Ongoing revitalization efforts are re-establishing downtown Hackensack as the cultural, economic and social heart of Bergen County. The Hackensack Upper Main Alliance’s 5^th annual Main Street Business Expo, which took place recently at Alfred Sanzari Enterprises’ Court Plaza North office building, was an opportunity for the business community to support the city’s ongoing renaissance. The theme of this year’s Expo was “Destination Hackensack: Arts – Business – Community.”

The Main Street Business Expo is one of many community and business events held throughout the year at the Court Plaza office complex. The property, located directly across from the Bergen County Courthouse, anchors the city’s business district. “Court Plaza’s tenants and business owners appreciate the benefits of our location and pro-business philosophy in Hackensack,” said David Cali, Alfred Sanzari Enterprises’ vice-president of property management. “Many joined us for the Main Street Expo.”

The event featured dozens of sponsoring businesses showcasing their products and services, live music, local restaurants providing tastings of their signature dishes and business owners networking with their neighbors. Attendees also had the opportunity to meet Upper Main Alliance board members, city council members and representatives from city departments.

Downtown Rehabilitation Plan Earns Smart Growth Award

This year’s event came on the heels of a major milestone for Hackensack and its downtown business district: The Hackensack Upper Main Alliance, the City of Hackensack, Archer & Greiner and DMR Architects received a New Jersey Future 2014 Smart Growth Award for the creation of the city’s Downtown Rehabilitation Plan. Adopted in 2012, the plan calls for new housing, retail and restaurants to maximize the city’s strategic advantages in the region.

Among its goals, the plan is designed to help increase the value of businesses and property owners while attracting new businesses and residential options, thus creating jobs, increasing the tax base and strengthening the existing business community.

“The Rehabilitation Plan is a win-win for the city, existing and new developers, and residential property owners throughout Hackensack,” said Jerome J. Lombardo, chairman of the Upper Main Alliance. “A healthy downtown business district contributes to better home values, and this year’s Business Expo was a true celebration of the partnership between the Upper Main Alliance and the City of Hackensack, which are both devoted to the rehabilitation of downtown Hackensack.”

Plan is Focused on a Sustainable Urban Environment

Encompassing 163 acres and 389 individual properties on 39 city blocks, the Hackensack Downtown Rehabilitation Plan promotes a range of land uses. They include retail, restaurants, office, commercial, civic, and entertainment, along with a diversity of housing types, to create a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly downtown. One of the key objectives is to connect a series of neighborhoods with improved infrastructure, parks, plazas, open spaces and the city’s public transportation facilities.

The long-term vision for Hackensack also capitalizes on many of the city’s existing assets. This includes the city’s diversity of neighborhoods, established retailers and restaurants, office and commercial buildings, the Bergen County Courthouse, Hackensack University Medical Center, and several institutes of higher education.

“The Alfred and Mary Sanzari Garden, built last year by the company as a cornerstone of its Court Plaza complex is an example of the open spaces and parks that will beautify our city and contribute to our business and residential neighborhoods,” Lombardo added.

The city’s Downtown Rehabilitation Plan was one of eight 2014 Smart Growth Award winners honored on June 5^th at New Jersey Future’s Smart Growth Awards gala at the Newark Club. Approximately 300 land-use professionals, planners, attorneys, developers, and local and state officials attended.

New Jersey Future is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that brings together citizens and leaders to promote responsible land-use policies. Since 2002, the organization has honored more than 80 projects with Smart Growth Awards. Winners are selected from a statewide public nomination process by an independent jury of professional developers, architects, planners and redevelopment experts. Smart Growth Awards recognize outstanding projects that promote smart growth ideals, economic opportunity, community vitality and quality of life in New Jersey.

Alfred Sanzari Enterprises has been instrumental in the revitalization of Hackensack. Company founder Alfred Sanzari was one of the first to build a luxury apartment complex in Hackensack’s “Hill” section in 1973, The Ivanhoe, which is considered among the premier apartment buildings in the county. The Sanzari’s commitment to Hackensack’s transformation continued with development of the Court Plaza office complex; the transformation of an aging block of buildings on Essex Street into the 85,000-square-foot, four-story Alfred N. Sanzari Medical Arts Building; and the development of the Alfred and Mary Sanzari Garden, a 10,000-square-foot public garden located on the corner of Main and Essex streets.