Plans for Hoboken Connect include a CetraRuddy-designed, 389-unit apartment building on Observer Highway — across from the Bloomfield and Washington Street intersections — with 20 percent of the homes designated for lower-income renters. — Rendering courtesy: LCOR
By Joshua Burd
A key piece of a sweeping redevelopment in Hoboken is moving ahead with the support of a 10-year, $90 million tax credit award that was approved last month by state officials.
The subsidy, which the Economic Development Authority pledged under its Aspire program, will support a 386-unit apartment tower on Observer Highway that LCOR is developing as part of the long-awaited, mixed-use Hoboken Connect project near the city’s iconic transit terminal. The 27-story building would include 78 units that are reserved as affordable housing, as well as 1,221 square feet of ground-floor retail space.
Construction is slated to begin in March and last for 31 months, the EDA wrote in a memorandum to board members. The nearly $235 million project will redevelop what is currently an NJ Transit parking lot across from the Bloomfield Street and Washington Street intersections.
“With the support of the Aspire Program, the Hoboken Connect residential project will transform Hoboken Yard by offering new, affordable housing options for commuters and families and generating increased economic activity with new retail and office space, while creating good-paying construction and permanent jobs,” said Tim Sullivan, the authority’s CEO. “Transit-oriented development is an integral part of Governor Phil Murphy’s mission to revitalize neighborhoods and is a key focus of the Aspire Program. As the Aspire Program continues to support additional projects, New Jersey will expand housing options, increase affordability, and create stronger communities.”
Murphy and other officials joined LCOR in fall 2022 for a ceremonial groundbreaking for Hoboken Connect, which is nearly 20 years in the making and has moved forward with a series of key approvals. Plans also call for improving the city’s historic transit terminal, infrastructure upgrades and a second ground-up building with more than 700,000 square feet of high-end office space.
LCOR is the project’s master developer under an agreement with NJ Transit. Its partner is the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, or CalSTRS.
According to the EDA, the market-rate apartments include 45 studios, 223 one-bedrooms and 40 two-bedrooms, while all but 15 of the 78 affordable units will be two- or three-bedroom homes. Tenants will have access to indoor amenities such as a resident lounge, a pet spa, a fitness center and an entertainment kitchen, among others, as well as outdoor spaces such as a ground-level dog run and park, a rooftop deck, a swimming pool and picnic areas.
“The market-rate units aim to attract a mix of residents consistent with those trends that have been driving absorption along the Hudson Waterfront that include professional singles, married couples, young families and college students, which will include a diverse socio-economic background,” the EDA wrote in its Dec. 14 board memo. “All of this will be done with the benefit of living immediately adjacent to Hoboken Terminal’s multi-modal transportation hub.”
The EDA noted that Hoboken Connect is located in what’s known under state law as an enhanced area municipality, meaning it’s eligible for an Aspire tax credit equal to the lesser of 60 percent of the total project cost or $90 million.
EDA officials have noted with past approvals that Aspire, which was created by the New Jersey Economic Recovery Act of 2020, is a place-based economic development program to support mixed-use, transit-oriented development with tax credits to commercial and residential projects that have financing gaps. All residential Aspire projects must include at least 20 percent affordable housing, while applicants must certify that all commitments established at time of approval have been met before receiving their first disbursement of tax credits.
Murphy joins LCOR, NJ Transit to break ground on historic Hoboken Connect project
