Prior to the January 21st Hoboken City Council meeting, Ms. LiCausi contacted most of the Council on behalf of Manhattan Building Co. She was also present during the Council meeting. The Council voted 5 to 4 to have the Hoboken Planning Board initiate a study to declare ten blocks of north Hoboken, including 1600 Park Avenue, a redevelopment zone. This will permit the City to write a new set of standards for building in this area that would supersede the regulations stipulated in the Hoboken Zoning Ordinance. The primary obstacle for Weiss’ 140-unit 1600 Park project is his request for a use variance due to the fact that the zoning district is restricted to industrial and commercial uses.
The four members of the City Council not aligned with the Mayor voted against the measure, stating that it contradicted all of the planning efforts that have been undertaken the last several years through the Master Plan revision process. Fred Bado, the City’s Director of Community Development, took issue with that argument as he helped push the measure through. But in a statement to the Jersey Journal, Mayor Roberts, a loyal ally of Menendez, denied “that anyone is getting special treatment by this administration.”
For the past five years, 1600 Park Avenue has sparked controversy. The project began as two 24 story towers that would have been the tallest buildings in Hoboken. Due to protests led by Residents for Responsible Development, developer Sandford Weiss dropped these towers to 22 then 18 and now 9 stories. Area residents packed two meetings in January 2000 to protest the project. Subsequently, then Mayor Russo voiced his opposition and the proposal was put on hold. When the project resurfaced several years later, the Zoning Board rejected the application and the developer appealed the case to Superior Court. The Court remanded the case back to the Zoning Board which held a series of new hearings in 2003.
Dr. Janet Larson and other objectors have continued to use land-use attorney, Jonathan Drill of Stickel, Koenig & Sullivan to challenge this project. In the face of this opposition, Sandford Weiss withdrew the application before the Zoning Board and began his effort to establish the redevelopment plan. The first week of February, the Hoboken Planning Board complied with the City Council’s request to undertake a study of north Hoboken. This could lead to the blighting of this 10-block area, the first step in creating a redevelopment plan. The study is expected to cost between $30,000 and $35,000. “Developers in Hoboken have made end-runs on the political process before. With the Zoning Board and Master Plan process going against him, it looks like Mr. Weiss is now exerting his political influence to create legislation that favors his development plans,” according to Dr. Larson.
In 1987-88,Sandford Weiss built the Skyline, a 16-story building at 551 Observer Highway in Hoboken which he later lost when he went bankrupt during the real estate crash of that time. In 2002, he built the 12-story Hoboken Grande at 610 Newark Street. These two buildings are in the I-2 zoning subdistrict which is restricted to industrial uses and limited to two stories in height. In both instances, Weiss was successful in getting a package of variances from local zoning authorities for permitted use, building height, lot coverage, etc. that enhanced the value of his projects. Currently, Sandford Weiss is completing construction of the controversial 17-story Sky Club at 101 Marshall Drive. This 326 unit project is sited in the R-3 Zoning District which was limited to six story building heights at the time of its approval. The Hoboken Zoning Board granted the original owner, Rene Abreu, 14 variances from the Zoning regulations.