Hoboken officials will soon hear a proposal to transform a modest dormitory along a cliffside with Hudson River views into a mixed-use education and housing facility as Stevens Institute of Technology continues a growth spurt that looks to modernize their historic campus.
Early next month, steps could be taken to revamp the site of Davis Hall at Hoboken’s only higher education campus. The property, situated located along the easterly edge of the campus on Castle Point, consists of a four-story brick building that houses students.
The building was renovated in 2018 but is decidedly underutilized considering its location. Davis Hall is just down the block from the relatively new Student Center that Stevens completed just a few years ago, which consists of 21- and 19-story glass towers rising from a three-story brick base and includes approximately 1,000 beds in single, double, and suite-style apartments.
Designed by New York City-based Davis Brody Bond, plans for the future Davis Hall mirror the Student Center effort. The submitted application seeks to demolish the existing building and replace it with a new thirteen-story, 238,000-square-foot mixed-use building containing academic and research facilities as well as student housing.
The first three levels as well as a partially below-grade lower level will be comprised of classrooms and teaching labs plus offices, The third level will also feature a green roof deck space along Wittpenn Walk, providing green infrastructure that will minimize stormwater runoff with native and adapted vegetation.
Levels four through six would include dry laboratory and research rooms, offices, and similar lobby and study/gathering areas. The remainder of the complex will serve as dormitories, which Stevens says create a total of 457 new beds for student housing.
Considering the demolition of the current Davis Hall, the application says that the project will achieve a net gain of 245 beds for on-campus student housing. The proposed roof of the building will include an elevated solar canopy installation, providing the building with enhanced energy and space efficiency.
No parking is included in the plan, as the Stevens campus is designed to be walkable and roads for vehicles inside the campus are limited. The development proposes to maintain and enhance the pedestrian-oriented design of Wittpenn Walk and pedestrian access improvements are proposed along the walkway to the primary entrance of the new building.
The current proposal for the new Davis Hall does not require any variances from current regulations thanks to a rezoning plan that Hoboken’s City Council approved back in 2018. The city’s Planning Board is slated to hear the application as part of their Subdivision & Site Plan Meeting on November 12.
The growth spurt at Stevens Institute kicked off in earnest back in 2017 when they renovated and expanded the ABS Engineering Center and began construction on the now-completed Gianforte Academic Center. The new student center followed, and the Davis Hall replacement is the next phase of the revamp.
An article earlier this year from The Stute, the campus newspaper for Stevens, says that the institute hopes to have the new Davis Hall completed by 2032.
