Northern New Jersey Faces Challenges in '08

NEWARK-There was a mixture of grim news and hope for the attendees of the sold-out forecast presented by the Newark Regional Business Partnership here on March 5. While the panelists discussed their efforts to revitalize Newark by bringing in new retail business, the two other speakers showed that northern New Jersey is not as robust as many would hope, and the state could suffer in a recession.

The day began with the panel addressing retail and entertainment opportunities in Newark. Moderator Richard Johnson, SVP and partner with Matrix Development Group, led the discussion with Ron Beit, founding partner and CEO of RBH Group; Cubie Dawson, SVP of Jones Lang LaSalle; Leon Kafele, president of ICP Group; Joe Ritchie, CEO of Brick City Development Corporation; and Michael Saltzman, principal with Newwork LLC.

By and large, the panelists had high hopes for the City of Newark, which has been experiencing a resurgence lately with the opening of the Prudential Center and NJ PAC, venues that bring thousands of people into Newark’s Downtown to attend events. Developing Downtown retail, according to Ritchie, will partly depend on encouraging those event attendees to stay in the city longer, instead of simply arriving to attend the event and then leaving immediately after.