Mixed income housing, garages and retail on the table for Hoboken public housing overhaul

Aerial view of Hoboken Housing Authority buildings. (Reena Rose Sibayan | The Jersey Journal)

As Hoboken sets out to complete the redevelopment plan for the overhaul of the city’s public housing, it is considering whether to introduce new workforce or market rate units, adding retail or garages and incorporating new recreational spaces.

The process marks the next major step in planning for the near complete transformation of the Hoboken Housing Authority properties before construction begins, likely next year, with a gradual demolition and reconstruction of 21 of 28 of the buildings, officials have said.

The city gathered opinions about what should and should not be included in the new housing at a meeting Wednesday, and it is continuing to gather opinions through an online survey.

Questions include what type of income levels additional new units, beyond the current 1,354, should cater to, what architectural style the buildings should be, and whether passive or active recreation amenities should be prioritized.

Then, in June, the consulting firm the city has hired to create the redevelopment plan will hold another public meeting and offer residents several different options for what the project could look like. That will help them narrow down a vision for the final redevelopment plan.

“I view this as a civil rights issue and an issue of economic justice,” said Mayor Ravi Bhalla. “We have a housing authority that is a place where you can advance and have a good life, not just in terms of housing, but in terms of job opportunity. Anything that you wish to see here, we want to make happen.”

Residents have similarly been involved throughout earlier phases of the public planning process, which has already spanned a year and a half. Last year the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners passing a strategic plan that lays out a broad vision for the housing to be rebuilt on the current properties but newly aligned with the city grid and, perhaps, reaching new heights of 10 stories.

The strategic plan also promised that every unit demolished would be replaced and that no current residents would be displaced from the city’s public housing in the process. Ideally, most if not all residents will only have to move once, it said: from their current unit to a newly constructed one.

Several attendees at Wednesday’s meeting described it as yet another point in a lengthy process where they were not told concrete details about what the redevelopment will really mean for them individually, such as when they will have to move for the demolitions and what their new units will look like.

While many seemed open to and ready for the investment in the aging structures they call home, in interviews, they agreed that after years of meetings they’re unsure if they’ll even live long enough to see the results. Officials have said that construction for the redevelopment may span a decade.

“I might not be here when they start doing this,” said Juana Rosa, who said she moved to the housing authority in 1985. “I’m going to be 69 so I hope … the young people, they can see it and we can stay here because this is the only thing we have. We can’t go pay out there $3,000, $4,000 rent. We can’t afford it.”

Hoboken hired the firm Heyer, Gruel and Associates to craft the redevelopment plan, and employees helped residents jot down suggestions on sticky notes Wednesday. Several participants said they want the new buildings to be brick. Others preferred more modern designs, and some preferred a mix of both.

Hoboken collected suggestions from Hoboken Housing Authority residents at a meeting Wednesday as it prepares a redevelopment plan for the reconstruction of the city's public housing.

One sticky note suggested, “Keep it ‘Hoboken’ in style — new but old.”

Integrating units for renters of other income brackets would be new for Hoboken’s housing authority, but not for the region. Jersey City’s plans to redevelop Holland Gardens include 309 market-rate units, 74 senior affordable housing units and 56 condominiums in addition to the 192 public housing units.

Some Heyer, Gruel and Associates employees said diversifying the types of housing may be a way to help fund Hoboken’s project.

Hoboken Housing Authority Executive Director Marc Recko has not offered an estimated price tag for the redevelopment, but has said the HHA plans to borrow funds and will take advantage of New Jersey Housing Mortgage Finance Administration Tax Credit assistance.

Once the redevelopment plan is complete, it will go before the city council for approval.

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