NJ Transit Hoboken Railyard Meeting Recap from 9/27/2010

Last night NJ transit introduced their plan that covers 5% of the 52 acre redevelopment area of the NJT Rail yards area. The introduction was presented as a conceptual plan with an introduction from The Mayor of Hoboken Dawn Zimmer and Senior Director John Leon of NJT. The finale was a presentation of the high level architectural plan.

Map of the Area affected by initial plan- only covers about 5% of total redevelopment area

The presentation had a long introduction by John Leon justifying the economic benefits of the project in terms of state and local breakdowns projected. The plan had some nice features in terms of improving the bus terminal, providing a marketplace, and improving some of the open space outside the terminal that seemed appealing. I don't know if it was just me but the punchline was the final slide that showed the one commercial building as a company HQ (company unspecified) that would be built at around 500,000 square feet.

Representatives from NJ Transit said the commercial building would be 17 stories. The W Hotel is 26 stories.

It seemed that NJT wanted to show the size of the building at the end in order to avoid negative feedback. Officials at the Q and A booths later confirmed it to be 17 stories. I just felt that a better rendering of the building would have left some Hoboken residents a little less skeptical.

There was no mention of the infrastructure improvements that the NJT plan would provide. A commercial building could be good for Hoboken but concerns over the size were voiced by some residents in attendance. Dawn Zimmer also mentioned in her introduction that she understands residents would have concerns over the plan when 95% of the rest of the plans for the redevelopment area have yet to be presented. The Mayor also mentioned that there will be follow up community meetings before any plans are finalized.

For more detail check out the Flickr slideshow of the presentation along with the video of the presentation in several parts below:

NJ Transit Hoboken Railyard Meeting Photos and Slides from presentation 9-27-2010:



Introduction of Plan by John Leon and Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer:



NJT Rail Yards - John Leon Gives Overview Part 1 of 2 9/27/2010:



NJT Rail Yards - John Leon Gives Overview Part 2 of 2 9/27/2010:



NJT Rail Yards - Architect goes over plan Part 1 of 2 9/27/2010:



NJT Rail Yards - Architect goes over plan Part 2 of 2 9/27/2010:

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NJ Transit Hoboken Railyard Meeting Recap from 9/27/2010