hackensacknjprojects

Successful Municipal Planning for a Clear Vision of the Future
Successful Municipal Planning for a Clear Vision of the Future 789 444 DMR Architects

By John Labrosse, Mayor, Hackensack and Francis Reiner

The City of Hackensack is in the midst of a renaissance.  Over the past ten years, under the leadership of Mayor John Labrosse, Jr., the City has taken tremendous steps with the adoption and realization of a comprehensive plan which provides a clear vision for the transformation of the downtown into a mixed use, pedestrian friendly environment.  Fran Reiner, Partner at DMR Architects which has been the City’s redevelopment and planning consultant since 2010, worked with Mayor Labrosse and the city’s leadership team under its Director of Redevelopment Albert Dib to author the 2012 Downtown Rehabilitation Plan which implemented the strategies for the City’s rebirth.

A key component to the success of the plan has been the public outreach through on-going meetings as well as symposiums to the engage the community, developers, contracted partners, civic leaders and key stakeholders in an on-going conversation regarding the City’s goals and objectives.

Timely results

In only a short period of time since the adoption of the plan, the City has already begun to see the benefits of these strategies.  Deputy Mayor Kathleen Canestrino’s work over the past six years with developers to reinvent blighted properties through the adoption of PILOT programs, resulting in more than 2,500 units are under construction within and surrounding the Main Street downtown district.  It has been a catalyst for a wave of additional development and improvements within the downtown including the completion of a supermarket, the renovation of a farmers’ market, the opening of the Performing Arts Center and the Atlantic Street Park.

The comprehensiveness strategy has allowed the City to be proactive in its approach to redevelopment and set itself up to attract and support future development.

The Plan, which was adopted in 2012, promotes:

  •  Smart growth principles by creating zoning which increases development flexibility, reduces parking ratios and promotes mixed-use, pedestrian friendly development in the downtown;
  • The creation of public parks, plazas and open spaces with an emphasis on community gathering and includes the construction of a performing arts and community center;
  • Connectivity to existing public infrastructure, including the two NJ Transit Rail Stations, the NJ Transit Regional Bus Station and Routes 4, 17, 46, Interstate 80 and the Garden State Parkway;
  • A mixture of uses with a variety of residential housing options to encourage walkability and active streetscapes;
  • Redevelopment and rehabilitation through architectural, neighborhood design standards that ensure high quality development;
  • The implementation of a two-way street system; and
  • Strategies which include municipal tools and mechanisms to promote revitalization.

At the heart of the plan are projects to revive the Main Street area into the nexus of this livable, walkable downtown district.  Clear pedestrian and vehicular circulation and ample convenient parking are vital to attracting developers and ultimately residents and businesses.  Hackensack is in the process of converting Main and State Streets back to two-way and completing a comprehensive streetscape installation which includes traffic signals, new sidewalks and curbs, and handicap ramps which create a safe environment for pedestrians and drivers within the downtown.

In 2020, the City completed a Master Plan which outlines the City’s goals and objectives over the next 10 years.  The plan outlines a strategy for job growth and business development to support the revitalization efforts within the downtown.  These strategies include the creation of a life science zone located between the downtown and the Hackensack Meridian Health campus.  The plan seeks to promote lower density housing options between the downtown and the hospital with a new townhome district for empty nesters and retirees looking to downsize but stay in the City.  In addition, the City recently adopted overlay zones that require the inclusion of affordable housing as a proactive approach for the pending fourth round affordable housing requirements that are scheduled for 2025.

Green priorities

Hackensack made the creation of open green spaces a priority, with all development projects requiring public plazas, parks, and walking trails to connect them to the rest of the city.  In 2011, one of Hackensack’s first redevelopment projects was the conversion of an existing parking lot into Atlantic Street Park funded by a $265,000 Bergen County Open Air Grant.  Its benches and outdoor covered areas bring people out of their offices at lunchtime, and its outdoor performing area supports cultural entertainment throughout warmer months.

The plan has also attracted projects to expand the walkable downtown area.  The Record Site at the east end of the city, dormant for more than a decade, is in the early stages of a redevelopment plan that will bring 700 new rental apartments and 30,000 square feet of retail with green spaces interspersed throughout the nearly 17-acre community and—most-notably—connect Main Street for the first time with a newly created Hackensack Riverfront District.  There are also plans for a schematic design through construction documentation for a proposed sports facility and boat launch.  In the center of the downtown, there are plans to turn an area near Main Street into a public park with a pedestrian paseo that will be closed on weeknights and weekends for festivals and community events, creating a significant public park.

Performing arts and entertainment

Cultural, performing and culinary are vital for economic sustainability in any municipality.  Hackensack converted a Masonic Temple adjacent to Atlantic Street Park into a 225-seat performing arts space for performances that range from singer Marc Cohn and Defining Moments Theater Company’s In the Heights and The 25th Annual Spelling Bee as well as local performances like Cabaret by the Hackensack High School Drama Club and Still/Moving a dance performance by local choreographers Bergen Dance Makers.

While outdoor space and entertainment options are good for the soul, providing opportunities for community sports and fitness and gathering are just as important for attracting new and keeping long-term residents.  The city invested in its senior center as well as upgrading the existing 8,000 square feet and an additional 14,000 square feet at its M&M Recreation Center into a basketball arena that is also used for volleyball and baseball hitting cages, indoor soccer, and a new senior center.

The 2012 redevelopment plan provided a blueprint for Hackensack and developers to work together to meet their shared goals and set the city up to continue its growth trajectory.  The city recently completed the Hackensack Life Science Zone Assessment Report to identify Federal Opportunity Zones, a designation that will attract new private investment and job creation.

The key for Hackensack and for any municipality that is seeking to revitalize its downtown or Main Street area is to be proactive in its approach to revitalization.  It’s crucial for municipalities to first understand the goals and objectives of the community and its residents through an inclusive public outreach process and then to develop a comprehensive plan that will guide all future decisions, an approach that has allowed Hackensack to dictate the type and pattern of development that appeals to residents who are new to the city as well as those who are life-long residents.

Hackensack Mellone – Mariniello Recreation Center Opens
Hackensack Mellone – Mariniello Recreation Center Opens 789 444 DMR Architects

Today marks the first day of programs at the Mellone – Mariniello (M&M) Recreation Center in Hackensack, giving residents access to a recent redesign and expansion that addresses the community’s need for current athletic, meeting and activity space.

The project took an existing 8,000 square foot building and renovated and expanded the facility into a 22,000 square foot facility that now includes an expanded 400-seat basketball arena, a new senior center, a new lobby and three multipurpose rooms.

“DMR’s plans will allow us to host more athletic team practices and games, offer parents an after-school program for their elementary and middle school-aged kids, and give retired seniors a better location for classes and activities,” Mayor John Labrosse said.

“The 21st century community center is a destination where people can often spend several hours meeting with friends, learning new skills, and enjoying team sports all in one place,” Lloyd Rosenberg, AIA, President and CEO, said. “Places like Hackensack are rethinking their current recreation spaces, not just for its residents’ needs now, but with flexibility to continue to meet these needs over the next generation of users.”

The facility also offers community meeting and classroom spaces, new restroom facilities, a snack bar, storage area, and an office for the center’s administration.

Hackensack Redevelopment Summit Celebrates Milestones and Sets Vision for its Future
Hackensack Redevelopment Summit Celebrates Milestones and Sets Vision for its Future 789 444 DMR Architects

Elected Officials and leaders from the public and private sectors including Hackensack’s Mayor John P. LaBrosse, Jr., Deputy Mayor Kathleen Canestrino and representatives from Hekemian & Company Inc., Russo Development, HornRock Properties, Claremont Companies, Heritage Capital, Waypoint Residential, Lighthouse Living, and DMR Architects celebrated Hackensack’s revitalization accomplishments and set a vision for its future at the recent Hackensack Redevelopment Summit.

At the event, hosted by the City of Hackensack and the Performing Arts Center, developers were invited to continue to fulfill the vision outlined in the City of Hackensack’s Downtown Rehabilitation Plan, which includes improvements to transportation alternatives, parks and open spaces, retail, restaurants and biosciences.

“The success of the City’s revitalization efforts is based on the public and private sector’s ability to work together to create a vibrant mixed-use downtown,” Francis Reiner, partner with DMR Architects and Redevelopment Consultant for the City of Hackensack, stated.  “This was an opportunity for the City, and its partners to set new goals and a vision for the next eight to 10 years.”

The transformation of the City of Hackensack, which began in 2012 with the conversion of an underutilized parking lot into the Atlantic Street Park and the construction of adjacent Performing Arts Center, has advanced to include more than 20 redevelopment plans with more than 3,000 residential units with an estimated half billion dollars of private investments within and surrounding the downtown.

The City continues to implement its visions with the conversion of Main Street back to two way, which is set to be completed by the end of summer 2019.  These improvements will include new streetscape to go along with opening of several mixed-use projects on Main Street.

“The ideas that were set forth at the Summit by the City and the developers will help shape the future for the City,” Reiner stated.

Projects like Heritage Capital’s conversion of the former Bank of America Building, Russo Development‘s redevelopment of the former Record Site, HornRock/Russo’s redevelopment of Lot C adjacent to Foschini Park, as well as Claremont Companies’ and Waypoint Residential‘s projects on Main Street represent the next group of developments that are under construction to offer downtown living within the City.

 

Hackensack PAC Historic Preservation Award

Hackensack Cultural and Performing Arts Center to be Honored with Historic Preservation Award
Hackensack Cultural and Performing Arts Center to be Honored with Historic Preservation Award 789 444 DMR Architects

On May 10 the DMR Architects-designed Hackensack Performing Arts Center received the 2018 Bergen County Historic Preservation Award for the adaptive reuse of the former Masonic Temple at 102 State Street. Bergen County Executive James Tedesco III and the Board of Chosen Freeholders presented the award to the City of Hackensack during the program.

The purchase and rehabilitation of the Masonic Temple was one of the first projects that the City of Hackensack embarked on after adopting its Downtown Rehabilitation Plan in 2012.

“The repurpose of the Masonic Temple into the Hackensack Performing Arts Center was a watershed moment that resulted in attracting dozens of real estate developers to invest in Hackensack’s revival,” Mayor John Labrosse said. “Since then, DMR’s creativity and ingenuity can be seen all over Hackensack from the new traffic patterns to the new open spaces and residential communities coming online every day.”

“Hackensack continues to be the textbook case of what can be accomplished when the City, the County, and private entities work together,” Francis Reiner, PP, LLA, Senior Urban Designer, Redevelopment Consultant and Partner at DMR said. “We’re proud and appreciative that The Bergen County Historic Preservation Society has recognized our collaborative work to resurrect the Masonic Temple into the center of Hackensack’s artistic renaissance.”

The project maintained the look and feel of the 140-year-old building, while bringing it up to modern safety and accessibility standards, which included reinforcing its below-ground footings and foundation to accommodate the shift from its original use as a meeting hall on its first floor, to its new use as a 224-seat theater space and stage on its second floor. It also included a new gallery space on the first floor that shows work from local and regional artists as well as new bathrooms, heating and cooling systems, sprinkler systems, ramps, and an elevator.

Hackensack: A Redevelopment
Hackensack: A Redevelopment 960 540 DMR Architects

by Francis Reiner, PP, LLA

As densely populated as New Jersey is and as much development as we have seen over the last decade, there remain many once thriving communities struggling to regain relevance. Like many of these proud communities, Hackensack’s fate was sealed back in the 1970’s, with the advent of the malls and proliferation of land use policies that promoted isolated land uses where people would work in one location and live another. Previously esteemed communities like Hackensack slowly died from the inside. Left with little to no residential, high vacancy rates and low rents, these suburban downtown centers become desolate, dangerous areas with little opportunity for revitalization. Even today, there are many communities struggling to create a strategy to recover their vitality without having to compromise their vision and values.

It’s been a long road for Hackensack. Understanding all of the layers, all of the details, all of the pieces that have to be considered from the very start through every decision that is made every day to support the goals, objectives and vision for the City can be daunting. Most people would have given up on the thought that one day Hackensack would have another day in the sun and even with dozens of projects underway, there are still doubters. Even communities who can correctly articulate a strategy that takes into account the complexities of a changing demographic society looking to live and work in ways that no previous generations considered are lost for lack of the most essential element to revitalization: a plan.

But unlike many communities, Hackensack took this first step in redevelopment—which is the hardest to take. A plan may sound simple, and at the beginning it is: create a vision that represents the goals and objectives of the community. Then, identify public initiatives, plans, zoning, projects necessary to encourage the maximum amount of private investments and it quickly becomes more complicated. The plan also needs to maximize private investments in an area with numerous property owners, failing infrastructure, with poor circulation, that lacks parking and provides little to no entertainment without the use of condemnation within an existing and constrained 2% municipal budget. Each decision has to be weighed and measured to understand the financial implications while continuing to seek what is best for both its existing and future residents.

The key is to create a plan that promotes private redevelopment, increases tax revenue and enhances the community in a manner that meets the goals and objectives of the residents that is realistic for both the municipality and for the development community. Too many plans are written that are either not practically realistic or are not financially feasible. This key aspect is one of the most important differences from a plan that sits on a shelf, to a project that gets built. For municipalities, the professionals that represent you and their knowledge of development, costs and construction is a critical component to the creation of a plan.

For Hackensack, this meant creating zoning that encouraged land assemblages by creating a two tiered as of right zoning within the downtown. For small individual properties, a non-catalyst zone was created, which promoted smaller scaled redevelopment with appropriate parking ratios. However, for developers that assembled multiple properties that fronted on Main Street (Min. 200’) a catalyst zone was created, which permitted higher density development with lower parking ratios. For Hackensack’s revitalization this was a key component. Without the use of eminent domain and without any existing large land owners, creating zoning that promoted land assemblage allowed development to move forward. This along with designating a large enough area that allowed developers to find willing sellers without having such a large area that development could feel scattered and unconnected was a crucial first step in creating a vision for the downtown. The result of these strategies was that real estate brokers started to assemble multiple properties and package them for potential developers to consider.

In addition, the implementation of a streamlined submittal, review and approval process through the adoption of a Preliminary Review Committee Process, that gave developers a more certain understanding of the timeline and schedule. Architectural and Streetscape Design Standards were included in the Rehabilitation Plan and every Redevelopment Plan that has since been adopted. These standards represent the architectural design and scale that is consistent with the vision of the community and are the key to getting the look and design of a building during site plan approval.

The final piece was the City’s willingness to consider long term financial incentives to potential developers as a means to move development forward. This tool provides the City with significant increases in revenue that can be invested back into the City in the form of infrastructure improvements and new community facilities. For Hackensack that included the construction of a new public park, the renovation of a 140 year old abandoned building into a state of the art Performing Arts Center, the renovation and expansion of a Community and Recreation Facility, the design of new streetscape, the separation of combined stormwater and sewer system and the conversion Main and State Street back to two way. Fiscal responsibility included hiring an independent financial analyst to review each proposed PILOT.

Hackensack has attracted more than $500 million in private investment in less than 10 years, providing an example for the revitalization ambitions of other communities. Today, there are more that 750 new residential units under construction, with another 750 units that will start construction in 2018 and more than 2,000 additional units planned for in the next 5 to 7 years. The City recently opened a state-of-the-art Performing Arts Center and an award winning downtown park. The conversion of Main Street to two-way traffic is under construction and will include new streetscape and much needed and long overdue infrastructure improvements—all paid for by the revenues generated by redevelopment. The plan put in place only six short years ago is working.

Enter your
text here