Although one of downtown Hackensack’s last undeveloped parcels is one step closer to transformation after the Planning Board granted site plan approval in January, developer Alfred Sanzari says the site at 1 Essex Street may remain blank for at least one more year.
City officials granted final site plan approval in January for a seven-story building with 250 units at the site, which comprises 2.5 acres across 10 separate parcels. They approved a plan for an 85,000-square-foot building with 16,000 square feet of commercial space, an outdoor pool, a dog park, and 435 parking spaces.
Approximately 60% of the units at the complex, 150, will be one-bedroom apartments, while 73 units, both affordable and market-rate, will be two-bedroom apartments. The developer’s site plan application shows that six affordable units will be three-bedroom apartments, while the remaining 21 units will be studio apartments.
The site is strategically located at the gateway to downtown, positioning it as a focal point for the city’s ongoing revitalization along Essex Street toward the Hackensack University Medical Center. It is across the street from Sanzari’s Court Plaza, a 335,000-square-foot Class A office complex, and the Bergen County and city office complex, which will undoubtedly add to the area’s appeal for professionals and commuters.
The Essex Street NJ Transit train station – located just three blocks away – will also offer convenient access to the Pascack Valley Line, connecting residents to Hoboken, Secaucus Junction, and Upstate New York. The Hackensack Bus Terminal, which is also slated for redevelopment, is located five blocks from the project site.
However, Dan Johnson, a spokesperson for Sanzari, told Jersey Digs that the developer is still in the process of procuring the development team and finalizing the complex’s design. He anticipates breaking ground on the project next year.
According to a report in TAPinto Hackensack, city officials granted Sanzari’s limited-liability affiliate Essex One Urban Renewal final site plan approvals five months after they approved a redevelopment plan for the site.
But Sanzari’s project is not the only one reshaping Essex Street. As one of the largest undeveloped sites in downtown Hackensack moves closer to construction, other developers are also advancing plans along the corridor.
Last year, the city planning board granted final site plan approval to developer Meridia Hackensack 151 Urban Renewal to erect apartments and commercial space at a four-parcel site at the corner of Green and Essex streets—just two blocks from Sanzari’s project site. The site, which was used by the city to store salt and as part of the former recycling center, is being redeveloped by a subsidiary of Capodagli Property Co., the same developer behind the Meridia Metro and Meridia on Main apartment complexes in Hackensack.
Cleveland, Ohio-based developer NRP Holdings is also actively looking to redevelop 111 Essex Street, one block from Sanzari’s site. The developer, which secured final site plan approval in August, intends to tear down the commercial building, which houses a bookbinding business, and build a five-story apartment building with 68 affordable apartments and 97 parking spaces.
Despite a slowdown in the number of new apartment buildings under construction in downtown Hackensack, the steady demand for housing coupled with the proximity of the two largest employers in the county, Hackensack University Medical Center and county government, bodes well for transit-oriented development in the city. Although it may take several years for Sanzari’s project to come to life, development along Essex Street seems poised for steady growth in the coming years.
