HOBOKEN -- Applauded by many of the 90 or so residents watching, the Hoboken City Council unanimously authorized Mayor Dawn Zimmer to negotiate the purchase of an acre of land owned by Academy Bus to expand Southwest Park or, "if necessary," to acquire the property through the city's power of eminent domain.

"The critical piece here is that we know this owner is willing to sell, so the only issue is the price," Councilwoman Tiffany Fisher said before casting her vote, distinguishing the current situation from other eminent domain cases in which a property owner did not want to sell.

The problem has been that Academy's asking price of $13 million is nearly triple the last known offer the city has made for the property, $4.5 million, and the limited negotiations between Zimmer and Academy President Francis Tedesco have been contentious.

As an alternative to a cash purchase, Tedesco has also proposed trading the land for permission to develop remaining acreage Academy would retain at the site, but Zimmer has insisted on keeping the parkland acquisition separate from development of the neighborhood. 

Council members noted that Wednesday's vote does not necessarily rule out a negotiated purchase.

But even if negotiations fail, and eminent domain is invoked, Fisher said the process will still rely on expert appraisals from both sides to establish the purchase price. And, Fisher added, "At the end of the day, the market is going to determine what that is."

The city wants a .8-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Observer Highway and Harrison Street to roughly double the size of the new Southwest Park, the initial phase of which is now under construction just across Harrison Street and scheduled for completion this summer.

Zimmer has made the creation of park space a cornerstone of her administration, particularly on the city's west side and in its southwest corner. The neighborhood was once dominated by light industry but has become increasingly residential.

The Council Chamber was packed with residents in support of the park expansion during a meeting on Jan. 18, when the council approved the land acquisition ordinance on first reading, and again on Wednesday night, when the council gave its final approval. 

"I get it, Academy wants to maximize the amount of money they can get for the site. I would probably do the same thing," said Paul Kubhn, one of several residents who spoke in support of the parkland acquisition. "But we want to see a public benefit. We want to see more open space."

Academy President Francis Tedesco, who was not among several Academy officials at Wednesday night's meeting, has accused Zimmer of falsely claiming she has been in negotiations with the company, even though the last meeting between the two took place on April 29, with one exchange of letters between the city and Academy since then.

During Wednesday night's meeting, Academy's vice president for real estate, David Lemkuhl, again accused Zimmer of bargaining in bad faith. Lemkuhl, a Hoboken resident, told the council that the Zimmer administration had never made a formal offer for the property, and the reason was because it had not done an appraisal to base one on.

Lemkuhl said he knew that because Academy had only recently been contacted by an appraiser representing the city who was seeking access to the property for the purpose of an appraisal, and that he and the appraiser were were scheduled to walk the property together next week.

"You've never made an offer because you don't have a number," Lemkuhl told the council. "You don't have an appraisal."

Zimmer, who attended the meeting but did not speak, said afterward that Academy had refused to grant the city access to the fenced-in property to conduct an appraisal.

"We've tried to do an appraisal, but they never let us," Zimmer said.

After the city completes the appraisal, Zimmer said negotitions would continue from there.

Asked whether Academy only agreed to allow the city's appraiser onto the property because the council began moving to authorize her to flex her eminent domain muscles, Zimmer smiled but declined to comment.

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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