The preparation you are seeing on the triangle section is for the sales office for the new building being built right on the water on 2nd street. I forgot the name of that building. It has nothing to do with the moving of the PATH power stations.

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Most of the triangular plot on Washington directly north of the Powerhouse has been levelled. This past week small concrete piers have been buried in the ground in an 11 x 6 grid. Looks like possible preparation for the PATH substation, though I haven't seen any announcement.

Two sides in dispute over arts district building's future

Jersey Journal
by Paul Koepp
Thursday July 24, 2008



Is the Morgan Building in Downtown Jersey City really in danger of collapse?

Jersey City Municipal Court Chief Judge Nesle Rodriguez will take up that question in three weeks, as the city and the building's owner clash over differing engineers' reports.

Martin Dolan, a city attorney, told Rodriguez this morning that the 103-year-old warehouse - the city's desired location for a PATH train power station that has to be moved out of the Powerhouse building on Washington Street - is at "no imminent hazard of collapse."

However, an engineer hired by the city yesterday noted "some movement in the building" that should be addressed by its owner, developer Bob Lehrer, Dolan said. The building is in the city's Powerhouse Arts District.

Lehrer says an engineer he hired found serious structural flaws requiring the building to be demolished immediately.

The judge ordered the two sides to exchange reports and appear before on Aug. 13 at 9 a.m.

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Developer, city at odds over 'ready to collapse' warehouse

Thursday, July 24, 2008
By PAUL KOEPP
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Before the Powerhouse building on Washington Street can be remade into the jewel of Jersey City's new Downtown arts district, it will have to shed the humming transformers that it houses - they power the PATH trains.

That means moving them elsewhere, but the owner of the city's preferred destination is not welcoming them with open arms.

Developer Bob Lehrer, principal owner of the 1905 Butler Brothers warehouse at 350 Warren St., asked the city July 2 for immediate approval to demolish his building, saying its entire front wall had shifted toward Morgan Street by as much as 7 inches.

He says Allied Engineering, of Franklin Lakes, found the warehouse, also known as the Morgan Building, to be in danger of imminent collapse, although he declined to share the report with The Jersey Journal.

In a written response, city Construction Official Ray Meyer said he found Lehrer's "logic and explanation to be quite alarming" because he did not include the engineer's report or a plan to stabilize the building before demolition.

Yesterday, unicipal Court Judge Nesle Rodriguez said the city should inspect the building immediately and report back to her today, calling cracks in the structure a "serious situation."

Lehrer said he expects the city to "do the right thing."

But city officials questioned the timing and seriousness of the alleged structural problems.

"For the last two to three years, as Mr. Lehrer has formally or informally communicated with the city in regards to that property, he has never once indicated in the slightest that it was suffering from structural duress," said Jersey City Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis.

He said Lehrer only raised the issue when he encountered resistance to his plans to erect a residential tower in the middle of the building, which the city is trying to have registered as an historic site.

Lehrer is also suing the city in an effort to force the Planning Board to act on his application, filed 17 months ago, to convert the warehouse into condominiums with a maximum building height of 550 feet.

That would mirror changes on surrounding parcels of the Powerhouse Arts District.

Matsikoudis said the city has not considered Lehrer's request because the developer did not pay a required $10,000 fee, and added that even if the fee is paid, the application would not necessarily be approved.

In the meantime, the Port Authority has hired an engineering firm to look at other potential sites for the substation between Washington and Grove streets, including a previously considered triangular piece of land just north of the Powerhouse building, said Jersey City Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Bob Antonicello.

Journal staff writer Lisa Zimmerman contributed to this story.

Check out the Baltimore's Power Plant website. I like it but I can definetly see some old timers not vibing the whole tourist district. This project was hugely successfull for Baltimore and has been recreated by other cities across the nation. Your thoughts?

http://www.powerplantlive.com/

Power station to be relocated

First step in new 'Powerhouse' community...but work still ahead

Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter staff writer 06/14/2008

A POWERHOUSE PRESENTATION ? Robert Antonicello, executive director of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, made a presentation to the City Council on Monday regarding plans to develop the old Hudson and Manhattan Powerhouse. However, they must first figure out where to relocate the smaller substation that is presently in front of it.
Can an area near a former railroad power station be transformed into a vibrant retail and residential community similar to Baltimore's Inner Harbor?

The City Council approved a resolution 9-0 at its Wednesday meeting that is the first step toward the long-awaited development of the old Hudson and Manhattan Powerhouse building on Washington Blvd. in downtown Jersey City.

The resolution calls for local agencies and the city to split the initial $600,000 cost of relocating a smaller power substation located directly in front of the Powerhouse, and stabilizing the old Powerhouse that has been abandoned for nearly 80 years.

The relocation of the smaller substation, which provides power to the PATH subway system, would then allow the city to acquire full ownership of the main Powerhouse building, which the city and the Port Authority currently co-own.

The Powerhouse building would be restored and converted to a shopping and entertainment complex, similar to what was done with the old Baltimore Power Station on Baltimore's inner harbor.

But the arrangement, which has been referred to as a "land swap" in the press, is complicated.

Where to move substation?

During the Wednesday council meeting, city Corporation Counsel Bill Matsikoudis said if the Port Authority and the city cannot agree on a relocation site, then the substation will have to stay in its current location.

Then, there is the issue of stabilizing the main Powerhouse building, which could take 36 to 48 months, according to Robert Antonicello, executive director of the JCRA.

However, city officials are willing to take on the complicated project for the possible payoff: they believe it could take five years to transform the Powerhouse into its new purpose.

History of the Powerhouse

The old Hudson and Manhattan Powerhouse building on Washington Blvd. once provided electricity for the massive Hudson Manhattan railroad (the precursor to the PATH system).

Construction of the original Powerhouse building started in 1906 and was completed in 1908. It's a steel-framed, 200,000-square-foot edifice with 28-inch-thick brick walls.

But it only operated until 1929 and was abandoned for many years, although the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey still used it as a power station.

There have been efforts since 1999 by the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy to preserve the building.

In July 2006, the JCRA designated Baltimore-based developer David Kordish as the developer of the Powerhouse building. Kordish developed the old Baltimore Power Plant on the waterfront into the ESPN Zone Restaurant and a Barnes & Noble bookstore.

Kordish will develop the Powerhouse after relocation of the substation and stabilization of the main Powerhouse take place.

The residential component

The Powerhouse is also considered the anchor for the Powerhouse Arts District (PAD), an 11-block area that stretches east to west from Marin to Washington boulevards and from north to south from Second to Bay streets. The PAD would have low-rise residential buildings including 10 percent affordable housing for artists, but would also be a restaurant, cultural and entertainment center for Downtown Jersey City.

John Gomez, founder of the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy, attended Wednesday's council meeting and said after the meeting that the council's resolution about the relocation was a "great step in the right direction."

Creating a new Powerhouse

Antonicello made a PowerPoint presentation at the council caucus on Monday.

There, he showed plans for the relocation and renderings of what the Powerhouse will look like when developed. He explained that the Powerhouse would be one part of a larger redevelopment effort that would connect the waterfront to the rest of downtown Jersey City.

Some on the council posed questions on the cost of remediation work that would need to done, the feasibility of stabilizing the Powerhouse building, and the issues of relocation.

Pro and con

After the meeting, Antonicello said, "This is an iconic landmark that if restored to its former glory can be a marquee destination for Jersey City."

But not so enthusiastic was Bob Lehrer, owner of the old Butler Brothers warehouse at 350 Warren St., one of the locations where the city may want to move the power station.

"[The city] has had one meeting with me," Lehrer said, "and they have not made me an offer for the building."

Comments on the story can be sent to rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.

Land swap for Powerhouse on council agenda tonight

Wednesday, June 11, 2008
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The Jersey City City Council is expected to pass a resolution tonight to authorize a land swap deal with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey that will give the city possession of the old Powerhouse building Downtown.

The iconic Powerhouse building on Washington Street, which houses a substation and transformers for the PATH trains, would be transformed into an anchor building with cafes, restaurants and retail stores for the expanding Powerhouse Arts, Retail, and Entertainment District, officials said.

Tonight's resolution would put the burden on the city to find an alternative site for the Port Authority.

Tonight's meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., at Middle School 4, 107 Bright St.

The city would also commit to stabilizing the building, while an alternative facility is sought and the move takes place - a process that could take three to four years, according to city officials.

The city wants to move the PATH power station to 350 Warren St., site of the 1905 Butler Brothers warehouse.

Jersey City considers land swap with P.A. to redevelop Powerhouse

Sunday, June 08, 2008
BY RUSSELL BEN-ALI
Star-Ledger Staff

The mammoth Hudson & Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse in Jersey City has long stood as a rusting symbol of the once-mighty industrial age.

And as various city administrations moved to remake the downtown into a booming segment of New Jersey's Gold Coast, the 100-year-old building had proved a bit of an obstacle.

On Friday city officials announced they have figured out a way to overcome it: a carefully crafted land swap with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which, along with the city, has owned the Powerhouse for decades.

The deal will be considered at a city council caucus tomorrow and by the full council on Wednesday.

Jersey City plans to transform the massive structure into a retail and entertainment mecca, a showpiece for the Powerhouse Arts District, where renovated and abandoned warehouses sit amid new luxury high-rise towers.

The city will take ownership of the building, in exchange offering the Port Authority a nearby plot of land suitable to move its PATH train substation and transformers, said William Matsikoudis, corporation counsel for Jersey City. The power supply for the PATH train now sits directly in front of the Powerhouse on Washington Boulevard and next to the new Trump Plaza residential tower.

It is across the street from a planned 52-story "vertical city" of condos and art studios being designed by renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.

The coal-powered turbines of the Powerhouse -- built in 1908 but obsolete two decades later -- provided electricity for a predecessor of the PATH train, the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad, the first underground link between New Jersey and Manhattan. It is currently used for railroad storage.

The agreement hammered out by the city and Port Authority over 16 months lays out a step-by-step transition for moving the electrical system, testing the polluted soil beneath the Powerhouse, stabilizing the building and restoring it.

Stabilization alone is expected to cost $3 million, with Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners, which will conduct a $250,000 survey of the structure in advance of the work.

The actual renovation will be done with developer David Cordish, head of the Baltimore-based Cordish Co., known in part for its renovation of a Baltimore powerhouse that helps anchor the city's popular Inner Harbor.

"While power plants do present challenges, we have had great success redeveloping them elsewhere," Cordish said in an e-mail. "The end product is worth the effort as people react wonderfully to restored, unique historic structures."

Robert Antonicello, executive director of the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency, said the plans will likely include retail stores and restaurants on the ground and second floors. Office space will be provided on the third and fourth floors with room for a large restaurant and bar on the fifth.

City officials are hopeful the Powerhouse would similarly anchor a large downtown restaurant, cultural and entertainment district, something that has been sluggish to develop.

"Combined with Rem Koolhaas' planned tower, a new theater and a plaza surrounded by restaurants, caf?s and galleries, this district will prove to be a world-class cultural destination," said Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy.

Despite such optimism, however, there are still hurdles to overcome.

The city wants to move the PATH power station to 350 Warren Street, site of the 1905 Butler Brothers warehouse. But property owner and developer Bob Lehrer has so far rejected the city's offers for part of the warehouse space.

An alternative site -- a triangle of land just across the Bergen-Hudson Light Rail tracks from the Powerhouse -- has drawn criticism from neighbors, including ones in a luxury high-rise called Marbella.

Perhaps more pressing, the city must raise between $40 million and $50 million to finance its share to clean up, shore up and rehabilitate the Powerhouse.

Antonicello, said the city plans to use a combination of public and private funding.

"There's not a doubt in our mind that, at the end of the day, we'll move forward and be successful," Antonicelli said. "The only question for us is how quickly we can do it."

Russell Ben-Ali may be reached at rbenali@starledger.com.