Hoboken Property Freed from "In Need Of Rehabilitation" Designation

The historic Neumann Leather building sits on Observer Highway in Hoboken and long ago ceased operating as a tannery.  Its industrial zoning clearly outmoded in today’s Hoboken.  As recounted by the Hudson Reporter, residential and commercial developers have been salivating over the property for years, but the City has refused to modify the zoning to permit development to the properties highest and best use.  But, according to the property owner, the City made things even worse when it included the property within an “area in need of rehabilitation” in 2011.

The property owner therefore sued the City and challenged the designation of its property within the rehabilitation zone.  On September 23, 2014, the Appellate Division published its opinion vacating the designation.  Under the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law (LRHL) (N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-1, et seq.), an area may be designated “in need of rehabilitation” if a majority of the area’s “water and sewer infrastructure is over fifty years old and is in need of repair and substantial maintenance.”  In most simple terms, the Appellate Court strictly construed the statute and vacated the City’s action because there was no evidence that the water and sewer infrastructure was “in need of repair and substantial maintenance.” The court therefore vacated the designation without prejudice to the City’s re-examination of the area under current law (the LRHL was amended in 2013).

It is our understanding that – with this decision in hand – the property owner has sold the building and grounds. Read more here.

For more background on the property, see: Debate Swells Over Future of Neumann Leather.

The building has even attracted unsolicited proposals from the blogging community.  philly2hoboken.com has a redesign plan.

There is also a Neumann Leather’s Tenants Association whose mission statement is to “protect and preserve the Neumann complex.”