Progress is being made on a proposal that would construct a mixed-use building at a prominent intersection in Downtown Hoboken, but additional changes could still be made before the plan is finalized.
Last week, city officials and representatives from 83 Willow Ave Apartments LLC held a community meeting regarding the future development of several parcels currently home to a surface parking lot. Preliminary plans for the land have been drawn up by Nastasi Architects and they include a mixed-use building that’s dubbed 83 Willow Avenue.
The 11-story structure is set to rise a total of 129 feet in height with the ground floor featuring a residential lobby, a stormwater detention system, and 2,000-square feet of retail on the corner of Newark Street and Willow Avenue.
The next three floors of 83 Willow would include a total of 72 parking spaces in a garage sporting a car elevator to be accessed via Newark Street. 18 spaces would be set aside for future residents of 83 Willow Avenue, while the neighboring Jefferson Trust condominiums would get 42 spots for their residents. Condo owners at 89 Willow are to get nine spaces and the remaining three spots would be ADA compliant per regulations.
The remainder of 83 Willow Avenue would consist of 42 residences that break down as 21 one-bedrooms, 13 two-bedrooms, seven three-bedrooms, and one four-bedroom unit. Four of the apartments would be set aside as affordable units and the building’s top would sport both a 3,300-square foot green roof and a deck amenity space.
For the plan to go through as is, the developers behind 83 Willow Avenue will be seeking a few amendments to Hoboken’s Public Works Redevelopment Plan that governs the area. The company needs to submit those changes to the city council for initial approval, after which the planning board will review them for consistency with the city’s Master Plan.
The council would then need to sign off on the plan’s changes during a second reading and approve a separate redevelopment agreement with 83 Willow Ave Apartments LLC, after which the planning board would then need to review and approve the company’s application.
83 Willow Avenue is being pitched for parcels that are directly adjacent to Hoboken’s Department of Public Works facility. A legal settlement the city council approved this summer could conclude a long-running saga involving Ironstate Development that dates back to 2013.
Under the agreement, Ironstate would pay $500,000 to the city while turning over title to the 15th Street pier. In exchange, Ironstate would get the rights to develop a mixed-use building at Hoboken’s Department of Public Works facility located at 256 Observer Highway.
Both projects still have a long way to go before shovels hit the ground, but it looks like big changes could be coming to the neighborhood.
