Hoboken Building Wins Excellence Award For ‘Smart Growth’

HOBOKEN, NJ — 7 Seventy House, a mixed-use building in Hoboken, recently earned a 2019 Excellence Award from the Urban Land Institute-Northern New Jersey (ULI-NNJ) for its “responsible development tactics and smart growth practices.”

The honor was presented to the team behind the project, led by Hoboken-based developer Bijou Properties and its partner Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation and Marchetto Higgins Stieve Architects (MHS) during ULI-NNJ’s annual award gala last month.

The 424-home rental building, located at 770 Jackson Street, was cited for “Sustainable Development” as part of this year’s awards.

According to a news release form developers:

“7 Seventy House is a multi-faceted mix-use project that was developed in conjunction with a two-acre resiliency park donated by Bijou Properties and Intercontinental Real Estate Corporation to Hoboken. The initial installation of the park opened this summer and includes a children’s playground, a one-acre green space designed for active and passive recreation uses, a state-of-the-art 6,835 square-foot community gymnasium and infrastructure to capture over 450,000 gallons of rainwater to reduce flooding. A second phase is expected to open shortly and will include a one-acre public plaza with step seating and tilted lawn panel, play sculpture and a large plaza to accommodate vendors and seasonal markets.”

“We’re invested in the future of Hoboken and are committed to developing sustainable housing that significantly contributes to the community-at-large,” said Larry Bijou, managing partner of Bijou Properties.

“This new building and open space fit perfectly into that philosophy,” Bijou said. “In addition to offering living spaces specifically designed with the needs of Hoboken families in mind, this building supports the up-and-coming western Hoboken neighborhood by providing much-needed public space, a recreational center and a resiliency park to help alleviate water runoff concerns.”

“It’s a real honor to receive the ULI sustainability award for 7 Seventy House,” said Dean Marchetto, founding principal of MHS Architects, also based in Hoboken. “Besides the periodic coastal flood events like the kind we experienced with Hurricane Sandy, this low-lying area of Hoboken is also impacted by normal everyday rain events.”

Marchetto said the site is comprised of three lots on two separate blocks totaling 4.2 acres. By transferring all the density to one of the lots, workers were able to provide two acres of open space, creating a new public park in Hoboken.

“The park is built above a network of underground water storage vessels which collects everyday rainwater to reduce flooding during normal large and small rain events,” Marchetto said. “The collected rainwater slowly discharges into the sewer system once the rain has stopped.”

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