Small turnout for public hearing on Railyards concept plan

Proposed Pedestrian Plaza at Hudson Place
Anyone who's interested in the iteration of Hoboken's Railyard Redevelopment Plan that was presented at the Hoboken City Council public hearing last night, the meeting video is here.  

I thought that meeting turnout was light- especially given a project of this impact to the City- with about a half-dozen public speakers.  

Broadly speaking, the 'big' changes (amendments) on the Jan 2020 redevelopment plan are:
  • Permitted Use of Site 3 changed from residential to office
  • Permitted Use of Site 2 changed to office or office/residential pending the City's feasibility study 
  • Hudson Place road east of River Street merged into Hudson Place Pedestrian Plaza 
  • Ferry Terminal rehab/retrofit for multi-use space included in the scope of redevelopment 
  • Affordable housing requirement from 10% to 20%   

I believe that maximum building heights are the same as before. Determining unknowns like building height will be informed by the City's feasibility study, particularly for Site 2. That's because floor-to-floor heights for commercial use and greater than for residential use.  

Note, this Redevelopment Plan is being amended again- per DeFusco's changes- and will go back to First Reading on February 5. 



 Well, my opinion: this iteration with its all-commercial use intent and inclusion of the Ferry Terminal is much improved.  2009's 74-story Emerald City and 2014's Russian Nesting Dolls scheme were non-starters. As a concept, commercial development next to the Hoboken Terminal can be a really good thing for Hoboken- to invigorate local business and provide jobs for residents to walk-not drive- to.   What will that look like?  Any development must ensure preservation of existing historical structures like the Records Building and the Ferry Terminal.   

Surprisingly, only six members of the public spoke last night.

One business owner was extremely vexed at the proposed closing of Hudson Place for a Pedestrian Plaza, because of the loss of those parking spaces.  Even after she was reminded that the Hoboken Municipal Garage had allotted 50 parking spaces for employees of 2 Hudson that were currently unused she continued to rail over loss of street parking, then asked why the City was hiring a consultant for the feasibility study, instead of the developer.   

Dunno, does one hire a fox to build a  hen house? 

FWIW, should the City's feasibility study conclude that it is not economically viable for LCOR to build all-commercial,  let's just say "fuh-gedda-bout-it." Really.   

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