City Begins Moving Out of Observer Highway Garage

The city started moving out of the municipal garage on Observer Highway last week and will vacate the premises before the Aug. 13 deadline, Mayor Dawn Zimmer said in an interview on Tuesday afternoon. 

The city is temporarily moving its vehicles to 1714 Willow Ave., where it signed a 60-day lease, for $15,000 a month. But Loopnet, a real estate site that lists properties all over the country, has the location listed for $9,000 a month. 

The city announced that it will be sharing the space in a shared services agreement with the city of Weehawken. For now, though, Zimmer said Hoboken is moving into the site alone.

"We're moving in first," Zimmer said, adding that the two parties are still "working up details of how much space to use."

Zimmer said that Weehawken will probably use 25 percent of the space, which would reduce Hoboken's monthly rent by the same percentage. 

Zimmer said she's confident that the city will be able to move out of the current garage by Aug. 13, which is the closing date on which development firm S. Hekemian Group is supposed to buy the property for $25.5 million.

Because the location is now worth roughly $14 million, some city officials and some council members have said they think Hekemian won't be able to close the deal. Earlier this year, Hekemian's corporation counsel asked city council to amend the contract to make the deal more profitable for the development firm. The mayor as well as the council rejected the proposed amendments.

Hekemian's corporation counsel Doug Cohen said that the development firm is still proceeding toward the closing next Friday. 

"We'll be at the closing," said Cohen in a brief phone interview. "That's all I'm going to say." 

Before closing, the city needs to receive a "no further action" letter from the Department of Environmental Protection, which shows that the site is environmentally clean. The city has not yet received the letter yet, said Zimmer.