City Looking to Introduce Downtown Development Plan for NJ Transit Site

Mayor Dawn Zimmer has said she is hoping to introduce a plan soon for a downtown development on land that is owned by New Jersey Transit. 

After not coming to an agreement with NJ Transit—NJT believes it can build on its land without council approval, the city disagrees—the city has hired its own professionals to complete a conceptual design.

"If we don't agree," Mayor Dawn Zimmer said in a recent interview, "I'll take it all the way to the Supreme Court."

. The area around the terminal and the Rail Yards have been designated an area in need of redevelopment, according to a recent memo from Zimmer to the city council. NJ Transit has proposed. The total site is about 52 acres. 

"It's time to get a plan introduced," Zimmer said. 

Earlier plans proposed by NJ Transit included a 70-story office building as well as multiple 45-story residential buildings. Zimmer has called this plan "unacceptable."

"Obviously that should be scaled back," said Assemblyman Ruben Ramos Jr.

Ramos, who said he has not been involved with the negotiations on this topic, added that Hoboken is "lucky" to have an institution that wants to invest in the city. "Right now," he said, "there's little movement across the state."

While the city—a firm called Wallace Roberts & Todd LLC—NJ Transit has also kept developing its own plan. 

"I believe that  the City Council and the public have a right to see and evaluate NJT's proposed plan, so it can be compared to the plan being developed by the city," Zimmer wrote in her memo recently.

Zimmer has also said that without an agreement that ensures that Hoboken has final authority over the development—signed between the city and NJ Transit—the development can not move forward. 

In her memo, Zimmer said that the city will seriously consider a proposed plan by NJ Transit, but that it has to be consistent with "the best interests of the City of Hoboken." 

"A balance can be found," Zimmer said. But, she added, "we're not interested in changing the character of Hoboken."