A large retail component and a new home for a local non-profit would have been coming to uptown Adams Street, but Hoboken’s Zoning Board denied an application that was hoping to add some new development to the city’s fastest-emerging neighborhood.
Fresh off opening their Harlow property at 14th Street and Willow Avenue, Bridgewater-based Advance Realty was looking to gain approvals for another mixed-use development at 1417 Adams Street. The land in question totals about 20,000-square feet by combining eight lots, including one that runs all the way through to neighboring Grand Street.
A bus parking lot at the property would have been leveled to make way for a new 58-unit rental building that would have risen six stories and covered 100% of the land. Designed by Minervini Vandermark, the industrial-inspired development would have featured over 13,000-square feet of retail space, 2,937-square feet of which would have been double height and face 15th Street on the ground floor. Another 1,640-square foot storefront would have graced the ground floor of the Grand Street portion of the building.
The second and third floors of the project would each contain about 3,000 square feet of office space. As part of the deal, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Essex, Hudson and Union Counties were to have been given 3,000 of those square feet free of charge for the next 15 years.
The organization’s involvement in the project is undisputed, as the chapter included a letter of support in the development’s application. CEO Michele Williers also told the city’s Zoning Board during testimony she gave that the group would use the potential Hoboken space as a satellite location for their mentoring programs.
The apartment portion of the development would have been on floors two through six and was to break down as 10 3-bedrooms, 17 2-bedrooms, 30 1-bedrooms, and one studio. A rooftop pool and a 3,811-square foot common landscaped courtyard plus five private outdoor spaces would have been included in the buildout, in addition to a green roof system.
Six affordable housing units would have been created if the building was approved, as would a total of 66 parking spaces in a garage. 31 of those spaces would have been mechanical and utilize a triple parking system that stacks cars in an effort to save room.
The project had gone before the Zoning Board during three separate meetings, but was eventually denied on Wednesday last month. Fresh off the rejection of an application for a development that claimed to have a deal in place with Shake Shack, one might wonder why there’s a sudden string of Zoning Board denials in Hoboken. But the reason for both denials comes back to variances and in the latest case, some zoning even city officials seem to think is archaic.
The 1417 Adams property is currently zoned for I-1 Industrial use and falls just outside the boundaries of the Western Edge Redevelopment Plain. Due to that reality, the project was seeking nine total variances, including ones for use, development of a non-conforming lot, height, lot coverage, parking, and several relating to roof and yard setbacks.
Hoboken’s Planning Board did designate the property’s zone as the North End Rehabilitation Area back in 2013, but no rezoning plan has been approved almost four years later. The city did invite residents to complete a survey about what they’d like to see in the area earlier this year, but no proposal has been presented.
Following the denial, a spokesperson for Advance Realty told Jersey Digs that “we are actively evaluating our alternatives.”
