New Telco "Hotel" Slated for Downtown Newark

NEWARK-The old Krementz Building on the southern end of Broad Street once housed this city’s most famous jewelry business, but New York City-based JEMB Realty will turn it into a gem of a different kind. Newark is becoming known as a hotbed of telecom activity, and the remade property will join the old Macy’s building and IDT Corp.’s HQ as carrier hotels.

JEMB Realty has a reputation as a developer of such facilities, but much of its activity has been in New York City. Indeed, the company recently launched a new division called Tornado Telecom to focus on “the acquisition, development and management of telecom assets on a national and international level,” according to JEMB principal Ray Chalme. The division’s newer projects outside metro New York include deals in Arizona and Georgia.

The Newark property, a two-story bunker-style facility (essentially windowless) has been vacant for three years. A regional cable TV company had been in talks to buy it, but nothing happened and JEMB stepped into the picture.