Pearson Education Signs Lease in Hoboken

Pearson Education announced on Tuesday it will build one of its offices on the empty lot next to the W Hotel by the Hoboken Waterfront.

In the office building across the street, Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, local officials and Pearson representatives announced the 15.5 year lease Pearson signed. SJP Properties will be developing the property.

"This is a fight," said Guadagno about attracting large companies to New Jersey. "We came to the table and aggressively pursued them."

The construction of the building will create about 600 construction jobs and 900 Pearson employees will work inside the building.

"This is exactly the kind of green, smart development that Hoboken needs to support the continued economic growth of our local economy without burdening our infrastructure," said Mayor Dawn Zimmer.

The lot next to the W Hotel is the last empty lot along the downtown Hoboken waterfront.

The lieutenant governor said that clearing red tape and providing an incentive package helped the company to stay in New Jersey.

Rich Glicini, a graduate of the Stevens Institute of Technology and a vice president at Pearson, called Hoboken the "perfect home" for Pearson's new location. The employees who will be moving to Hoboken in 2014—the scheduled time of completion—are coming from the company's other location in Saddle River.

Guadagno said Pearson's decision to relocate to Hoboken is "a commitment of a life time."

"They could have gone anywhere," Guadagno said.

Community Development Director Brandy Forbes explained that the city extended SJP Properties' exclusivity to develop the land until it could find a suitable tenant for the building, which they have found in Pearson.

The new building is supposed to look very similar to SJP's other two waterfront business complexes, Forbes said. Approval for that has been established, she added.

In a statement sent before Tuesday's announcement, Assemblyman Ruben Ramos Jr. also expressed his support for the relocation.

"We still have a long way to go in our recovery from this recession," Ramos said, "but I believe that Hoboken is leading the way when it comes to getting our state back on its feet and back to work."