- Terry Pranses
Hoboken Yards Site 2 – All Residential? Parking?
Site 2 — on the South Side of Observer Highway,
Opposite the south ends of Washington St. and Bloomfield Ave.
Site 2 has a 330’ tall tower, now slated as Residential given a smaller footprint.
New Plan for Hoboken Yards — What to Watch?
a. Some parking is shown the residential at Site 2. Plus some parking for the offices at Site 1. Why does the developer need to offer parking at all when the idea, residential or commercial, is for public transportation use?
What is the traffic and transportation impact of these added vehicles?
b. There's dubious value of putting Residential so close to the Terminal, in Site 2, close to the Terminal, and Commercial, in Site 3, so far from the Terminal. Generally, in downtown Hoboken, business locations are further east. And residences are further west.
Why does this New Plan fight our existing patterns?
c. Should this building be mixed-use? The developer, LCOR, says it cannot lease “Class A Commercial” with this small footprint. It further claims that smaller businesses cannot pay the rents they want and need to charge.
Should we allow this very tall structure — it would be Hoboken’s tallest
— for Residential only?
d. Should we allow Site 1, if Residential only, to be built first? Hoboken has many residential buildings. An underlying concept of the Hoboken Yards planning has been to maximize Commercial in the zone.
Commercial provides City revenue benefits that added Residential does not.
Near Site 2: Status and next steps for Records Building
There is no particular status or fate for the historic Records Building, near the southern foot of Washington Street. You've likely heard that NJ Transit has requested a demolition permit. That's under City review and should be denied.
Please see more information in our article on the Records Building under Historic Preservation.
Concerned about Sites 1 and 3? See separate articles on those.