Demolition of The Record newspaper's former headquarters begins

• First phase of demolition began Aug. 28, 2018 with the removal of a warehouse.
• On Sept. 12, backhoes began tearing down walls of the building which housed The Record newsroom.
• The new project will include luxury residences, an outdoor public plaza, river walk and retail.

The demolition of The Record's former headquarters in Hackensack began Wednesday.

Workers on Wednesday afternoon ripped into the walls of the 150 River St. building with backhoes to clear the site to make way for a luxury, mixed-use development.

Representatives from Macromedia Inc., the company that owns the building, anticipated demolition to begin this month. Bob Sommer, a spokesman for the company, said Wednesday that demolition is well underway and will continue for some time. 

"The full demolition will take several months," Sommer said. "Many current and former Record employees have asked for bricks from the building as a memento, and they will be made available as the demolition continues."

The former newsprint warehouse has been demolished, and asbestos is still being removed from the main building, he said.

The first phase of the demolition, which began Aug. 28, involved tearing down the newsprint warehouse, which was on the north end of the property. After The Record’s old newsroom is fully torn down, the second warehouse on the site will be demolished, Macromedia has said.

The Record newspaper, which was formerly owned by Macromedia and the Borg family, had been based at 150 River St. before moving to its current offices at Garret Mountain Plaza in Woodland Park. The Borg family has owned the Hackensack property since the 1940s.

The building is a stone's throw from the Heritage Diner. Newsroom employees would frequent the diner when The Record was still headquartered in Hackensack, said Edwin Jara, who has been a waiter at the Heritage since about 2010.  

“Years ago, it used to be a full-service building, and people came into the diner a lot,” said Jara, 45. “A lot of people would come in here. You would have good friendships with them. It’s like having a family.”

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In 2016, the Borg family sold The Record's parent company, North Jersey Media Group, to Gannett, which owns USA Today, the Asbury Park Press and scores of other newspapers throughout the country.

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After leaving the publishing businesses, the Borg family spun off into the real estate industry through its newest venture, Fourth Edition Inc. According to its website, the company, which owns property in Morris County as well as the Hackensack site, is "actively looking for properties to manage, invest in and/or develop."

Demolition of The Record's old newsroom is the latest step in a years-long effort by three developers, including Macromedia Inc., to redevelop the 20-acre parcel, Sommer has said. The project includes a 600-unit luxury residential community, an outdoor public plaza and river walk, and a retail component on River Street.

"The 20-acre property is the largest single parcel in or adjacent to the rehabilitation area," Sommer said in a statement, referring to a redevelopment area encompassing Hackensack's central business district.

In May 2016, the city Planning Board voted to subdivide the 20-acre site into four lots for its redevelopment.

City officials on Wednesday hailed the demolition as welcome progress for the property, which has long sat vacant. 

“I’m happy to see progress there,” said Kathleen Canestrino, deputy mayor of Hackensack. “It’s a large parcel that has been sitting idle for quite some time. It’s nice to see it being put to a better use.”