Report To The Community 2021

won’t you be
our neighbor?
Plans announced to
transform NJPAC’s
campus into a vibrant
district of homes, stores,
restaurants and more
Imagine you’re planning
to meet a friend to see a
performance at NJPAC.
You dash out of your apartment,
down to the street, and duck into
a store a few doors away to pick
up a gift for your pal, maybe
a book or a bottle of wine. Then
you head down the block to
meet up with them at a fun new
restaurant. As you dine, you
watch the flow of people strolling
by, and listen to a musician
playing on the sidewalk.
You finish your meal and
head to the theater —
right across the street.
After the show, you talk about
the performance as you
wander into a stylish food
hall for after-hours cocktails.
Perhaps you stop by a gallery
and take in a new exhibition.
You say goodbye to your friend
and walk back home — your
apartment is, after all, just across
the way. You admire the city lights
reflected on the Passaic River
as you walk back to your place,
the hum of Newark at night
murmuring in the background.
And that entire evening,
you never even need to
leave NJPAC’s campus.
An artist’s rendering of NJPAC’S
redevelopment project that will
bring 350 new rental residencies —
both market rate and affordable
homes — to Newark’s downtown.
Such an evening could become
a reality in just a few years: This
vision of a bustling, welcoming
urban neighborhood where
people live, shop, gather, dine
and enjoy the arts, all within
a few compact city blocks
surrounding NJPAC, is the
inspiration behind the new real
estate development project
announced in midsummer —
the creation of a new arts and
education district right on
the Arts Center’s campus.
The project, slated to break
ground in the first quarter of
2023, will create a vibrant
neighborhood of multifamily
buildings, shops, restaurants
and cultural spaces, plus
about 15 townhomes and
condos, on a portion of the
7.3 acres of developable land
on NJPAC’s riverfront campus.
This dynamic redevelopment
will add about 350 rental
residences — both market rate
and affordable homes — to
Newark’s downtown, in addition
to the condos and townhomes.
The centerpiece of the retail
environment on the new
Mulberry Street will be a
food hall called Mulberry
Market, curated by celebrated
restaurateur Marcus Samuelsson,
whose Newark restaurant,
Marcus B&P, has become
a cornerstone of the city’s
downtown dining scene. A
state-of-the art teaching kitchen
that will provide community
cooking classes will also be a
component of the new food hall.
And this project is only
the first phase of a multitiered
plan to build a new
live-work-play destination
all around the Arts Center.
“Contributing to the ongoing
revitalization of Newark’s
downtown has always been
central to the Arts Center’s
mission,” says John Schreiber,
NJPAC’s President and CEO.
“This plan calls for a thoughtful,
curated mix of residential
buildings, retail environments
and cultural resources. And it’s
a purpose-designed community,
one that reintroduces a
neighborhood fabric lost to
mega-block development
during the 1950s and 1960s.
We’re adding streets back
to the city where people can
live, walk, shop and dine.”
The celebrated architectural
firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
(SOM), known for its work
in creating environmentally
advanced buildings and public
urban spaces, was selected
to design these new facets of
the Arts Center’s campus.
NJPAC has partnered with
developers Center Street
Owners (CSO), led by L+M
Development Partners, to
complete the project. CSO is an
organization formed specifically
to create this development.
“We want
this new
neighborhood
around NJPAC
to be an
exciting
place to live
as well as a
uniquely
engaging
destination
for arts lovers
from all over.”
– John Schreiber
Well-known in Newark, L+M
has also developed many
other downtown sites including
Walker House and the Hahne &
Co. building. Prudential Impact
& Responsible Investments is
also a partner on the project.
“We’re proud to unveil the
transformative plan for the Arts
Center in collaboration with
NJPAC, which will not only help
to lift up the arts community
in Newark, but also deliver
much-needed mixed-income
housing and opportunities for
local businesses,” says Ron
Moelis, CEO and Co-Founder
of L+M Development Partners.
NJPAC is not financing any of
the vertical development; rather,
it is providing the guiding vision
for this new district, as well as
a ground lease for the project.
Early conceptual inspiration
and financial support for
the project was provided by
Prudential Impact & Responsible
Investments. NJPAC has been
working on master planning this
redevelopment of its campus
since 2019, initially working with
rePlace Urban Studio, a multidisciplinary
agency devoted
to rethinking urban design.
The ideals adopted by rePlace
and the Arts Center ultimately
led to a plan for an open,
welcoming “public realm”
where streets and alleys
crisscross the downtown,
connecting busy thoroughfares
and letting in light and air.
A main feature of the new
development is a pedestrianfriendly
extension of Mulberry
Street, across from what is now
NJPAC’s Lot A parking area.
A simultaneous redesign of the
Arts Center’s Eastern facade
will create a new, welcoming
entryway to the NJPAC campus.
“This project will create new
roads connecting 50 Rector
Park with One Theater Square,
and the river with Military
Park,” says Tim Lizura, NJPAC’s
Senior Vice President of Real
Estate and Capital Projects,
who worked tirelessly on the
project for months before
the announcement.
Once completed, the
development will provide
not just individual homes
and businesses, but an entirely
new community — and a
tantalizing destination for
everyone who loves the arts. •
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