NEWARK-Prudential Financial is now focused on a site near Military Park in downtown Newark for a planned $444 million office tower to house 2,000 employees it will relocate from the Gateway Center complex two years from now.
The insurance giant, which is based in Newark, signaled the site change last week when it filed an amendment to its already-approved application for $250.8 million in tax credits with the state Economic Development Authority. Previously, the company was considering a site near the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, elsewhere in downtown Newark.
The new 3.25-acre site between Broad and Halsey streets comprises nine parcels in an area that city officials have long deemed ripe for redevelopment. It is only blocks north of the Teacher’s Village site, where ground was broken last month for a $149 million complex with residential, educational and retail components.
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Prudential already owns most of the parcels that are part of the site, and has signed contracts to buy the rest, Richard Hummers, a vice president in the financial management group at Prudential, told state development officials in a letter amending the tax-credit application. Company officials have consistently said they are committed to remaining in Newark,
“After careful consideration and investigation, Prudential concluded that the redevelopment of an assemblage site in the heart of downtown Newark on Broad Street presents the best location for the new building," Hummers said in his letter.
Four months ago, EDA officials indicated they will allocate a total of $250.9 million in Urban Transit Hub tax credits to Prudential if it invests in the new office project in Newark. The insurance company, which has its world headquarters at 751 Broad Street, employs a total of almost 4,800 people in the city.
The new site is only blocks from the headquarters building and not far from another Prudential office on Washington Street. Prudential’s lease at the Gateway Center will expire at the end of 2014.
Construction of the new tower could begin by this fall, company officials say. With the move, Prudential would join Public Service Electric & Gas company as a presence in the neighborhood overlooking the downtown Newark park.
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