Thursday, May 26, 2016

Rutgers-Newark to Open New Facilities in Downtown


Newark, New Jersey: Rutgers University-Newark will open two new facilities in Downtown. 

An Alumni Center will open near the Newark Museum at 47 Central Avenue, at the corner of Washington Street. According to NJ Parcels, Rutgers acquired the building in August, 2015 for $600,000. The university is currently looking to hire a director of the Alumni Center. Mills + Schnoering Architects of Mercer County will renovate the building, according to Rutgers Magazine. 

Rutgers University has established an Alumni Centers Steering Committee to create such centers on all three Rutgers campuses. 

In addition, after months of planning, Rutgers-Newark announced yesterday that it has partnered with the RBH Group to develop the new Honors Living-Learning Community. 

According to Senior Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Peter Englot, the new 400-bed 320,000 square-foot facility will cost approximately $70 million, and will also contain classrooms, 30,000 square feet retail space on the first floor, open space, and parking. Construction on the project, which will be designed by Perkins Eastman, is slated to begin later this year and be finished by 2018. 

The complex will stretch north to south from New Street to Linden Street and east to west from Halsey Street to Washington Street. 

Currently, most of the block consists of a large Rutgers parking lot. However, there are a few buildings, including one at the corner of New and Washington Streets, McGovern's Tavern on New Street, the Village Hotel and the corner of New and Halsey Streets, a building on Halsey Street that used to contain the Rutgers-Newark Child Care and Nonprofit Technical Assistance Centers, and four attached buildings at the corner of Halsey and Linden Streets. 

Englot told Essex County Place that "at this time, the plans are for the Honors Living-Learning Community building to work around the footprints of the existing buildings", with the exception of the building that used to contain the Rutgers-Newark Child Care and Nonprofit Technical Assistance Centers, which will be demolished to make way for the project. 

These new projects join Rutgers-Newark's Express Newark project in the former Hahne's building along Broad and Halsey Streets, which will contain a Whole Foods Market, stores, galleries, offices, and more when completed.


Above: The Washington Street entrance to the parking lot where the Honors Living-Learning Community will rise.


Above: Construction on the Express Newark project in the former Hahne's building in December

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