LG Electronics, Critics Resolve Dispute Over Planned Englewood Cliffs Tower

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- An electronics company will sharply reduce the height of its planned 143-foot corporate tower in a New Jersey community, resolving concerns raised by critics.

The new design is about half as tall as the original.

The agreement announced Tuesday by LG Electronics USA calls for a five-story north wing in Englewood Cliffs that will be just shy of 70 feet in height. There will also be a three-story south wing.

Conservation groups who had opposed the $300 million project will now withdraw their appeal of zoning approvals the company received from the Bergen County town. A state judge had upheld the approvals in 2013.

Officials say the deal -- reached after 11 months of negotiations -- protects scenic views of the Palisades along the Hudson River.

As CBS2's Christine Sloan reported, in a show of support LG's CEO, environmentalists, and political leaders announced a new design on the company's headquarters that lowers the height of its proposed office building on Sylvan Ave in Englewood Cliffs.

"The entire community is thrilled that LG will remain in our town, while demonstrating in a very real way LG's commitment to preservation of the environment,'' Englewood Cliffs Mayor Joseph Parisi Jr. said. "This partnership is very good for Englewood Cliffs, Bergen County, the state of New Jersey and the entire Tri-State region.''

"We extend a hand of peace and friendship and mutual goals to LG," said Lawrence Rockefeller, president of the American Conservation Association.

Ned Sullivan, president of the ground Scenic Hudson, called the agreement the most important environmental victory of our decade.

"The settlement ensures that the Palisades will continue to be a source of beauty and inspiration for generations to come," Sullivan said.

The company says the new 360,000-square-foot corporate campus will allow it to double its local employment to more than 1,000 by 2019.

"We have found a solution that satisfies LG's business needs and addresses concerns of our neighbors on both sides of the Hudson,'' said William Cho, the president and CEO of LG Electronics.

"This was an amazing thing," LG Vice President John Taylor. "There was intially perhaps a lack of trust and we had to work through that."

The new campus will include a three-and-a-half story south wing and a five-story north wing.

The old proposal called for a building to stand eight stories tall, peaking above the tree line of the Palisades.

"We've been able to redesign the building in a way that only reduces our office space by about 15 percent, but takes the height of the building down to five stories," Taylor said.

Larry Rockefellar, whose famous family donated the land 80 years ago, applauded the new plan.

"We extend a hand of peace and friendship," he said.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was also pleased .

"The Cloisters will now be able to continue offering visitors glorious views of the Palisades," they said in a statement.

The Mayor of Englewood Cliffs said it will mean 2,200 construction jobs over the next 3 years.

"I never knew this day would come. i am smiling, happy, and grateful. Mr. Rockefellar, thank you," he said.

The company still has to get other permits, but said construction could be completed by 2019.

(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)