Ken Lay wrote:

plywood wrote:

Here we go again. Q: Who does Ken Lay work for?

You don’t need to work for anyone to think the building is a polluted eyesore. There is a very good reason for the relatively cheap rent.

While we had this discussion before, it only takes a casual walk by in the evening to see that a handful of the tenants are using the building as residents.

I think you misunderstand my point. The companies are, of course, important to their employees and customers, and the property taxes (if there isn’t some special deal in place) paid by the landlord diversify our tax base. However, if a diverse tax base is so important, we should let the owner of the building tear down the factory and put up a modern office building that would pay even more. How about a nuclear power plant?

My concern is that, even if Trammel Crow didn’t need a bunch of zoning variances to redevelop the site, politically connected people are going to find a way to thwart a private land owner from exercising control over their property. It’s the Hoboken way. There are no rules. Admittedly, this cuts both ways since there are plenty of sweetheart deals for developers in this town, but it is interesting that a out-of-town developer is getting hit with this issue. Alas, at this point the development plan needs a lot of approvals from the city, but so will any other plan for the site other than leaving it as is.

Aside from that, I find the sermonizing annoying. The building is what it is. Cheap, polluted and ugly. I would no sooner step foot on the grounds than I would a Superfund site.

Wow. You are just not informed, and clearly uneducated on this topic. That’s all there is to say.

plywood wrote:

Here we go again. Q: Who does Ken Lay work for?

You don’t need to work for anyone to think the building is a polluted eyesore. There is a very good reason for the relatively cheap rent.

While we had this discussion before, it only takes a casual walk by in the evening to see that a handful of the tenants are using the building as residents.

I think you misunderstand my point. The companies are, of course, important to their employees and customers, and the property taxes (if there isn’t some special deal in place) paid by the landlord diversify our tax base. However, if a diverse tax base is so important, we should let the owner of the building tear down the factory and put up a modern office building that would pay even more. How about a nuclear power plant?

My concern is that, even if Trammel Crow didn’t need a bunch of zoning variances to redevelop the site, politically connected people are going to find a way to thwart a private land owner from exercising control over their property. It’s the Hoboken way. There are no rules. Admittedly, this cuts both ways since there are plenty of sweetheart deals for developers in this town, but it is interesting that a out-of-town developer is getting hit with this issue. Alas, at this point the development plan needs a lot of approvals from the city, but so will any other plan for the site other than leaving it as is.

Aside from that, I find the sermonizing annoying. The building is what it is. Cheap, polluted and ugly. I would no sooner step foot on the grounds than I would a Superfund site.

estevens wrote:

One example of the many honest-to-goodness businesses that would have been run out of town:

http://www.tsg-hoboken.com/

Is there anyone who would not be impressed by this?

davidcdavid64 wrote:

Further the fact that we have to celebrate what is only a small victory in the overall grand scheme doesn’t bode well for the future.

Delighted that the varience requests were voted down – saddened that, most likely, the only reason that they did so was because the grand scheme is to declare the area a redevelopment zone…..great! Saddest of all, the Neumann tenants will support it…even push for it. Fast forward – the Neumann plan is thrown out the window….big huge development plan approved by the planning board……Pilot inserted in contract that nobody reviews and raises everybody else’s taxes. I sure hope the Neumann tenants, who are going to support the redevelopment designation will think of the rest of the community (that supported them) and insist that there is no tax increase in the PILOT, that there is no reduced quality of life because of the developer’s plan and no eminent domain…..I guess we’ll see.

Kids First is in support of actions that you wonderful people took! Thank you for all your hard work to keep the factory and the artists and keep the factory from falling into developers – developers such as Raia who is looking to continue to destroy the great fabric of the city of Hoboken.

I mention Raia because he is running for Board of Education re-election. Raia, Oland and Martinez are looking to support their own self interests at we the tax payers expense. They want Hola a pet project that Oland and Martinez fought for because they want their little cherubs privately schooled in the public school system at OUR expense.

Please vote on April 21 for Minutillo, Sullivan and McAllister. They are will cut the fat and right our tax dollars while improving our schools.

Better Schools = Higher Real estate values – We all win.

http://www.tsg-hoboken.com/