Jones Lang LaSalle

City Takes 84,000-SF Site for $7M
By Eric Peterson
Last updated: February 8, 2006 10:09am

HOBOKEN, NJ-The 84,000-sf site at 1600 Park Ave. here has been sold to the city for $7.1 million. The transaction follows several attempts to turn the property into an apartment community. The sale transaction itself was brokered by Bob De Ruggiero, president of the locally based Robert De Ruggiero Inc. Realtors.

The seller, a local group called 61 Hoboken 2 Associates, actually contracted to sell the property nine years ago to Crown Plaza Towers LLC and principal Sandford Weiss. Attempts since then to get approvals for a residential project failed, even after the original proposal of twin 23-story towers containing 412 apartments was scaled back.

According to De Ruggiero, the City of Hoboken had expressed interest over the past year in buying the land for use as a public park. The sale to the city was a cooperative effort among David Zahner of 61 Hoboken 2 Associates, Weiss and attorneys representing the city. The acquisition is being funded by bonds from the Trust for Public Lands.