Bergen County officials have spent nearly $8 million of taxpayer money on a plan to build a 15-story, low-income housing project in Hackensack without informing residents or taxpayers about their construction plan or its eventual cost, says the Republican Bergen County Commissioner candidates.

What’s worse say the GOP candidates – Jay Costa, John Dinice and Andrea Slowikowski- is that the county may have wasted the $8 million because the county may never get to start the project. According to sources, the City of Hackensack owns some of the property the county wants to develop at 133 River Road, and is unwilling to turn it over to the county at this time.
“This massive housing project is the expensive pipe dream of County Executive Jim Tedesco and unfortunately, the Democrat County Commissioners rubber-stamped the plan and authorized the spending of a vast amount of public money without doing their due diligence,” says Costa, a real estate professional from Rivervale.

The upfront cost of the proposed project only came to light after the Bergen County Republican Organization filed an Open Public Records Act request to obtain information about the funding of the project that the county commissioners have avoided talking about during the election season. The total cost of the project has not been revealed but builders say it could exceed $50 million.

The money for the project, which includes building retail commercial space – was authorized through the Bergen County Improvement Authority – a shadowy body that finances numerous projects – but rarely is transparent with the public or proactive with the media. The BCIA, headquartered in Paramus, has a 2025 capital budget that “reflects Total Capital Appropriations of $42,500,000.00,” according to its website.

“The fact that this project has gotten this far without Commissioners Tom Sullivan, Germaine Ortiz or Mary Amoroso mentioning it during their re-election campaign this year is astounding,” said GOP Commissioner candidate John Dinice, of Mahwah. “All the commissioners do is talk about spending money on one project or another, but they have been silent on this project. Why?”

The BCIA began work on 133 River Road project in 2024 when it hired Netta Architects of Mountainside. According to documents obtained from the Authority, Netta’s original fee for design work, construction administration and LEED certification – a green building rating system -- was originally $6.49 million. The fee was adjusted upward by the Authority in a September 4, 2025 resolution to $7.1 million.

The Authority also paid two other professional consultants for work on the 133 River Road project: CME Associates of New Brunswick received a $304,210 contract on March 3, 2025 to perform site remedial assessment services; and the Alaimo Group, of Mt. Holly, was awarded a $330,500 contract on March 25, 2025 to provide engineering services for a River Street traffic lane configuration.

“This project involves the expenditure of significant amounts of public money and it raises questions about why the county wants to get into the housing business – but it has been hidden behind a curtain and none of the commissioners want to discuss it. That is troubling,” says GOP commissioner candidate Andrea Slowikowski, of Demarest.

The Republican commission candidates say the proposed housing project raises serious concerns that should be debated in public not hidden from the voters.

“Is there a need for a 15-story housing project in Hackensack that only the county can fulfill? From my observation, Hackensack hasn’t had problems attracting developers,” said Slowikowski a business woman who manages real estate.

Costa said: “the county has sunk $8 million into a plan almost no one knows about – without a discussion of the eventual cost of construction of the project, who will oversee it and how the county will manage an apartment complex. The fact that none of these things are being openly discussed is a shameful example of why we need change in Bergen County.”
Dinice added that the county started the project when there was a different administration running Hackensack. That administration, headed by former mayor John Labrosse, was ousted in May.

“My understanding is that the new administration is not willing to give away the store to developers – including the county,” said Dinice. “The new city mayor and council want revenue, not another government building that does not pay property taxes -- and I support them.”