"The building is at 95 percent occupied and is full of thriving businesses," said renowned artist Tim Daly, who has worked and lived in Hoboken since 1977. He has rented space in the Neumann building since 1989. Currently, tenants in the Neumann building include artists, videographers and filmmakers, architects, cabinet makers, web designers, musicians, a woman's art collective, a book publisher, a new fine art gallery, and a maker of broadcast equipment.
But in Hoboken, with the strong residential real estate market of the past several decades, buildings that cater to arts and small industry have already vanished or are on the verge of disappearing.
The city is now in the process of rewriting its master plan for development, and there are those who believe that this is the last stand, the final opportunity to save these remnants of Hoboken history. The Planning Board is now in the process of adopting the document that will guide development in Hoboken for the next 20 years.
A new lobbying group called the Hoboken Arts and Industry Preservation Project (HAIPP) recently was founded with the goal of protecting and sustaining Hoboken's diminishing "arts and industry" community.
The group is made up of a mixture of artisans, craftspeople, and creative technology-based small businesses.
"We have joined together because we are concerned about the continued elimination of industrial buildings that once provided the heart of Hoboken's industrial base and now provide an economical support base for this creative community," read the mission statement from the new group. "Wide-sweeping housing development has, over the past two decades, brought either the demolition or the conversion of historical industrial buildings which were a central part of the city's history for over a hundred years."
The HAIPP has hired well-known Hoboken lawyer (and former mayoral candidate) Ira Karasick, who has an accomplished record when it comes to tenants' advocacy, and the HAIPP is now in the process of signing up members.
Artists like industrial buildings
Former industrial buildings have long been sought out by artists because their high ceilings and wide-open spaces provide the room needed for a studio or craftsman's shop.
Tom Newman, a former Hoboken city councilman who operates a woodworking and cabinet making studio in the Neumann building and is one of the group's founders, said during a recent interview that there are only a few buildings left such as Neumann Leather, My-T-Fine Pudding at 49 Harrison St., and the former Levelor factory at 720 Monroe St., that remain as "small islands supporting Hoboken's tradition as a center for the arts and industry."
He added that the former Maxwell House, Ferguson Propeller, Lipton Tea and Bethlehem Steel buildings are "lost" to condominium development. (However, some of those retain parts of their original shape and have been restored.)
Mayor David Roberts has met with Newman and said that the group has made a "very compelling" argument, and that government is listening.
"We have to urge the property owners to provide a safe haven for these artist and craftspersons," said Roberts, "because they are a valuable and important part of our community."
He added that while redevelopment of the Neumann building might be inevitable, any future redevelopment plan should take into account those businesses and artists that currently reside at the complex.
An artist-friendly redevelopment plan for the Levelor building, which now is commonly referred to as the Monroe Center for the Arts, has been approved and should assure that the development retains at least some artistic flavor. The developer of the project Monroe Center Development, LLC has been approved to build 435 new housing units, of which 18 will be affordable live/work lofts spaces for local artists and 26 more will be affordable units.
But the future for the Neumann and My-T-Fine buildings are very much up in the air. The master plan draft, which should be approved in the next couple of weeks, recognizes that nearly all of the industrial uses in the southwestern portion of the city have disappeared and the Neumann Leather complex "stands as a reminder of old Hoboken."
But the plan also suggests that the site would be "a desirable location for redevelopment" because of proximity to the train terminal and possible views of the Manhattan skyline.
For artists, redevelopment can be a scary word. For every project like the Monroe Center for the Arts that protects the interest of artists and small business, there are a half dozen that push them out in favor of more profitable condos.
While the master plan does suggest that commercial development is preferable to housing and that the space might "lend itself to live/work/display space," there are those that are still concerned about the buildings' long-term future.
Daly said that he realizes that the redevelopment of these properties might be inevitable, but that the current tenants should be thought of as partners and not obstructionists.
"We [the tenants] want to be considered a player in the planning process," said Daly. "We want to stay in Hoboken and be recognized for the asset that we are."
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