Thursday, August 31, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/31/17


The former site of the Lincoln Hotel in Newark remains vacant. Last year, a casino hotel was proposed for the property, but plans did not move forward after a referendum proposing allowing casinos in New Jersey outside of Atlantic City failed.

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Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/30/17


This abandoned shopping plaza at 350 Broad Street in Newark is set to be replaced with a Taco Bell.

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Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/29/17


The NX Bridge, best known to locals as the Annie Bridge because of its inclusion in the 'Annie' movie, connects Newark and Hudson County.

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Monday, August 28, 2017

Photos of the Day 8/28/17


This property on Clay Street in Newark is filled with former New York taxis and NYPD vehicles.


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Sunday, August 27, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/27/17


These signs greet visitors and residents to Newark's Lower Broadway neighborhood.

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Saturday, August 26, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/26/17


A new development with close to 300 units could come to this property just north of the Newark Broad Street Station.

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Friday, August 25, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/25/17


There are views of the Manhattan skyline from neighborhoods across Newark, including the Central Ward.

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Thursday, August 24, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/24/17


Most of the old Baxter Terrace site in Newark continues to sit empty, awaiting new development.

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Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/23/17


The former Borden dairy plant/Peddlers Square site along Orange and Nesbitt Streets in Newark could become the site of a big-box store.

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Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/22/17


Newark's James Street Commons Historic District is one of the best kept secrets in the city.

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Monday, August 21, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/21/17


This photo shows Downtown Newark's historic and recently rehabilitated Military Park.

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Sunday, August 20, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/20/17


This photo shows a view of One World Trade Center from the First Watchung Mountain.

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Saturday, August 19, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/19/17


This photo was taken on the grounds of Kips Castle Park in Verona.

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Friday, August 18, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/18/17


This photo shows the new building at West Orange's Edison Village adjacent to the former Edison Battery Company factory.

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Thursday, August 17, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/17/17


South Orange's Our Lady of Sorrows is one of the largest churches in the area.

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Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/16/17


It has been nearly 25 years since the first gates were installed in Maplewood near the Irvington and Newark borders. Similar gates and barriers exist in South Orange and Hillside.

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Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Smashburger Plans to Open in Newark Next Month


NEWARK, N.J.: There will soon be a new place for Newarkers and local college students to buy burgers, chicken, fries, milkshakes, and other items. 

Essex County Place has confirmed that Smashburger will be opening a location on the Newark campus of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). According to David Arluna, the Director of Food Service for Gourmet Dining, LLC, which is responsible for all of the dining options at NJIT, the restaurant will be located at 156 Warren Street on the first floor of the Albert Dorman Honors College residence hall. 

“We are not sure of the exact date because we are still under construction,” said Arluna, adding that “I would guess sometime in September.”

A Smashburger spokesperson also verified the news of the upcoming Newark restaurant. The space was previously occupied by Warren Street Pizzeria and Cafe, which closed in the spring. A survey was available for students to select which restaurant they felt should replace the pizzeria, with one of the options being Smashburger. 

Since opening its first New Jersey locations around seven years ago, Smashburger has expanded all over the northern part of the state, opening other Essex County locations in Glen Ridge and West Caldwell. This is not the first time that the company has operated in Newark. There was previously a location at Newark Liberty International Airport's Terminal C.

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Photo of the Day 8/15/17


This photo shows a view of East Orange with the Bayonne Bridge in the distance.

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Monday, August 14, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/14/17


The Park Place development is rising at the site of the former Irvington General Hospital.



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Sunday, August 13, 2017

Photos of the Day 8/13/17


These photos show the former Convalescent Branch of the Newark City Hospital in the West Ward.



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Saturday, August 12, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/12/17


This photo shows Maplewood's Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Holy Ascension.

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Friday, August 11, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/11/17


This photo shows a view of the Midtown Manhattan skyline from Verona, with suburban Essex County in the foreground.

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Thursday, August 10, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/10/17


This photo shows the lake at Weequahic Park in Newark's South Ward.

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Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Blink Fitness to Open Across from Newark Penn Station


NEWARK, N.J.: A building located at the gateway to the Ironbound neighborhood of Newark’s East Ward is about to see new use. 

According to Carmelo Garcia, the Chief Real Estate Officer and Executive Vice President of the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation, two new businesses are planned for the Ironbound Station Plaza building, located at 2-14 Ferry Street, at the corner of Market Street, directly across from Newark Penn Station. One of the spaces will be occupied by a location of a national coffee company, the name of which has not yet been revealed, while the other will contain a Blink Fitness gym. 

Blink Fitness, which is owned by Equinox Fitness, has been expanding into Northern New Jersey in recent years, and has other area locations in Journal Square in Jersey City, Union, and South Orange. Additional new gyms are planned for 620 Central Avenue in East Orange and 870 Springfield Avenue in Irvington.

Blink Fitness spokesperson Danielle Muzones confirmed to Essex County Place that the company recently signed a lease to open its first Newark location in the space, and that it is expected to open in the first quarter of 2018. 

The 117-year-old building has most recently contained medical offices, including the Ironbound Community Health Center, but was originally the home of the Ironbound Trust Company and a Prudential office.

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Photo of the Day 8/9/17


This photo shows the former Edison Battery Company factory in West Orange, which is being converted into the Edison Village development.

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Tuesday, August 8, 2017

More Development Coming Near Newark's Government Center


NEWARK, N.J.: The first stage of a new multi-phased development project near the border of Newark’s Central and East Wards has reached the approvals process.
A new mixed-use development has been proposed for 317 and 321-323 Mulberry Street, as well as 58-64 East Kinney Street, at the edge of Downtown Newark just two blocks from the Ironbound neighborhood.
According to a legal notice from the Newark Central Planning Board, the proposal calls for the building to be five-stories tall, and for it to contain a residential lobby, ground floor retail space, and 24 residential units on the upper floors. 16 of the units would contain one bedroom, while the remaining eight would contain three bedrooms. 15 parking spaces would be provided on the premises for residents.
The project developer, ATS Development Group, LLC, which is registered out of a garage on nearby Austin Street, is seeking Preliminary and Final Site Plan approval with variances for insufficient minimum lot size, insufficient minimum lot width, and insufficient parking. Lorrie Sciabarasi of Newark-based Comito Associates, PC, is listed as the project architect and engineer.
ATS was included in How Newark Became Newark: The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of an American City by Brad R. Tuttle, who wrote that “rather than putting the land up for public auction, Newark potentially lost out on millions by quietly steering parcels at dirt-cheap rates to companies such as ATS,” adding that the company acquired 116 City properties with an appraised value of $1.4 million for less than $300,000 between 2001 and 2005.
Tuttle also wrote that “the company’s owner had run an East Ward auto shop and had no experience in housing developments when he suddenly got into the business in 2001,” and that “a partner of ATS happened to be Jackie Mattison, [former Newark Mayor] Sharpe James’s disgraced former chief of staff, who’d gone to jail in 1997 on bribery charges and was released in 2000.”
This property, parts of which were acquired by ATS for $91,193 from the City in 2002, according to NJ Parcels records, contains a single-family home, a vacant lot, and a tract recently used to store used cars. Residents of the new building would be within walking distance of Newark Symphony Hall, Lincoln Park, New Jersey Transit bus service along Broad Street, and Newark Penn Station.
This individual project, known as Mulberry Commons, the same name as the upcoming park near the Prudential Center, appears to be part of a larger plan by Comito Associates called the ‘South Broad Redevelopment.’
According to the firm’s website, the overall proposal calls for three additional buildings at 1098 Broad Street, 77 Sherman Avenue, and a property on Austin Street, known as Broad Street Commons, Sherman Commons, and Austin Commons, respectively. All of the buildings would be five stories tall with ground floor retail space, and would contain 35, 44, and 45 residential units.
The Newark Central Planning Board was scheduled to hear the proposal on July 24th.
This news comes as developer Steven Lenter is seeking to construct a six-story 296,268 square foot building at the site of a parking lot across the street, with 252 residential units, 9,543 square feet of retail space, and 152 parking spaces. That project, which is being designed by The DeRosa Group, PC, was also heard during the July 24th meeting.
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Photo of the Day 8/8/17


This photo shows the historic Kips Castle in Verona.

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Monday, August 7, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/7/17


This photo shows the abandoned City-owned Essex County Jail in Newark's Central Ward.

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Sunday, August 6, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/6/17


This photo shows Kips Castle Park in Verona.

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Saturday, August 5, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/5/17


This photo shows a squirrel at Newark's Weequahic Park.

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Friday, August 4, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/4/17


This photo shows a young deer in Montclair.

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Thursday, August 3, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/3/17


This photo shows a view of the Weequahic Park lake in Newark with the Lower Manhattan skyline in the distance.

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Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Photo of the Day 8/2/17


The Valley Mall Plaza in Irvington has still not opened. In 2015, a real estate agent for the development told Essex County Place that the complex was set to open in November of that year, but it remains empty.

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Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Historic Orange House Could Become BOE Tech Building


ORANGE, N.J.: The Orange Board of Education (BOE) is planning a new home for one of its administrative departments.

According to a legal notice, the Board is seeking to conduct a renovation and convert the three-story building, located in the City of Orange Township’s historic Seven Oaks neighborhood at 455 Fairview Avenue, between Scotland Road and Lincoln Avenue, into “its information and technology building.” The rear of the .2342 acre property is located adjacent to the BOE’s administrative office building, while the rest borders other homes and an apartment building. 

As part of the proposal, parking would be provided for the information and technology building, and there would be access to the administrative building from the premises. The BOE estimated in 2015 that the renovation would cost $65,000, and reported in January 2016 that it does not intend to seek funding from the New Jersey Department of Education for this project. In early 2014, the BOE acquired the home from a local resident for $240,000, according to NJ Parcels records. The purchase agreement was unanimously approved by the BOE members in 2013. 

At the time, the resolution approving the decision stated that “the Superintendent of Schools recommends the acquisition of additional administrative space to help alleviate the space deficiencies required to provide a more structured work environment required by the district.” 

City records show that the Board’s acquisition of the property meant that property taxes could no longer be accessed for it. The structure dates to 1894, according to Zillow, and includes eight bedrooms, four bathrooms, a patio, and a rear two-car garage. 

The Orange Planning Board was scheduled to hear the proposal on July 26th. This is not the only recent proposal by the BOE to change the use of local properties. Last year, Essex County Place exclusively reported that the historic homes at 386 and 396 Clarendon Place were slated to be demolished to make way for a parking lot, while the house at 366 Clarendon Place was scheduled to be rehabilitated as part of an expansion of Orange High School.

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Photo of the Day 8/1/17


This photo shows the 'E' for Edison a the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in West Orange.

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