Avalon Bay/Best Western site/Residential Buildings

[Editor]

Housing plan at Hackensack hotel site advances
Thursday, September 9, 2010
BY MONSY ALVARADO
The Record
STAFF WRITER

HACKENSACK – Two mid-rise residential buildings are closer to occupying the site of the Best Western Oritani Hotel on Hackensack Avenue.

The 226-unit project was approved late Wednesday night by the Planning Board, but the developer will have to ask the City Council to waive its obligation to include affordable housing apartments as part of the project. Board Attorney Richard Malagiere said the Planning Board does not have the jurisdiction to decide on the matter.

The 4.2-acre site is located within a housing zone, which requires at least 15 percent of the units built to be affordable housing units, according to city officials. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. is looking to build luxury rentals.

Joseph Augustyn, a planner hired by the city to develop its affordable housing plan, testified Wednesday that the city is in need of rehabilitating units and not so much in building them. Developers can give funds to the city to rehabilitate units, but that would be a decision for the council, according to testimony.

Ronald Ladell, vice president of development for AvalonBay Communities, Inc. in Woodbridge, said he was excited with the Planning Board’s decision, and would reach out to the City Council as soon as possible.

“We are hopeful we can move forward with this community in the near future.”

Mayor Karen Sasso and City Councilman Marlin Townes, who sit on the board, said they liked the revisions that were agreed to on Wednesday.

“Most of what we have done is common sense and I think to be able to stand before my citizens and back a project is the most important thing for me,’’ Townes said. “For what I’ve seen, and the way our professional and the professionals on their side have come to these agreements, I think from the first day I liked it and now I’m almost in love with it.”

The 7-0 approval came with several conditions, which include a 50 percent limit on the vinyl used outside the building, and the number of parking spaces the developer will have to include. The board also is going to allow the developer to have 44 fewer parking spaces than the 495 required under city ordinance. Initially, the developer wanted a variance to construct 88 fewer spaces.

The developer must also try and get the approval from its neighbors, The Shops at Riverside and The Home Depot Shopping Center, to build a sidewalk which would allow residents to access the commercial properties.

Ladell told the board that he has been talking to both owners about getting approval for the walkways, but said he can’t guarantee that the owners would be willing.

AvalonBay Communities will have to submit new plans to the board in time for its Oct. 13 meeting which will incorporate the revisions.

The plans call for the construction of two four-story buildings which will contain studios, as well as one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The project will also include a pool, circular driveways and parking garages, according to plans submitted to the city.

The L-shaped lot is owned by Dasa Company LLC, and Avalon is under contract to buy the property, company officials said. Avalon plans to demolish the hotel, and a Japanese restaurant on the site.

Company officials did not know when construction would begin, but said they hope the project attracts singles, and younger couples, as well as “empty nesters” with grown children. Avalon has constructed similar residential projects in other Bergen County communities, including Edgewater, Lyndhurst and Rutherford.

E-mail: alvarado@northjersey.com

[just watching]

Does anyone know what is the relationship between the new buildings and Hackensack River County Park.  Will it be completely fenced off from the park, or will there be an access gate to the park for residents to access the nature trails?

[Editor]

Avalon Hackensack At Riverside: http://www.apartmentguide.com/apartments/New-Jersey/Hackensack/Avalon-Hackensack-At-Riverside/187763/

[Editor]

http://www.northjersey.com/news/massive-fire-at-edgewater-s-avalon-apartments-hundreds-evacuated-1.1231207

The fire was in Edgewater but the apartments were owned by a subsidiary of Avalon Bay.  The construction looks similar to what was built in Hackensack.  I wonder if additional fire prevention measures exist in the newer construction.  I would hope so. Looking at the video, you can see how far and fast the fire spread.  It wasn't particularly windy tonight either. 

So far, no injuries but I don't think the fire is out yet. Hackensack Fire Dept. is assisting along with a bunch of other towns.

Related topic: http://www.hackensacknow.org/index.php/topic,3050.0.html

[just watching]

The answer is YES, the construction on Hackensack Ave is the same 'lightweight' construction as the Avalon project in Edgewater that burned.  Basically in recent decades wood has become cheaper than concrete and steel, so as long as building codes allow it, developers are making massive concrete parking garages and building 5 stories of wood frame above that.  6 stories is not allowed.

 Here's a complete list of the buildings in Hackensack with this dangerous type of construction:

1.  310 Prospect Ave, both buildings (along Third St, and behind 300 Prospect Ave)
2.  The new building on Linden Ave near Anderson Street
3.  Avalon Hackensack on Hackensack Ave
4.  The new building under construction on State Street next to the Cultural Arts Center
5.  SW corner of State and Atlantic streets

Only slightly less dangerous are the 4-story townhouses at Anderson & Prospect.  And the same builder constructed on Main street a few blocks south of Route 4.

All the older 5 story buildings in Hackensack are masonry construction.

I am hopefully that the State will change the building codes.  And in the meantime, the City of Hackensack should put the stop to all of this construction.  These are firetraps. They endanger both residents and our firefighters.

[Editor]

State and Atlantic is not stick construction. Steel stud. I don't believe there is any wood in that building at all.

[just watching]

Thanks for the correction.  And I misses two others that are stick construction.  So here's my revised list:

HIGHEST RISK
1.  310 Prospect Ave, both buildings (along Third St, and behind 300 Prospect Ave)
2.  The new building on Linden Ave near Anderson Street
3.  Avalon Hackensack on Hackensack Ave, both buildings
4.  The new building under construction on State Street next to the Cultural Arts Center, over 200 units

SECONDARY RISK
5.  Essex Street, south side, near the bend
6.  Essex Street, north side, near Rowland Ave
7.  Townhouses at Prospect & Anderson
8.  Townhouses on Main Street a few blocks south of Route 4 (Zabriskie ?)

[just watching]

What about the most recently construction mid-rise on Passaic Street, north side, just west of Summit Ave.  Was that wood-frame or concrete ?

[Editor]

http://www.northjersey.com/mobile/news/burst-sprinkler-pipe-triggers-alarm-draws-firefighters-to-avalon-complex-in-hackensack-1.1272914

[just watching]

There was a discussion on this website, couldn't find it, regarding how many children Avalon Hackensack would put into the school system.  So I'll post here on this string.

A Hackensack official told me today that over 100 children registered into the Hackensack school system from the Avalon property.  More than 3 times the estimated 30 children that their "expert" testified to the city during the application process.  I was told that the buildings are now fully rented.  The project is "mostly Caucasian, with the balance of various ethnicities".

This is entirely different from the Linden Street property recently completed by Daibes.  The same official told me that building places NONE or ALMOST NONE children into the school system.

What's the difference?  Why does one new property have so many kids, and the other has none ?  It's not the number of bedrooms, it's the size of the bedrooms.  Linden Street has much nicer floor plans, much larger units. Families with kids typically have limited finances, and they will settle for the smaller bedrooms in order to get lower rent or purchase price. So if there are 2-bedroom units renting for $1500, $2000, and $2300, the families with kids will gravitate to the units renting $1500 to $1600.  And those are the units with the tiny bedrooms.

Same for 3-bedroom properties. There's a price range for the rents, and the cheapest ones will fill up with kids. Those are the ones with tiny bedrooms.  And it's no different for 1-bedroom units.  Families with a child(ren) will again gravitate to the cheapest ones with a small bedroom The family will use the living room as a bedroom for the child, and the single mother will take the actual bedroom.

So, my message to the Zoning and Planning Boards is not to allow the tiny bedroom units, no matter what if they are 1, 2, 3, or 4-bedroom units

[Homer Jones]

100 children from that site seems inordinately high. The location is not exactly what one might consider a strong residential neighborhood. Those units seem to be aimed at the single and just married market. Probably a lot of commuters. I can't see any rational married couple with young children pitching their tent there.
Maybe you can contact the Board of Ed office for a clarification.

[irons35]

believe it.  I dont know about the number, but there are a whole bunch of people with little kids living there.  when they were being built we used to say to each other nobody with kids will live here.    that was inaccurate. 

[Homer Jones]

Gonna' be a long and tricky walk to school.

[just watching]

My source is a Hackensack official.  He says that families are attracted to the complex because you can live there without a car.  You can walk to Pathmark next door and the other small stores in that complex. There's even a little walkway connecting Avalon Hackensack to the shops.  And it's a prominent corner of Hackensack that can be called "northern Bergen County" because its north of Route 4.  And there's a pool, and the desire to raise kids where there are other kids for them to have friends.  Somehow, it does 'sell' to families with kids.

[Homer Jones]

To each,his own.