PSE&G (Public Service Electric and Gas Company) has indicated that it will begin to decommission the Marshall Street Substation in December of this year, clear and restore the site, then turn the property over to the City in early 2021. The terms of the conveyance of land at the Marshall Street Substation, including required environmental remediation work, are provided for in a 2017 Land Transfer Agreement between PSE&G and the City, as Amended.
The Marshall Street Substation, located in the southwestern portion of the City, will come off-line once it is fully consolidated into a single, expanded electrical substation at the existing Madison Street facility ("Expanded Madison Street Substation"), which is located in the Northwest Industrial Redevelopment Area of the City. The Expanded Madison Street Substation is currently being constructed in accordance with a 2017 Redevelopment Agreement between PSEG and the City, as Amended. The hardening and expansion project will raise the Madison Street Substation to an elevation that makes it resilient against flood waters. The project should significantly improve the reliability of electricity service in Hoboken and prevent electrical outages caused by flooding such as experienced during Hurricane Sandy.
With the transfer of ownership on the horizon, the City is now focused on determining how best to re-purpose the Marshall Street Substation site.
The 2018 City of Hoboken Master Plan Reexamination Report considers the Marshall Street Substation as a possible location for a number of desirable community facilities that would complement and serve residents of the nearby Hoboken Housing Authority; specific recommendations for this site from the Reexamination Report (pages 73-74) include:
PSE&G (Public Service Electric and Gas Company) has indicated that it will begin to decommission the Marshall Street Substation in December of this year, clear and restore the site, then turn the property over to the City in early 2021. The terms of the conveyance of land at the Marshall Street Substation, including required environmental remediation work, are provided for in a 2017 Land Transfer Agreement between PSE&G and the City, as Amended.
The Marshall Street Substation, located in the southwestern portion of the City, will come off-line once it is fully consolidated into a single, expanded electrical substation at the existing Madison Street facility ("Expanded Madison Street Substation"), which is located in the Northwest Industrial Redevelopment Area of the City. The Expanded Madison Street Substation is currently being constructed in accordance with a 2017 Redevelopment Agreement between PSEG and the City, as Amended. The hardening and expansion project will raise the Madison Street Substation to an elevation that makes it resilient against flood waters. The project should significantly improve the reliability of electricity service in Hoboken and prevent electrical outages caused by flooding such as experienced during Hurricane Sandy.
With the transfer of ownership on the horizon, the City is now focused on determining how best to re-purpose the Marshall Street Substation site.
The 2018 City of Hoboken Master Plan Reexamination Report considers the Marshall Street Substation as a possible location for a number of desirable community facilities that would complement and serve residents of the nearby Hoboken Housing Authority; specific recommendations for this site from the Reexamination Report (pages 73-74) include:
The City of Hoboken tasked a team of graduate planning students at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University to prepare an Alternatives Analysis for the Marshall Street Substation as part of their Spring 2020 studio course. The primary objective of the Alternatives Analysis was to provide the City of Hoboken with multiple options as to what can be developed on the site.
Throughout the course semester, City staff within the Hoboken Department of Community Development coordinated with the Studio class as they visited the substation site, conducted a public survey, identified re-use opportunities, and refined their proposals. The project kicked-off with a public meeting of Hoboken residents on January 30, 2020 in the Ground Floor conference room of City Hall. With the emergence of COVID-19 and the subsequent State of Emergency and shutdown, Rutgers closed its in-person classes partway through the Semester, and moved all coursework online. As such, the Graduate Studio continued working on this project together in a remote capacity.
To understand resident needs and preferences, the students developed a public survey that ran from March 11 through April 15, 2020. The online survey was published to the City of Hoboken’s website, Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as a number of Hoboken community Facebook groups. The survey received 354 responses, with highlights as follows:
The Alternatives Analysis conducted by the Rutgers Studio Class recognizes the opportunities inherent in the site’s location, and explores its development potential in the context of citywide planning goals. By examining existing conditions, and demographic data and conducting a public survey, the studio team confidently developed three (3) viable development options with supportive uses for the community. These three conceptual development options include:
Each of the three conceptual development options took into consideration five specific areas of concern: Land Use, Design, Market Demand and Financial Feasibility, Transportation, and Resiliency. The structure of the report enables a comparison of the three alternatives through the employment of these five common criteria.
The Rutgers Planning Studio Team presented their final Alternatives Analysis Presentation of the Marshall Street Substation virtually to City representatives in early May 2020, and soon after submitted their final Alternatives Analysis Report.
"The City is grateful to the Rutgers Class for their hard work on this project and is impressed by the quality of work and deep dive they were able to achieve in just a few short months!"
The City's Redevelopment Counsel and LSRP consultant (Licensed Site Remediation Professional) are working diligently with the Administration and our counterparts at PSE&G to ensure that the terms of the 2017 Land Transfer Agreement for the Marshall Street Substation and the Redevelopment Agreement for the Madison Street Substation are fully executed prior to the transfer of ownership of the Marshall Street Substation site to the City of Hoboken.
The Administration looks forward to involving the community in planning for the reuse of this important property. Options the City may consider include proceeding with a Redevelopment process or re-zoning initiative, for example. Information will be communicated to the Hoboken community as to future public meetings or other opportunities to engage on this project.
In the near term, we invite all residents to review the in-depth Rutgers Studio Alternatives Analysis Report and Final Presentation and submit any questions or comments to Principal Planner Jessica Giorgianni, PP, AICP at jgiorgianni@hobokennj.gov.
