HACKENSACK — A county project to provide affordable housing to people new to public service careers and medicine and upgrade the Hackensack Bus Terminal is moving forward.
The planned development at 133 River St. will replace the former Bergen County probation building, now a vacant lot, and the current NJ Transit bus terminal, one of the busiest terminals in the state.
The project advanced after the city Planning Board reviewed it on Wednesday.
“We all know how difficult it is to afford housing when someone is just starting out in a career. This development will deliver housing to newly hired local public safety workers such as firefighters and police officers,” Jim Tedesco, the county executive, said Wednesday night.
“This building will provide much-needed housing for veterans, deliver housing for people who may have never been able to afford living in this exciting city, and improve pedestrian and traffic safety in the middle of a city experiencing a true rebirth,” he said.
Who will live in planned Bergen County Hackensack building?
A rendering of a mixed-use development planned by Bergen County for 133 River St. in Hackensack.
A five-story mixed-use section of the building will provide the county with two floors of office space, two street-level retail spaces available for rent, a two-floor health and wellness center and a parking garage for county employees, apartment residents and visitors. County officials said they hope to include some public parking for people visiting downtown Hackensack.
A 15-story, 168-unit residential tower will have a separate street-level entrance for tenants. It will feature a roof terrace with a garden, outdoor activity space, pergolas with seating, a sun deck, a putting green, and an outdoor dining and lounge area. Indoor amenities will include a golf simulator, coworking space, a library, a wellness space, a game room, a garden room and a lounge.
The apartments — a mix of studios and one- and two bedrooms — will be “work force” rental units for people starting out as police officers, firefighters, social workers, nurses and teachers or beginning other careers in public service and medicine. Ten of the 168 units will be set aside for veterans, with two designated for disabled veterans.
“We all know that these types of professions are facing severe hiring challenges, but by providing housing that is affordable at the early stages of their careers we hope to get more people interested in filling these types of jobs and staying in Hackensack and Bergen County,” Tedesco said.
Renters would stay in the building for the first few years of their career and move into market-rate housing as their salaries increase, County Administrator Thomas Duch said.
The tenants would have to meet certain requirements and would be chosen through a lottery system, he said.
“The goal is to give them a year or two in housing like this to strengthen their financial position and move along in their careers,” Duch said. “We expect there to be significant demand.”
Plans to build a covered Hackensack bus terminal
A rendering of a mixed-use development planned by Bergen County for 133 River St. in Hackensack.
The planned bus terminal will be covered and include a waiting room, bathrooms and a small area for prepared food and coffee.
“The times of waiting outside in freezing cold or boiling temperatures will be gone,” Tedesco said.
The new terminal will also be equipped to accommodate electric buses, and its design will limit the idling of buses that currently wait outside and around the existing terminal.
A planned traffic pattern is designed to improve pedestrian and vehicle safety in the area and eliminate bus traffic going north on Moore Street from the entrance of the new bus terminal and west on Mercer Street.
County and city officials have worked on plans for the project for years. The old probation building at 133 River St. flooded during Superstorm Sandy more than a decade ago and was eventually condemned and torn down. The bus depot, one of the busiest terminals in the state, sits just south of that vacant property. The city, which owns the bus depot, will sell the property to the county as part of the redevelopment agreement.
The site is near several other large, recent developments. Just across River Street is the Print House, a sprawling, 696-unit development nearing completion. Ivy and Green, a 389-unit development, is about two blocks away.
The county hopes to break ground at the end of this year, with construction taking about 18 months to two years to complete, Duch said. The project will be financed through the Bergen County Improvement Authority and the issuance of bonds and will be in part paid back by people renting the apartments and a long-term agreement with NJ Transit.
“It’s hugely beneficial,” said Albert Dib, Hackensack’s director of redevelopment. “It’s providing housing people are looking for at a cost they can afford, and the transit component will help ensure that downtown Hackensack is a transit hub for commuters coming and going from New York City.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bergen County to build affordable housing, bus terminal in Hackensack