Will City Take His Land? Owner of 94-Year-Old Hoboken Business Will Fight Eminent Domain

HOBOKEN, NJ — The owner of a 94-year-old printing press company in northern Hoboken says he'll fight any attempts by the city to take his property by eminent domain, especially since he was in talks with the city until recently to develop it in conjunction with them, he says.

Charlie Poggi said his grandfather started Poggi Press on 15th Street in Hoboken in 1928.

Last week, he was surprised to find out that the City Council planned to introduce an ordinance to take steps to condemn his property to build a municipal garage there.

The city needs a new garage because of a settlement with a private developer in 2021 that involved other properties in town.

Last year, the city negotiated a complex settlement with Ironstate Development, a private developer, to keep them from building residential towers on waterfront land they owned. The city wants to keep the land for open space. In exchange, Ironstate will build housing on the site of the city's present municipal garage near the city's southern border — and the city will have to build a new garage elsewhere.

But should that new garage be built on the site of Poggi Press?

Poggi said by phone at last Wednesday's council meeting that he was shocked to find out that the city was preparing to vote to introduce an ordinance regarding his land.

Poggi said at the meeting (see 7:45 p.m. at the link) that for seven months, he talked to the city about helping build something on his property. He said that after working with them on a project "in good faith," the talks stalled, and he wasn't sure why.

Then, he said, he found out from a newspaper story last week that the city had assessed his property and was going to try to acquire it by legal means.

Poggi said the city attorney told him they're going to condemn his property — meaning the city will use taxpayer money to acquire and develop the land instead of working with him.

"I don't think this is how you treat a multi-generational family from Hoboken," he told the council. "This is not the Hoboken I know. This isn't the Hoboken that my father grew up in. It's not the Hoboken where my grandfather laid his roots when he emigrated to this county from Italy."

He added, "I want to be a part of this redevelopment. I want to continue to be a part of this city. I don't know why that's being taken away from me."

"I think I deserve an explanation," he said. "You deserve an explanation, and the taxpayers deserve an explanation."

Will Keep Fighting

This week, Poggi said in a statement that he's going to keep fighting.

He said his company was wiped out during Super Storm Sandy in 2012, but he wanted to find new uses for the site. He said the city didn't support the uses, so he told the city he'd develop it along with a private development firm, and had met with the city several times.

In a letter Poggi sent the City Council this week, he said, “Let me be clear – I have no interest in selling my property to the city … It is my right to determine how to develop my property, and that right shouldn’t be taken from me by the city.”

Poggi added Tuesday, “I take no issue with the city’s settlement with Ironstate. But, I was never a part of the Ironstate negotiation. So, I don’t see why the City is pointing a gun at my head to fulfill promises that the administration committed to."

The city said in a statement Wednesday, "The city has been in talks with Mr. Poggi for well over a year regarding the property’s potential to serve as the city’s new public works facility and municipal annex allowing the city to develop a new park at 800 Monroe St. and avoid the development of the Monarch project on our waterfront."

The statement continued, "The ordinance, if adopted on second reading, would permit the city to continue those negotiations and make a good faith offer to Mr. Poggi. We continue to hope to acquire the site through friendly acquisition.”

Four council people voted against introducing the ordinance Wednesday. A hearing and final vote must be held at a future council meeting for the measure to pass.

Poggi said it would cost the taxpayers less for the city to simply work with him.

See the last meeting here.

Learn more about the development settlement here.

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