HACKENSACK, NJ-DMR Architects recently completed a downtown Rehabilitation Plan for the City of Hackensack that received unanimous preliminary approval from the City Council. The plan to revitalize 163 acres was sent to the Hackensack Planning Board, which must review it before the council grants final approval, expected in June.

A year ago, the council moved to designate most of Main Street and surrounding blocks as an area in need of rehabilitation after a study recommending the action by DMR. Since then, the Hasbrouck Heights-based architecture firm led by Francis Reiner has worked with city officials and the Upper Main Street Business Alliance on plans to:

  • Make significant improvements to aged infrastructure
  • Establish a set of clearly defined neighborhoods where residents can also work, play, eat and shop.
  • Add entertainment options and improve parks and open space.

“The Rehabilitation Plan will promote the creation of a livable and real downtown district that will recreate the City of Hackensack into a social, cultural and economic center,” Reiner says in a statement.

Earlier this week, city officials celebrated the formal groundbreaking for a new 266-unit luxury multi-family building AvalonBay Communities is putting up on Hackensack Avenue. It will be the first new apartment complex in the city in several decades.

The designated rehab’ area stretches 39 city blocks, and currently includes ten different zoning classifications, ranging from residential to office to parks and recreation. The DMR study had determined it meets state criteria for rehabilitation designation, since most of the water and sewer infrastructure is at least 50 years old and in need of repair and major maintenance. Three years ago, city voters had approved a $2 million bond ordinance to repair parts of the combined storm and sanitary sewer system.

The Hackensack Planning Board will hold two meetings to consider rehabilitation plan details. A copy of the plan is available at www.dmrarchitects.com, Reiner says.

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