(rshsdepot) Allied Junction, NJ

["Bernie Wagenblast" <brwagenblast_@_home.com>]

Working above the railroad

Allied Junction could open in 2003


By: Al Sullivan
Reporter senior staff writer November 18, 2001
The Secaucus Reporter

Confirming reports from New Jersey Transit that The Secaucus Transfer
Station is on schedule to open on its new September, 2003, deadline, William
McCann, president of Allied Junction - the project's commercial element -
said the new date will not delay his project.

"The last word we got was that the station itself had been pushed back from
the original projected opening of January, 2002, to September 2003," McCann
said.

Four 40-story buildings, made up of hotel, retail and office space, will
rise above the train station in 2003.

Rumors and a published report in the New York Times claimed that train
terminal, which is designed to service midtown Manhattan, would be put on
hold indefinitely due to lack of train cars to accommodate the additional
passengers. While ridership has increased and is expected to increase as the
New York financial district recovers from the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, the
delays have been due to contract work, McCann said.

Terminal Construction, the firm hired to put up the new station and realign
the tracks, has run into several problems. According to Mayor Dennis Elwell,
alignment of the tracks - which would connect NJ Transit's Main Line with an
Amtrak line - has not yet started. One engineering firm, assisted by a team
of 24 consultants, was retained for overall design of the project, and
another engineering team consisting of eight consultants is used for
construction management.

"We've been told that [track alignment] alone will take a year," Elwell
said.

NJ Transit said delays have also been caused by limited tunnel access under
the Hudson River, and that the Secaucus Transfer Station was designed to
work in conjunction with PATH trains. With the disaster, PATH trains no
longer run to Manhattan's financial district.

NJ Transit is scheduled to install a new system to increase the number of
trains to midtown Manhattan by March 2003, setting the stage for the train
station's opening.

The extra year and a half delay, however, will not affect other development
projects slated for the area, according to McCann, especially not Allied
Junction, the commercial element of the rail transfer station.

The Secaucus Transfer-Allied Junction Project is at the heart of the state's
Urban Core Program, a $2-billion package of 10 railroad projects intended to
transform the state's many lines into a coordinated network. A 300,000
square foot station will be built at the crossroads of Amtrak's Northeast
Corridor (NEC) and NJT commuter lines.

Secaucus Transfer began as a public-private partnership between NJT and
Allied Junction Corp. originally had 28 acres along the New Jersey Turnpike
for billboards, then realized the property's strategic location had
development potential. Work finally began on access roads and power
relocations in 1995.

The station will allow passengers to transfer from the Main, Bergen, Pascack
Valley and Port Jervis lines to the NEC and travel to Penn Station in
midtown Manhattan. Kearny Connection and Secaucus Transfer Station are
expected to increase ridership and the number of daily trains by more than
40 percent.


No delay for development

McCann assured that the commercial element would not be delayed despite the
slight delay in the rail portion.

"We're prepared to negotiate with major tenants," he said. "We are currently
discussing options with several."

Once McCann has a tenant, he will take the project to the New Jersey
Meadowlands Commission for its construction and implemental approval. The
NJMC, a regulatory arm of the state of New Jersey, must review and approve
all plans for development within the Meadowlands area.

"We could start construction in January or February and have everything
ready when the train station opens," McCann said. "We've projected it will
take 18 months to two years to complete."

McCann said that other projects connected to the train station will not be
delayed either, such as the Turnpike interchange and the convention center.

McCann said the biggest issue for Allied now is signing a major tenant. Once
that is in place, other aspects will follow.

The time frame favors Allied Junction, since office construction it will be
in place in time to handle some of the overflow of tenants who had to leave
Manhattan due to the Sept. 11 disaster.

"Jersey City has already filled up its office space," McCann said. "Now
we're the only game in town. We're the only major construction project in
the area with all our permits in place."

Once ready to construct, Allied will go up quickly, he said, because it will
be using the train station as a foundation.

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