Transit Villages Come to Life

New York Times
By ANTOINETTE MARTIN
February 24, 2008

NINE years after it was officially created, the state?s Transit Village program has been extended to 19 communities eligible for grants and aid to revitalize the deteriorated neighborhoods around train and bus stations.

A Transit Village plan for Morristown.

In a number of those communities ? notably Hoboken, Jersey City, New Brunswick and Cranford ? the program has generated tangible success, with thriving shopping areas and new condominiums and rental apartments enlivening once empty streets.

In other towns, change is clearly in the works. In Montclair, for instance, new housing and retailing is in place beside the downtown train station, and a large mixed-use building is under construction. In a few communities, like Bloomfield and Hamilton, progress has mostly been stalled by local land-use debates.

Right now, though, even as the overall real estate market languishes, developers and analysts report that many Transit Village projects are proceeding and more communities are applying to the program.

Hundreds of residential units at new Transit Villages will be coming on the market around the state within the next 12 months, including those at mixed-use projects in downtown Morristown, Netcong, South Amboy and South Orange.

In addition, a new aspect to the state?s push to encourage transit-related development ? a tax-break program for commercial tenants of new buildings near transit centers in larger cities, signed by Gov. Jon S. Corzine last month ? is attracting significant interest, and in the case of Newark, a solid proposal.

The Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit offers companies an income tax credit up to the full amount of their rent for the first 10 years of occupancy in buildings constructed within a mile of transit stations in Camden, East Orange, Elizabeth, Hoboken, Jersey City, Newark, New Brunswick, Paterson and Trenton.

The Tucker Development Corporation, based in Highland Park, Ill., and specializing in mixed-use development around transit hubs, said that it had acquired the site in Newark of the former Lincoln Motel, a once inglorious landmark that was demolished last year. The company said it would seek approval to put up a $150 million commercial building that would include office, retail and hotel space.

?The location is outstanding,? said Richard H. Tucker, the company?s chief executive. ?It is across the street from the Broad Street train station, and the ramp for I-280 drops literally onto our property.?

The new tax credit program ? available for projects involving an investment of $75 million or more, and the creation of at least 250 jobs ? made the economics of the project irresistible, Mr. Tucker said.

Last month, his company announced plans to invest up to $1.5 billion in New Jersey retail, mixed-use and transit-oriented development, citing the state?s dense population and ?smart growth? programs as main factors.

Meanwhile, several large development companies based in the Northeast are working on two or even three Transit Village projects.

Woodmont Properties, for instance, is working on projects in Netcong and South Amboy. The company is already building Highlands at Morristown Station, a $70 million project with 219 rental apartments adjacent to the Morristown train station, as a joint venture with Roseland Property and the Morristown parking authority.

Under the Transit Village program, grants and assistance are usually made available directly to the cities and towns that are working with developers to create change in an entire neighborhood.

In some places, the state-financed Transit Village improvements have been relatively modest ? commuter bike racks and ?traffic calming? medians in Metuchen ? and in others, they involve major improvements to infrastructure, as at the Rahway train station and the one in Journal Square in Jersey City.

The Transit Village program, which started in four communities in 1999, during the administration of Gov. Christie Whitman and expanded over the years, has the stated purpose of reducing pollution and reliance on automobiles in addition to improving local economies.

Only a month ago, a study by the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University concluded that New Jersey?s highways were the most congested of any state.

Kris Kolluri, New Jersey?s transportation commissioner, said that in addition to the public benefits of transit-related development, there was a boon for individual households.

?The average cost of a household within proximity of mass transit goes down an average of $12,000 per year,? Mr. Kolluri said. ?In cases where not just mass transit is close at hand, but grocery stores and movie theaters and the like, household costs are alleviated further.?

There are a number of transit-related developments under way in nondesignated Transit Village communities, Mr. Kolluri noted. In Red Bank and West Windsor ? Mr. Kolluri?s hometown ? developers are working with community officials to create what are called ?transit related? projects because they are located within about a mile of a transit station.

The enormous Harrison Commons development in Harrison ? where 3,000 residences, 90,000 square feet of retail space, pedestrian-friendly streets and several waterfront parks are planned on a 27-acre site within a mile of Pennsylvania Station in Newark ? has not yet been designated a Transit Village site, although an application has been made, and preconstruction work has begun.

In addition, in Wood-Ridge, the huge Wesmont Station development on the site of the former Curtiss-Wright aircraft engine factory, where groundbreaking is set within months, will have a new train station at its center. The builder, Somerset Development, said it was planning the development in line with Transit Village policies.