Page 17 - Issue 46 Oct2020

REALESTATENJTM 15
activity,” he said. The Harlow made the area walkable, “not only for families, but for people who were living in the back part of town who could walk late at night under the viaduct and get to the waterfront.”
For its part, Bijou has a long track record of connecting neighborhoods within Hoboken. Mazzola pointed to the North End location of bwe Kafé, in the firm’s 34-unit Edge Adams building next to the 14th Street Viaduct. The area around the viaduct park didn’t have coffee, so Bijou offered a space to the Hoboken- based chain.
Mazzola said the key is to find retailers that people want to visit every day.
Those tenants
aren’t national,
“they don’t have
the strongest
balance sheet
and we need to
subsidize them
in a way that
makes them
comfortable that they can set up a location that works.”
Cohen, previously a zoning board commissioner, said another key factor in new development is benefits or public spaces for
the community. The three-block Western Edge project currently in development from Pegasus Partners, for instance, will include plaza space and a community pool along with a proposed 357 residential units and a 281-room hotel.
Another factor, Cohen said, is resiliency and green infrastructure, citing the resiliency park the city is building in an area devastated by Hurricane Sandy.
Mazzola agreed: “We need to be part of the solution with regard to continued storm resiliency, not part of the problem.” Bijou’s buildings include green roofs to absorb water without overpowering the sewer system, as well as an underground stormwater detention system that can hold rainwater until the sewer system is clear.
Cocoziello said flood mitigation is part of Advance’s planning, including pumps and detention basins.
A further concern for residents, Cohen said, is congestion and traffic flow, and one potential giveback to the community may be a new light
rail station.
Rents on the west side and the North End are comparable to the waterfront, the developers say, because of the amenities they’re offering and the neighborhood feel. Mazzola said buildings along the waterfront, including Jersey City and Weehawken, are losing tenants, while “we’re seeing up to five new leases a week.”
“People come to Hoboken because they want to live here, because they want the walkable village neighborhood experience.”
As proof, Mazzola cites Bijou’s 7 Seventy House project on the west side, which opened last fall at 770 Jackson St. The building offers a rooftop pool deck, fitness studio, kids’ playroom, co-working lounge, concierge service, PATH shuttle, Manhattan views, ground-floor retail, playground and public gym, with rents ranging from $2,800 for a one-bedroom to $6,400 for a three- bedroom unit. The building is over 80 percent leased, he said.
Creating 7 Seventy took multiple community meetings and discussions with stakeholders. Residents objected at first, but Bijou revised the concept to win their approval.
“The success was the amount of area that we were able to assemble, because without the park, and
the playground, and the plaza and the gymnasium that we built, we wouldn’t have had the ability to build a neighborhood,” Mazzola said, referring to the project’s additional community spaces.
Gaber said the amenity space and 12,000-square-
Grand & Adams, a proposed mixed-use project by Advance Realty Investors, calls for bringing 58 new luxury apartments and 13,000 square feet of retail and office space to 1417 Adams St. in northwest Hoboken.
Chris Mazzola
too much density or height doesn’t fit well with the city, and developers’ focus needs to be on livability, community, resiliency and design.
The developers, though, said some density is necessary. Cocoziello
said, “Density’s important to support local businesses, to support eventually having an office component and supporting a daytime population.” RE
More than a bank, a business partner.
Scan here to meet the team.
manasquan.bank
Dave Gaber
foot lobby
have been appreciated during the pandemic, since “people can really feel safe going in and out of the building
and still be able to social distance.”
Post-pandemic, Cocoziello said, there will be a desire for midrise buildings with culture and community. People are leaving high- rises in Manhattan and Jersey City to come to Hoboken, he said.
Cohen cautioned, going forward, that
Courtesy: Advance Realty Investors