The $120-million project--called Teachers Village at Four Cornors--would redevelop an area from Maiden Lane to Pearl Street and involve demolishing eight deteriorating buildings along Halsey Street dating from the 1870s, constructing seven buildings four to six stories tall and rehabilitating a nine-story building.
Beit has been working hand-in-hand with Newark's Landmarks & Historic Preservation Commission, which he tells GlobeSt.com, "has certainly been receptive of the project." However, he continues, "they have had their comments and we are working with them on our plan." The buildings targeted for demolition are in the area known as the Four Corners Historic District but have been deemed expendable by the developer's historic-preservation consultant, according to Beit.
A new retail corridor with ground-floor shops along Halsey Street would marry two of the city's more vibrant draws: University Heights--home to Rutgers University, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey--and the Prudential Center, the 18,000-seat arena known as the Rock. "Newark represents one of the best values in the country, let alone in the region," Beit tells GlobeSt.com. "Here you have ports, airports, universities, existing corporate infrastructure and accessible mass transit. You would be very hard-pressed to find another city with those assets at these values."
As for financing, Beit says, "We've identified all of the participants in the capital stack and we are now at various stages of approvals." It's rumored that the investors were high net-worth individuals and a well-known REIT. Beit also declined to disclose the architects for the project, but revealed an international firm and a local firm have joint ventured on the project.
Teachers Village is the latest in a stream of promising projects in Newark as the country looks to emerge from a deep recession. In February, Tucker Development of Chicago unveiled plans for a 150-key Courtyard by Marriott next to the Prudential Center, which would be the first new hotel in the city's downtown core in nearly 40 years. Just a few weeks later, the New Jersey Nets received approval to break it's lease at the Meadowland's Izod Center--for a cool $4 million fee--and move to Newark through the 2012 season.
And it's not just the Pru Center that's spurring new development. Across from the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Dranoff Properties of Philadelphia intends to break ground next year on 328 luxury apartments, a 600-car garage and 20,000 square feet of retail space. The $190-million tower was granted a $38 million tax credit under the transit-hub program. Stefan Pryor, Newark's deputy mayor of economic development, notes that Beit's project, defined as work force housing, would not compete with Dranoff's luxury apartments. "It will complement them because it will provide housing tailored for teachers, many of whom would otherwise look outside Newark," Pryor adds.
Meanwhile, the city is also set to see a 25-story residential tower with market-rate condos rise at One Rector St. in a project that is being developed jointly by Wasseem Boraie of Boraie Development and basketball star Shaquille O'Neal.
Commercial real estate broker Christian Benedetto Jr., who works for Newark-based Hopkins, Sampson & Brown Real Estate Advisory Services, tells GlobeSt.com, "Teachers Village is one more arrow in the quiver of Newark's development that will help transform downtown into a 24/7 destination."
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