729 Housing Units Coming To Hoboken's Northern Border, Some 'Affordable'

HOBOKEN, NJ — A formerly industrial section of Hoboken, near the Weehawken border, will get affordable housing and other residential units following the adoption of four Redevelopment agreements last week.

The administration of Mayor Ravi Bhalla and the Rockefeller Group (under the name Park WIllow, LLC) inked the agreements last week, years after Rockefeller began buying up the uptown properties.

The projects will include 729 residential units, including rentals and condos. Seventy-three units will be affordable housing.

The city said in a statement that the agreements "allow redevelopment projects at four sites to move forward delivering affordable housing, public open space, protected bike lanes, and a new municipal parking garage, and implement the amendments to the North End Redevelopment Plan recently adopted by City Council"

“This is a legacy project for me and for our community,” said Bhalla, whose term ends at the end of the year. “The Rockefeller sites have been an urban blight at our doorstep for decades. Now, together with Harborside Park currently under construction, the Rockefeller sites will provide a beautiful gateway entrance into our Mile Square City."

"By bringing a suite of community benefits and world-class design, we are excited to deliver a transformational project that we hope will become a source of civic pride,” said Phillip Golub, director of Northeast Development for Rockefeller Group. “In addition to housing, the many planned public amenities demonstrate the value of public-private partnerships.”

Fifth Ward Councilman Phil Cohen, who has served on the Community Development subcommittee for the last six years, said, “The piles of rubble that greet Hoboken’s visitors at our northern border will be transformed into a thoughtfully designed mixed-use neighborhood."

Collectively, the redevelopment will encompass approximately 2.5 city blocks within the North End Redevelopment Plan Area, including the 1500 blocks of Willow Avenue and Park Avenue and a portion of the block south of 15th Street between Willow and Park Avenues.

Additionally, the redevelopment will deliver a new, 275-space municipal parking garage, the first new municipal garage constructed in the city since 2003.

The agreements also include over 38,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, street and streetscape improvements, and green roofs on each building for stormwater management. The city will also receive a $4 million community benefit payment as the projects advance through the approval and construction process. the city said.