Demolition is near for landmark building where The Record and NJMG once thrived

The building at 150 River St. in Hackensack, where The Record and parent company North Jersey Media Group operated until 2009, is being prepared for demolition. The fourth-floor newsroom of the once-great local daily newspaper afforded a sweeping view of the Meadowlands, an elevated section of the New Jersey Turnpike and the Manhattan skyline.

After moving The Record and NJMG to Woodland Park in 2009, the Borg family leased parking spaces in Hackensack to Bergen County and Hackensack University Medical Center. Printing of The Record and Herald News were moved to an NJMG printing plant in Rockaway Township in 2006. 

 -- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

The end is near for the landmark Hackensack building that once served as headquarters for The Record and publisher North Jersey Media Group.

A cyclone fence encircles the building at 150 River St. and two other structures, and employees of a demolition and recycling company were seen working there today.

The city of Hackensack adopted a redevelopment plan for the property and adjacent land that includes up to 700 residential units, 70,000 square feet of retail and a 1.35-acre hotel site.

They would transform the abandoned buildings into a "mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented riverfront project" to support the revitalization effort downtown, city officials said.

The project will be the terminus of Atlantic Street, providing a direct link from Hackensack University Medical Center past the Performing Arts Center and Atlantic Street Park to the Hackensack River, the officials said.

Demolition 

At the city Building Department, an employee said I had to fill out an Open Public Records Act request for information on whether a demolition permit has been issued for the property, and when the buildings are scheduled to be torn down.

The Borg family retained ownership of 19.7 acres along River Street after selling "certain assets" of North Jersey Media Group to the Gannett Co. in July 2016 for about $39.3 million in cash.

Those assets included The Record and Herald News, about 30 weekly newspapers and (201) magazine.

In addition to 150 River St., the land includes 80 River St., and 62 and 70 Bridge St. (Heritage Diner, U.S.S. Ling and former naval museum).

The 150 River St. property, which is in a flood zone, was assessed for $24,947,400, and Macromedia Inc. has been paying $790,053.40 annually in taxes, according to the njparcels.com website.

This 3-story section of the building at 150 River St. contained the executive offices at the end of a hallway decorated with art. A private dining room and then-Publisher Malcolm A. Borg's personal chef were used to entertain the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and other guests.