The Hoboken Board of Education (HBOE) is having a special meeting to vote on renting (leasing) a space at 38 Jackson Street for pre-kindergarten classes. The space was originally proposed to be a supermarket. Instead, the Board wants to rent it.
The cost
The lease runs—up to $56.8 million if it runs its full length.
For the first 6 years, rent is about $2.5 million each year (that’s $100 for every square foot of space, which is fairly high for that area).
After that, the rent goes down to about half, but it slowly increases again every few years.
The way it’s set up, the first 6 years of high rent are basically paying for the cost of fixing up the space (called a “buildout”). But that adds up to about $7.6 million—which is way more than what most people think it should cost.
Why people are upset
Some people think the Board didn’t bargain well. Since the developer had no other options, the Board should have had more power to get a better deal.
Taxes: Normally, pre-k is fully paid for by the state, so Hoboken taxpayers don’t have to chip in. But because of the way this lease was written, local tax money will be used too—probably over $1 million. That means people’s taxes might go up.
Lack of clarity: The Board hasn’t clearly said how much taxpayer money will be needed.
Why the meeting matters
The meeting is a chance for community members to ask questions like:
How much will taxpayers actually have to pay?
Why is the lease so expensive?
Couldn’t a better deal have been made?
In short: The Board of Education wants to rent an expensive space, but because of the way the deal is written, Hoboken taxpayers may end up footing a significant bill.
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