even close to considering the developer’s plans.
Last year, it was reported by this newspaper and others that the Rockefeller Group, which built Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center, had been buying parcels of land in the industrial area of northwest Hoboken near the Weehawken border, between 14th and 17th streets. The company has purchased the Burlington Coat Factory – which is still open for business – and neighboring structures.
The Burlington Coat Factory recently got a two-year lease to stay.
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But Hoboken activists have complained for years about “overdevelopment,” and last week, the administration of Mayor Dawn Zimmer said she has not been negotiating with Rockefeller. City officials said that a redevelopment study for the area – which the City Council voted to approve in February of 2009 – has not started because the city has no funding for it right now. The study could rezone the land either to make it easier or more difficult for Rockefeller to build large buildings there. The city is presently seeking grants to fund the study, officials said.
Even if the study is not completed, Rockefeller would have to go before the city’s zoning or planning board in order to get approval for any plan they want to build. The area is currently zoned for industrial use.
‘Exciting and comprehensive vision’
The Rockefeller Group recently released a statement saying it has “an exciting and comprehensive vision, which includes predominately new office and retail space on the land it owns, along with cultural and waterfront activities on the adjacent public land.”
Company representatives declined to comment last week when asked whether plans had actually progressed in the past year.
“We’re still researching what we can and can’t do,” said Brian Mahoney, a spokesperson for the group.
“If they are doing something internally on their own, that’s their business.” – Juan Melli
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Zimmer denied that her administration has had anything to do with the Rockefeller Group’s plans.
“There will be no negotiations,” she said last week, “until a study has been completed and a public process including all stakeholders has been completed in order to determine what kind of development our city would like to have in that area.”
“If they are doing something internally on their own, that’s their business,” said Juan Melli, Zimmer’s spokesman.
If a redevelopment study is conducted and the area is designated by the Planning Board and City Council as a redevelopment zone, “the city would have a very public process in the development of the redevelopment plan, which would reflect the community’s vision for that area,” said Community Development Director Brandy Forbes.
In an e-mail, Zimmer said that any deals made by previous administrations with prospective developers would not necessarily be honored by her administration.
“Anything that happened in the past, any promises that were made, that’s not the case now,” Melli said.
Some stores moving out
A recent change in the area’s landscape may have sparked speculation about impending development. Enterprise Rent-A-Car moved in March from its Park Avenue location on Rockefeller-owned land to a downtown Hoboken building. They are now closer to the city’s new W Hotel.
However, other businesses in the area say they have no immediate plans to move.
The Burlington Coat Factory is also on Rockefeller property, and its manager, Maryann Rivera, said the store has a two-year lease that started earlier this year. Over the years, she said, she’s gotten used to hearing that the store was going to have to close.
“I don’t see it happening,” said Rivera, “but you never know what happens today.”
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