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Good evening everyone. We're going to get started. Welcome to the September 30th, 2025 Hoboken Board of Education public hearing on the lease agreement for 38 Jackson Street. Thank you all for being here. If you are joining us this evening to speak, please use the signup sheet that is located at the podium. And
we are starting a few minutes late because we were awaiting the arrival of board counsel. Miss Lopez, can you please read the statement of compliance? This meeting is being held in conformity to the open public meetings act NJSA 104-6.
Proper public notice of the meeting was published in the local papers on September 22nd, 2025. If any board member or member of the public in attendance believes that the meeting is in violation of the open public meetings act, the Hoboken Board of Education requests that they make a
statement at this time. The board wishes to make those in attendance aware that this meeting is being recorded on video and will be broadcast by the board at a later date on CATV channel 77 and FiOS channel 46.
The full meeting recording will also be made available on board docs which can be accessed through the district homepage. The Hoboken Board of Education is committed to preserving the decorum of the public process and is mindful that we live in the electronic age of computers, cell phones, and other
electronic communication devices. Nevertheless, we respectfully request that all meeting participants kindly silence their electronic devices during the course of the meeting. And if use of the device is necessary, we ask that you please leave the meeting room if you need to conduct personal business.
>> Thank you, Miss Lopez. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Miss Lopez, can you please call the role? >> Miss Angley here. >> Miss Katamatori >> here. >> Miss Dela. >> Mr. Delator >> here. >> Mr. Grana >> here. >> Miss Connor >> here. >> Mr. Cliff >> here. >> Miss Norwood >> here.
>> Miss Mcgurt >> here. Thank you, Miss Lopez. I'm going to turn the just to let you know the meeting is going to flow this evening. Um we'll hear from Dr. Johnson. Then we'll have public comment on the lease agreement. There will be no action taken this evening. So once that is over, we will
simply close out the meeting. Um and without further ado, I will turn the meeting over to Dr. Johnson and hand her my microphone. Thank you. Uh good evening. Tonight we are holding a public hearing on a lease for uh
property located at 38 Jackson Street. 38 Jackson is a space that was introduced to the Hoboken public school district as an opportunity to launch a preschool center in the southwest neighborhood of Hoboken in order to meet the needs of families living in that
part of the city. As you know, we have moved all but three preschool classrooms out of Connor's Elementary School and all but four classrooms out of Brandt Elementary School in order to open classrooms for our K to5 enrollment
purposes. But Wallace Elementary School still holds three um sorry, still holds 13 preschool classrooms, not including our PSD classes, our preschool disabilities classes. Four of those 13 classrooms are outside in modular uh
classes and nine are inside the building. We plan to keep four classrooms at Wallace Elementary School just like Brandt has and relocate the other nine classrooms to the new space at 38 Jackson. This will free up classrooms for our growing enrollment at
the elementary school level. It will all also allow us to restore the science labs and the world language classroom that were repurposed in Wallace as home room classrooms. We have worked diligently with the developers, particularly Gary Mesata and Nick
Petraelli for months upon months to ensure that the space would be adequate for preschool. We met with city officials to discuss parking and traffic conditions as well. And we also worked closely with our attorney to ensure that the terms of this lease uh that we're
introducing tonight meets all New Jersey DOE requirements as well. At tonight's public hearing, you will hear about the terms of this lease from our attorney, and there will be time for public comment as well. We will post the lease on our website, and we welcome any and
all comments regarding this lease prior to the vote at our October 14th board of education meeting. I would like to make one final comment before I turn this over to our attorney to discuss the terms of the lease. We've been talking about growing enrollment in the Hoboken
public schools for a number of years now. Meeting the needs of this trend does in fact cost money. Whether it is through renting additional modular classrooms, redistributing students across the district, leasing space like this one, engaging in a private a public
private partnership project, or going out for a referendum. This project is really our last effort to free up space in our elementary schools and to minimize the tax tax impact by utilizing preschool aid for annual lease payments.
After this lease is voted upon and the space becomes functional, we will need to turn to all of our other options uh that are on the table to address our growing enrollment. Uh so hopefully this project provides us with a little bit of
breathing room before that's necessary. Uh so prior to um discussing the terms of the lease, I just thought it might be a good idea to open uh the floor up for some of our board members who saw the space today and maybe provide um some
insight or some comments to what you saw um in terms of its um uh spaciousness and its ability to service all of our preschool children that we'll be relocating there. So, if anyone would like to make some comments, now would be
a great opportunity. Miss Norwood. >> Um, I I was impressed with the the space. It's very bright um and welcoming. Um, the atrium also provides uh light from the the um inside of the building and
not just from the exterior windows. Um, one thing that impressed me uh was when you're outside the building, it is loud. Um there is trains, there is trucks, um traffic when you are inside the
building. It is not um and it is clear the developer took a lot of uh pains um to make sure that uh the windows were double pained um and uh insulated to um ensure that the um sound was uh dampened
as much as possible. So um uh was uh very impressed with uh the buildout so far. Um, I did have a a question regarding um uh our particular buildout. Um, is is our buildout still being
worked on by um our architects and um engineers? Is there thinking that it would be nine or 10 or is there still some flexibility with regards to um how the space is is utilized? >> Uh so as of right now, the architects
are still working on it. they're they're working with um their engineers um to lay out the design. We did ask about whether there was some potential with uh the Department of Education reducing the requirement for the size of preschool
classrooms from 950 down. Um but even with that decrease in the size of classrooms in order to um have an indoor play area and some of the office space that was needed, um it's it it doesn't
seem likely that we're going to be able to add additional classrooms in there. So the ones that are in the plan right now are most likely what we'll see as uh the number of classrooms that will be there. Okay. So, it it it does uh take the nine classrooms that we're looking
at at Wallace. Um maybe not necessarily those specific classrooms depending on how we redistribute children um that are coming up into our preschool preschool program, but it will house those nine classrooms. >> Thank you.
>> I I also love this space. Um and I agree, Leslie, it was super quiet inside. Um, and when we asked Gary, he said it was double pained and with an extra layer of soundproofing. So, um, should be nice and, uh, a nice space for students to learn in. Um, and with the
ceiling height, regardless of, um, the size of the room, they're going to feel so much bigger because of that of that height. Um, the other thing that I was impressed with, um, or just I thought will work out really well was the, um, sole access, um, with the elevator from
the parking garage, um, and a stairwell from the parking garage that goes directly into the space. Um, I really liked it. I was impressed. >> Mr. Who maybe I'll try it without mic. I have a couple of comments. Um, so I've
been watching this building happen for about 18 months and went inside today and I was extremely impressed with the the space um that um we will be taking over for preschool and I'm delighted to see that this decision is moving
forward. Um you know we've talked a lot about the success of our district and that district is a ve that success is a very attractive force. So facilities is one of our we talk about it all the time our pressing needs. It is exciting to
see that kids going into a brand new modern well-built facility. It's kind of felt like the first step in a path to maybe actually being in something not 100 years old. And I thought it was a uh it's a great place in what will is going
to be a very up and cominging neighborhood where I think we'll have demand in the future. So, um, I think the developer and the city have been really good business partners in helping us get that get to the finish line with this and I thought it was great. Thank you.
>> I had another couple questions. I didn't know if it was appropriate to to ask council now or at some other time. >> I think maybe um we can let council uh discuss the terms of the lease and then afterward we can open it back up to specific questions. >> Thank you. >> Okay.
>> Okay. >> Okay. Thank you. Hi everyone. Um so this the um this lease is between 38 Jackson LLC who's the landlord and and the um Hoboken board of ed. Um I'll run through the general terms of the lease and and
then if there's any um additional questions regarding the more or more specific items that you would like me to address, I will do so. Um the term of this lease is for 20 years. Um there are two 5-year renewal options um in
addition to the 20 years. Um the rent um over the course of the initial 20-year term is an average rent of $70.51 per square foot. The square footage of the space is $25,550
square ft. um the that um the the preschool will be located on the first floor and um the demise premises also includes use of a portion of the second and the third floor. Um that's um the area that's used for the elevator shaft.
Um there is a security deposit of $652,000 $652,500. Um and we were able to negotiate um an installment payment um for that deposit.
Um so it is going to be paid over um the course of 3 years. Um the rent commencement date of the lease is 6 months following the delivery date. And that means that um after the
lease is signed, then the parties will move forward with finalizing the plans. Um and the landlord will then uh construct a turnkey facility for the school. Um then the day that the keys are turned over to the tenant, from that
day forward, it's a six-month period of free rent. And then the rent starts um uh at the end of that six-month period. Uh just to um give a little more specifics regarding the rent, as I mentioned, uh
the per the average um per square foot rate is $70.51 over the course of the 20 years. Um in years 1 through six, the square foot rent is $100. Years 7 through 10, it's $55 a square foot. Years 11 through 15,
it's $60.50 a square foot. And in the remaining five years uh of the initial term, it's $66.55. Now, you will notice that in years 1 through six, the per square foot rate is higher than the balance of the uh
20-year term. And this is to address a couple um of concerns voiced uh by the landlord. Um because we are a public school district and there needs to be specific language regarding the ability of the district to terminate the lease.
Um there's added risk understandably from the landlord that will be engaging in the construction at at its cost. It will be obtaining financing to to pay for um a good portion um of the construction. These are all risk factors
in addition to allowing the security deposit to be paid over the course of 3 years. So all of these factors increase the risk in particular um in the first um 5 to 6 years of the lease.
Um just to reiterate, the landlord is going out of pocket to build out a space, a very expensive space for the tenant to be able to just simply move in um on day one. Um, so that is the the reason why there's um it's the the rent
in the first six years is frontloaded, but as I said, on average, the per square foot rate for that 20-year period is in the $70 range. Um, with respect to the school district's right to terminate, um, there is a 5-year
termination fee that would be payable. um or I should say the MAC the maximum termination fee would be a uh an amount equivalent to five years of rent plus the unavertised costs of the brokerage commissions. And I say that would be the
maximum because to the extent that the termination right is exercised with say only three years left in the term then it would be the lesser of um and again this is um this is in this this was a
term that was required um by the landlord in order to move forward with this transaction. Um because again there's tremendous risk. Typically, if this was uh a typical commercial lease transaction, it is very
unusual to have a termination right um without any sort of payment um to the landlord um in order to compensate the landlord for the loss of its um its lease hold. Um so uh we were able to negotiate
um this reduced termination fee um in and you know frankly in order to make it happen. Um are there any questions from the board members or the public
generally? um just uh in in I'm assuming that in your estimation considering the buildout costs that this is a market rate lease. So it's um it's a difficult question uh because the factors um that we needed to
take into consideration are very different than a a standard commercial lease. as I mentioned, um, to say to a landlord, um, we want you to spend millions and millions of dollars to build out a space and to do so with the
understanding that we could terminate the lease essentially at any time. Um, that's not a market um, rate um, provision. Um, so I'm not going to opine as to whether or not the average of $70
a square foot is market um for, you know, what you would typically see in a commercial um lease transaction for this area. Um uh that is really a question better posed to your broker that assisted in the negotiation of this
lease. But I will say that um I was very pleased um with um the final terms of this lease. Um it was truly a struggle to find an appropriate location and to find a landlord that was really willing
to partner with the school district. The terms in this lease um are are very unusual very favorable to the school district because of this you know the factor of the termination and because of the added layers of approval because
even after this lease is signed if it is signed if it's approved it does have to go to the department of education it has to be approved by the facilities department. So these are contingencies that any other landlord would probably
not agree to or if they did agree to it, it would be in in exchange for very very ownorous terms. Um and and there are certainly benefits in the school district not having to go out of pocket and try to figure out financing in order
to pay for these construction costs upfront. Um, so there are a lot of I see a lot of benefits in the way that this lease was structured. >> Thank you very much. Um, my other question is in section um 112 um because it's Hoboken and everything's
industrial, there's reference to um a remediation of an industrial site recovery act. Um um I'm assuming that that remediation will be completed before uh we take um occupancy of the uh
location. >> Are you making reference to the um the active ISRA case um that pertains to the property? Yes. >> Um uh yes. Um that is the plan. Yes. >> Thank you. Do we have any other board members who
have any questions, comments? >> I'd just like to add that this process started um God, it's it's well over a year ago. Um >> quite quite some time >> quite some time ago with an idea that maybe the school district would want to
look at this space. And that process went through discussions with city hall, discussions with council people before we moved to having public meetings with the city to discuss the change of use from a grocery store to educational space. Like any public meeting in the
city of Hoboken, there were a lot of opinions, a lot of strong feelings in the room and potentially a lot of folks who who didn't, you know, necessarily see the need for prek space because they're not parents. they may not have children. So the road to get here was a
very long one and we had very good partners in Gary Mesatesta and Nick Petraelli as we went through this. I think they felt they could not deliver the original promise to the neighborhood of a grocery store that bringing in educational space because they knew that
we needed space would be the next best thing. And initially the neighborhood didn't necessarily agree with them on that. But they stuck with us. They stuck with us through a lengthy negotiation and came to terms that enable the board of education to meet its fiduciary duty,
but also to make sure that, you know, we're able to manage this from a financial standpoint. This is not like somebody looking to buy a condo and they're sitting on a, you know, stock account and they can go write a check. That's not something that the board of education can do for these spaces. So
finding partners who are willing to work with the board, work with board council to get to favorable lease terms for brand new beautiful prek space that is going to be where every parent in town is going to want their kids to go is really um very exciting. And I thank
Carmen, I thank Dr. Johnson, and I thank the developers, the broker who initially brought this opportunity to us because I think it's going to be something that the whole community will be able to be very proud of when it is finished. Anyone else? Can
>> can I add one last comment? >> Absolutely. >> Um, thank you for saying that. Thank you for saying that, Miss Mcgherk, because indeed the city and the developer have worked very closely with us, but let's also acknowledge um the
superintendent and her team that really helped that get this over the finish line for us. >> Absolutely. Anyone else for comments? All right, so we will move into uh public comment. As a reminder before we open for comments, over the years and most recently, the board has been asked
why it does not prohibit or stop comments about school district employees from individuals who speak during the public comment portion of the meeting. The short answer is that the law prevents the board from censoring comments made about district personnel. The board does not condone nor is the board a party to comments as such.
However, just because the speaker may have the right to say what he or she feels, it does not absolve a speaker from liability for any comments that could be viewed as defamatory by an employee. Should speaker say something that subjects them to a civil suit, the responsibility falls squarely on the
speaker and not on the board. Board policy requires that all speakers please state your name, municipality of residents, and business affiliation, if any. Speakers are allowed 5 minutes, and Vice President Angley will quietly motion when there are 30 seconds remaining. Please address all comments to the chair. Board policy states, "The
board welcomes comments on matters of interest to the board, but this is not an opportunity for dialogue or debate between speakers and board members and the superintendent. >> We have no speakers. >> Well, there we go. Um, this is going to
conclude our meeting. I will give anyone else on the board one last chance if anyone wants to say anything. You don't have to. Don't feel pressured. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. >> I.
>> Thank you and good night. [Music]