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Newark arts center shows off its plans for a grand high-rise
Thursday, March 16, 2006
BY PEGGY McGLONE
Star-Ledger Staff
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center raised the curtain on its next production yesterday, when it unveiled plans for a high- rise development across Center Street in downtown Newark.
The first major expansion since the arts center opened in 1997, the high-rise would feature at least 250 residential units -- including 50 reserved for performing and visual artists -- 30,000 square feet of street-level retail and structured parking for 700 cars.
"This is a complicated project in an untested market, but it's time for Newark to have a 24/7 downtown," said Lawrence P. Goldman, NJPAC's president and CEO.
Goldman announced the arts center is seeking a developer to construct the $100million-plus building. The goal is to select a developer by the end of this year, and to open the building in 2010.
A cornerstone of NJPAC's mission is to be an economic engine for Newark. With a light rail station set to open on its property this summer and the ongoing development of the Passaic River waterfront, the time seems right to proceed, Goldman said.
"The best nonprofits are entrepreneurial. You shape your environment, you don't wait around for others to shape it for you," he said. "We want to create value and then share in it."
NJPAC already has invested $2.5million in the preliminary stages of the effort, which was first detailed in NJPAC's master plan in 1988. Built with $185million from public and private sources, NJPAC features the multi-use 2,750-seat Prudential Hall and the 514-seat Victoria Theater. In its first eight seasons, the venue has attracted more than 4million people to classical and pop concerts, dance, theater and jazz programs.
The new building, to be known as Two Center Street, will be erected on a 1.2-acre site between Park and Mulberry streets across from the arts center's entrance. Currently, the land features a two-story building and a surface parking lot. There are two more planned developments on the art center's 16-acre footprint.
The proposal received high marks from Arthur Stern, a principal of Cogswell Realty Group, a developer with a majority interest in 22 Newark properties.
"It's a very exciting project and I think the prospects for it are very strong," Stern said. "There is an absolute need for residential housing in Newark. Combining it with a world-class arts center will attract a lot of residents."
Although Stern described the projected costs as "optimistic for a project that ambitious," he predicted the arts center's plan will attract the attention of developers.
"Our firm would very much welcome the opportunity to participate in something of this stature," he said. "
During construction of the arts center, modifications were made to Mulberry Street in anticipation of this development. The street was rerouted and all the infrastructure fixed to ready it for future construction.
Last fall, NJPAC officials persuaded the Legislature to amend the 99-year land lease to allow NJPAC to keep more of the profits from the development. The state agreed to allow NJPAC to keep the state's 50 percent share of revenues as long as the arts center used that money for capital expenses or invested it in its endowment.
Newark arts center shows off its plans for a grand high-rise
Thursday, March 16, 2006
BY PEGGY McGLONE
Star-Ledger Staff
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center raised the curtain on its next production yesterday, when it unveiled plans for a high- rise development across Center Street in downtown Newark.
The first major expansion since the arts center opened in 1997, the high-rise would feature at least 250 residential units -- including 50 reserved for performing and visual artists -- 30,000 square feet of street-level retail and structured parking for 700 cars.
"This is a complicated project in an untested market, but it's time for Newark to have a 24/7 downtown," said Lawrence P. Goldman, NJPAC's president and CEO.
Goldman announced the arts center is seeking a developer to construct the $100million-plus building. The goal is to select a developer by the end of this year, and to open the building in 2010.
A cornerstone of NJPAC's mission is to be an economic engine for Newark. With a light rail station set to open on its property this summer and the ongoing development of the Passaic River waterfront, the time seems right to proceed, Goldman said.
"The best nonprofits are entrepreneurial. You shape your environment, you don't wait around for others to shape it for you," he said. "We want to create value and then share in it."
NJPAC already has invested $2.5million in the preliminary stages of the effort, which was first detailed in NJPAC's master plan in 1988. Built with $185million from public and private sources, NJPAC features the multi-use 2,750-seat Prudential Hall and the 514-seat Victoria Theater. In its first eight seasons, the venue has attracted more than 4million people to classical and pop concerts, dance, theater and jazz programs.
The new building, to be known as Two Center Street, will be erected on a 1.2-acre site between Park and Mulberry streets across from the arts center's entrance. Currently, the land features a two-story building and a surface parking lot. There are two more planned developments on the art center's 16-acre footprint.
The proposal received high marks from Arthur Stern, a principal of Cogswell Realty Group, a developer with a majority interest in 22 Newark properties.
"It's a very exciting project and I think the prospects for it are very strong," Stern said. "There is an absolute need for residential housing in Newark. Combining it with a world-class arts center will attract a lot of residents."
Although Stern described the projected costs as "optimistic for a project that ambitious," he predicted the arts center's plan will attract the attention of developers.
"Our firm would very much welcome the opportunity to participate in something of this stature," he said. "
During construction of the arts center, modifications were made to Mulberry Street in anticipation of this development. The street was rerouted and all the infrastructure fixed to ready it for future construction.
Last fall, NJPAC officials persuaded the Legislature to amend the 99-year land lease to allow NJPAC to keep more of the profits from the development. The state agreed to allow NJPAC to keep the state's 50 percent share of revenues as long as the arts center used that money for capital expenses or invested it in its endowment.
posted by Jones Lang LaSalle NJ News Blog at 11:10 AM
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