Thursday, June 4, 2015

Holiday Inn Express and 7-Eleven to Open in East Orange


East Orange, New Jersey: A Holiday Inn Express hotel and a 7-Eleven convenience store are slated for construction in East Orange. 

The Holiday Inn Express will be the first in Essex County, and will built at 88 Evergreen Place, between Harvard Street and Halstead Place. It will be the second hotel in the city, joining the Ramada East Orange Hotel on Evergreen Place. The Holiday Inn Express will be only a short walk from the Brick Church Train Station, which is served by New Jersey Transit's Morris and Essex Lines. According to Abby Jensen of Holiday Inn Express parent company InterContinental Hotels Group, the Holiday Inn Express is expected to open towards to end of 2016. Jensen said that most Holiday Inn Express locations hire 20-25 employees.

The new 7-Eleven will be constructed at the corner of Freeway Drive East and South Arlington Avenue, across from the main branch of the East Orange Public Library. The site is currently an empty lot. It will be the first 7-Eleven location in East Orange.

"Both of these buildings are located at high-traffic locations and will symbolize a new era of growth and progress", said East Orange Public Information Officer Connie Jackson in an email to Essex County Place, adding that "by attracting national commercial retailers, (the City is) hoping to jumpstart redevelopment around our Transit Village, which includes two train stations with direct service to New York City".

According to Jackson, the city has launched the 'Experience East Orange' brand in order to "transform the perception of the City of East Orange". The new brand will focus on attracting new businesses and residents by highlighting East Orange's neighborhoods, history, culture, location, and access to transportation. A website recently launched in order to help promote the brand.

In a letter to residents, East Orange Mayor Lester E. Taylor III said that the City is "beginning to aggressively market all of (its) assets that will transform (it) into a destination city", adding that "things are really beginning to heat up" in East Orange.

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