Real estate execs tout Fort Lee, Hackensack projectsFriday, May 3, 2013 Last updated: Friday May 3, 2013, 8:18 AM
BY LINDA MOSS
STAFF WRITER
The Record
NEWARK — Real estate executives Thursday offered updates on major redevelopment projects that they said could transform Fort Lee and Hackensack.
An executive with Tucker Development Corp. said the company will break ground in July on the first phase of Hudson Lights, a mixed-use project on the former Helmsley tract in downtown Fort Lee. The developer plans a pedestrian-friendly "streetscape" in the center's retail heart.
Robert Clark, vice president of development for Tucker, which is based in Highland Park, Ill., said at a real estate roundtable that the first phase will entail the construction of 112,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and 276 rental units.
The Hudson Lights project will be built on the western part of a 16-acre tract south of the George Washington Bridge.
Construction of the mixed-use development, which Tucker has been involved with since 2008, will kick off with the build-out of the initial retail space, three floors of parking above it, and eight levels of residential space on top of that, Clark told about 100 attendees at the roundtable sponsored by the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey, which is based in Paramus.
Tucker plans to rebuild a former road, Hudson Street, which will run north-south through phase one of Hudson Lights, Clark said.
"Hudson was one of the residential streets that was previously at this location," Clark said. "We are creating more of a cobblestone, pedestrian-oriented street. … The retail really fronts onto that Hudson Street."
Hudson Street is meant to channel pedestrians through the new retail outlets to the existing ones on Main Street, he said. It will have 22 parking stalls, with time limited to 15 to 20 minutes, Clark said.
It will take roughly 22 months for the first phase of Hudson Lights to be completed, Clark said. During the second phase, a 175-room hotel, more retail space and another 200 residential units will be built, he added.
Hudson Lights will ultimately include about 175,000 square feet of retail space, 476 residential units and the hotel.
RFK in Manhattan is handling leasing for the retail space at Hudson Lights. The largest space is 13,000 square feet, Clark said.
"This is very small, eclectic-type retail — national, regional and local tenants," he said.
Construction began last October on The Modern, the two 47-story residential towers that will occupy the eastern part of the site, whose borders are Bruce Reynolds Boulevard, Central Road, Main Street and Lemoine Avenue. Its developer is SJP Residential Properties.
Cost for construction of the two projects is estimated at $1 billion.
CIANJ held its roundtable at the Courtyard by Marriott in Newark, a new hotel that Tucker developed. Clark said that the Hudson Lights' Fort Lee hotel will be very similar to it in design.
Jerry Lombardo, president of real estate firm C.J.L. Lombardo Co., spoke about redevelopment efforts in Hackensack, and the effort of the city and its Special Improvement District, which he heads, to revitalize a 163-acre zone. That redevelopment area runs roughly from State Street to River Street, with Main Street in the middle, from Sears to the Bergen County Courthouse complex, Lombardo said.
To encourage development, the city has eased some of its building requirements, including creating a pre-approval board where builders can bounce their plans off city officials early on, Lombardo said.
"We wanted to make Hackensack shovel-ready for the development community," he said.
The SID is trying to forge a stronger relationship between downtown and Hackensack University Medical Center by encouraging the construction of medical offices on Essex Street and downtown, Lombardo said. He mentioned that Alfred Sanzari Enterprises is looking to build a medical-office building on a site it owns on Essex Street.
President and CEO David Sanzari said the proposed building, with 85,000 square feet, has received county and city approval.
To revive downtown, Lombardo said the city is encouraging residential development. As part of the redevelopment, builders will be able to build residential units over retail space, he said. Lombardo said he's encouraging Sanzari to make residential units a component of its Essex Street project.
Lombardo said that a 250-unit residential unit, with ground-level retail, will break ground on State Street on June 6. The developer is Capodagli Property Co. of West New York.
"We have many good sites," Lombardo said. "There's been some sites assembled already that are available A couple of them are under contract already. I know Roseland Development has been down there sniffing around. I ran into them actually walking down the street one day. … They were looking at a couple of sites."
Roseland is owned by Mack-Cali Realty Corp.
When asked about Roseland's interest in Hackensack, Mack-Cali Chief Executive Mitchell Hersh said, "We look at everything,"
Email: moss@northjersey.com