Hoboken Council OKs Hilton Hotel Plans; ‘Big Win,’ Mayor Says

HOBOKEN, NJ — A full-service Hilton hotel along the Hoboken waterfront is officially in the works and is expected to bring 170 jobs to the Mile Square City, officials say.

On Wednesday, the Hoboken City Council approved an agreement negotiated by Mayor Ravinder Bhalla with KMS Development Partners. The deal paves the way for KMS to build a 20-story, 350-room hotel behind the Frank Sinatra Post Office near Pier A Park.

The hotel will also have an onsite restaurant and bar, a rooftop event space with public access, meeting and banquet spaces with waterfront views and a fitness center for hotel guests. Other approved project details include:

• Retail/sidewalk café use on the ground floor
• Constructed to LEED Silver standards
• Public open space in the form of a “pocket park” to be accessed from River Street

The full redevelopment agreement can be viewed online here. There is no payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) or special tax arrangement for the hotel, which is expected to bring in $1.7 million in annual tax revenue, a city spokesperson said.

The council voted 8-1 to approve the project, with James Doyle providing the dissenting “no” vote.

According to a statement from city officials, the hotel will be “100% constructed and operated with union labor,” and Hoboken residents will be prioritized for “170 well-paying hotel jobs.” The hotel is expected to generate $5 million for the local economy and preserve the historic Sinatra Post Office.

As part of the deal, KMS has agreed to offer Hoboken $4.85 million in “community givebacks,” which include:

• An allocation of $2 million to revitalize the former Hoboken YMCA at 1301 Washington Street that will include a municipal pool, an uptown branch of the Hoboken Public Library, and additional classroom space for the Hoboken Public Schools
• $1.165 million towards “infrastructure upgrades,” which includes the area adjacent to the hotel
• $1 million for the Hoboken Public Education Foundation to establish a permanent endowment
• $484,000 to 3 Hoboken Charter Schools, divided among the schools
• $200,000 contribution to Hoboken’s Affordable Housing Trust

Mayor Ravinder Bhalla called the deal a “big win” for the city.

“I am thrilled our agreement with the hotel developer was approved [Wednesday] by the Council,” Bhalla said. “This deal is a big win for the City of Hoboken and delivers unprecedented givebacks to Hoboken with investments in a new community center at the former YMCA, all of our public schools, infrastructure and affordable housing.”

Bhalla thanked the council for approving the agreement, and “all of the activists and community groups who helped make this agreement a reality,” including the Hoboken Public Library, Hoboken Board of Education, Hoboken Community Center, Fund for a Better Waterfront and local parents advocating for their schools.

Dennis Martin, a partner at KMS, said that the “world class” hotel will be a positive contribution to the city.

“We are excited this project enjoys broad political support and are proud to become a contributing member of the Hoboken community,” Martin said. “The mayor and City Council have been dogged advocates for their constituents and this is a better deal for Hoboken residents because of the benefits they each were able to secure in negotiations with us.”

• See related article: Hilton Hotel In Hoboken? Here's What The Internet Thinks

COUNCIL: ‘MANY POSITIVES FOR HOBOKEN’

A Hoboken City Council subcommittee tasked with evaluating the proposed project previously expressed concerns about the size and scope of the hotel, which had three more stories than Bhalla announced in April and 20% more bulk and square footage than the council previously approved in 2017.

The subcommittee also took issue with "the fact that the use of the [community giveback] funds will not be directed by any elected officials -mayor, school board or City Council - and that offsets to the myriad of near-term financial commitments to be paid by taxpayers were not considered."

• See related article: Plans For Hoboken's Hilton Hotel May See Big Changes

However, after revisions to the agreement were hammered out, the committee members and Council President Ruben Ramos announced their support of the new deal just prior to Wednesday’s vote.

The committee – which included City Council members Peter Cunningham, Mike DeFusco, Tiffanie Fisher and Jen Giattino – released the following statement last week:

“We are proud to provide our support for this incredible project that brings so many positives to Hoboken and to have collaborated with KMS and many stakeholders to deliver an expansion of community benefits in the areas of affordable housing, education, and infrastructure that help address the broad needs of our community... We are recommending that our council colleagues join us to deliver a 9-0 vote for this important project.”

Despite the committee’s overall support for the hotel, some council members surrendered their “yes” votes reluctantly.

Councilman Mike DeFusco, who represents the ward where the hotel will be built, wrote on Twitter:

“Telling demo about height vs bulk at the proposed #Hoboken Hilton site by @djmello...using bldg blocks. The project is 20% larger (wider) than what @RaviBhalla once called ‘grossly out of scale.’ I 100% agree with Dave but will be voting yes.”

DeFusco provided Patch with the following statement on Thursday:

"Although the mayor tried to rush through a deal that wasn’t right for my neighborhood and left a lot of money on the table, I was proud to have worked with my colleagues on the City Council Development Subcommittee to get a better deal for Hoboken. We increased developer givebacks by $1.85 million from the mayor’s initial proposal. Working right up until the vote, I’m proud that we were able to come together on a great deal for the city and First Ward. Though I'm pleased with the potential $1.16 million in infrastructure investments for the neighborhood, that amount doesn't come close to mitigating the overall impacts of nearly 350 new rooms on 1/2 a city block. At a time when our city's failing infrastructure regularly make front page news, it’s critical that development deals like this one adequately support day-to-day quality of life for all Hoboken residents, like fixing our crumbling roads, replacing aging water-mains and modernizing parking and pedestrian safety."

On Tuesday, the day before the council approved the hotel deal, Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher wrote that she planned to vote “yes”… but not without reservations.

“Don’t let the mayor kid you, the benefits were expanded specifically because a voting block of four council members demanded that we get more and broader benefits in exchange for our support,” Fisher said.

“The last few weeks have been an incredibly difficult political landscape, a view that is shared by many parties involved in this project,” Fisher continued. “And I do know that there are some in our community who will not like the outcome – they’ll say the hotel is too big, the community benefit isn’t big enough or the benefits are not going to all of the right places. And I don’t disagree with any of that. But that is what political compromise is. You work with what has been given to you, you ensure that the pros outweigh the cons, you balance the priorities of all decision makers, try to navigate where you can be most effective, use leverage where you can, and ensure your vote represents as many as possible.”

Fisher concluded:

“I believe the positives outweigh the negatives, the contribution to our taxes will benefit our whole community, the majority of the feedback I have received most of you is public support having this hotel – even the now monolithic structure, the improvements to the area are significant and will redefine our southern waterfront, and this hotel will bring a much needed daytime population to our community that will support the businesses we all want to see succeed.” (story continues below)

LABOR GROUPS ON BOARD WITH HOBOKEN’S HILTON

Rich Maroko, vice president of Hotel Trades Council, said that the deal is a good omen for the 170 new employees who will get jobs at the new Hilton.

“This hotel is a major win for Hoboken and for the housekeepers, concierges, banquet workers, and others who will work hard every day to make it a success,” Maroko said. “KMS Development Partners worked proactively with our union to ensure that these workers can count on jobs where they are treated with dignity and respect.”

Mark Long, director of ELEC 825, and Steven Gardner, director of New Jersey Laborers’-Employers’ Cooperation and Education Trust, also lauded the deal as a good bargain for workers.

“The Hoboken Hilton, a fully union-built and union-operated waterfront hotel, demonstrates the city’s commitment to economic development projects that include smart private-sector investment that will improve the quality of life for residents while creating hundreds of union jobs,” Long said.

“The Hoboken Hilton Hotel project demonstrates what good can happen when an insightful developer, KMS, teams up with labor, the mayor, and members of the City Council for responsible development,” Gardner said. “We are proud to support what will be both a union-built and union operated endeavor.”

Videos from Wednesday’s City Council meeting can be seen below.

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Photo: Artist's rendering via hobokenwaterfronthotel.com