Now developers say the future of what was once an industrial hub is finally under way, with half-a-dozen downtown residential developments having received financing, broken ground or been completed within the past year. The hope is that the projects will bring thousands of residents, a more vibrant street life that will help drive down crime and lift rents enough to tempt other developers to take the plunge.
“I think this moment is really a new beginning,” said Newark’s economic and housing development director, Baye Adofo-Wilson./p>
Among the projects moving forward is the Four Corners Millennium Project, which is expected to have 705 residential units, a hotel, retail and office space. It has received state tax credits and begun design work./p>
Elsewhere, Dranoff Properties plans to break ground this winter on a 22-story building with 245 apartments in a city that has seen little new high-rise construction in the past 50 years./p>
Also under way is the 500,000-square-foot redevelopment of the former Hahne & Co. department-store site. The developers have signed a lease for a Whole Foods Market, which is expected to open in 2016./p>
Politicians and developers have long promised that Newark, with a population of about 280,000, was on the verge of a building boom. When the real-estate recession hit, many projects stalled and have been slower to restart than development in other cities in the region./p>
