The City of Hoboken is introducing a final draft for the Hoboken Yard Redevelopment Plan which will be considered on first reading by the City Council at their next meeting on November 5, 2014. If approved by the Council, the plan would then be reviewed by the Planning Board. The Planning Board would provide a recommendation to the City Council, which would then hold a final vote to consider adopting the Plan. The City’s revised Plan calls for a baseline 2.176 million square foot mixed use project with an additional 125,000 square feet of commercial space permitted if the commercial space is architecturally creative and designed to LEED Gold standard. Two-thirds of the overall plan is for office space and one-quarter for residential space, with the remainder for retail space. The plan would create a true mixed-use project that will significantly diversify the local economy, support local businesses, and revitalize the Hoboken Terminal area and Observer Highway area - an essential gateway to Hoboken. “This plan represents the results of an extensive City Council and community process to find consensus,” said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. “It is my hope that all of the parties will objectively evaluate this project and move forward in the best interests of our State and our City.” The public is invited to view the plan, plan presentation, economic analysis, and overview of changes compared to the 2012 draft plan at the following links: • Redevelopment Plan: hobokennj.org/docs/communitydev/Hoboken-Yard-Redevelopment-Plan-October-2014.pdf • Redevelopment Plan Presentation: hobokennj.org/docs/communitydev/Hoboken-Yard-Redevelopment-Plan-Presentation.pdf • Economic Analysis: hobokennj.org/docs/communitydev/Hoboken-Yard-Redevelopment-Plan-Economic-Analysis.pdf • Plan Changes Since 2012: hobokennj.org/docs/communitydev/Hoboken-Yard-Redevelopment-Plan-Changes.pdf Economic Viability The City’s Economic Analysis, conducted by Freeman/Frazier & Associates, Inc., a highly regarded and experienced New York City-based firm, makes clear that the implementation of the Plan is economically viable. The economic experts considered, among other factors, the value of the land, soft costs, construction costs, flood resiliency costs, relocation costs, infrastructure costs, and the fair market value of the residential, retail, and office space improvements. They concluded that the “cash flow model indicates that the IRR [Internal Rate of Return] of the project will be 12.9%” which “is at the high end of the minimum range of pro forma rates of return in the New York - New Jersey Market as reported by the ‘Realty Rates’ survey in the 3rd Quarter of 2014.” This is a conservative estimate that does not include the additional 125,000 square foot density bonus. The proposed project will create thousands of construction and permanent jobs, bring new companies to New Jersey, and add millions of dollars of revenue for the State of New Jersey. “While NJ Transit will not receive the enormous revenue that it hoped to receive when it originally proposed its 9 million square foot plan back in 2008, it will receive a fair return on its real estate asset enabling it to make overdue and vitally necessary improvements to its Hoboken facilities, added Mayor Zimmer. “Hoboken is the 4th most densely populated City in the country, so we are quite sensitive to the burden that excessive new residential density would place on our City’s infrastructure.”
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 14:06:25 +0000
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