A proposal by Newark developer Pedro Gomes to repurpose an empty lot along Lock Street in Brick City’s University Heights neighborhood recently secured approvals from the city’s Central Planning Board, moving the developer closer to breathing new life into the site. During the board’s meeting on May 18, officials voted to approve the site plan with variances, which could eventually bring a new six-story residential building.
A staff report from the board says that Gomes, acting on behalf of the site owner, Gomes Future Estate LLC, intends to erect a six-story building with 37 units and amenities on the 7,734-square-foot lot at 14-16 Lock Street. The plan calls for a ground floor level that includes a residential lobby, package room, fitness room with storage, a bathroom, rooms for building infrastructure, as well as a one-bedroom and a two-bedroom apartment.
Each story from the second through sixth floors will include 6 one-bedroom units with closet space, a living and dining area, a kitchen, a full bathroom, a utility closet with a laundry unit, and a closet. Gomes’ proposal also calls for a two-bedroom unit on each floor, with the same features as the one-bedroom units, plus additional closet space for the second bedroom.
There will be a total of 31 one-bedroom units ranging from 491 to 648 square feet in size and 6 two-bedroom units ranging from 819 to 850 square feet. The area’s zoning also calls for 20% of the units, or 8 apartments, to be set aside for affordable housing.
The proposed building is not required to include on-site parking to conform to the neighborhood’s zoning. The report also says that Gomes will plant three Sugar Maple trees: two along Lock Street and one along the eastern side of the lot on Sussex Avenue, where the lot has 29 feet of frontage. The application also calls for concrete paved walkways on the entire northern and southern yards.
The staff report says that Gomes’ proposal required three variances for insufficient elevator setback, ground-level transparency on the ground floor, and ground floor height, which were approved with the site plan application.
A clerk at the Central Planning Board confirmed to Jersey Digs that no changes were made to the application during the public hearing on May 18.
Records from the Essex County Tax Board show that the site was once three separate parcels that were consolidated into a single parcel. The lot last sold in May 2024 for $3.1 million. The lot was sold one year earlier for $2.1 million and has an estimated assessed value of $78,200.
While Gomes has continued to build residential and mixed-use apartments throughout Newark, it is safe to say that University Heights is becoming the developer’s neighborhood. Jersey Digs reported recently that Gomes also secured site plan approvals for an apartment building just steps from the site at 10 Lock Street, behind the Patio on Sussex venue. That project calls for 27 residential units – 10 one-bedrooms and 17 two-bedrooms – across six stories.
Just a few blocks north of the two sites, at 253 Orange Street, Gomes is also developing his first high-rise building. The developer secured approvals from the city’s zoning board for the proposed building, which will be located across the street from Gomes’ Arbol project, which opened in 2021.
Other entities, including the New Jersey Institute of Technology, are also actively developing residential units in the neighborhood. NJIT reported in early 2025 that it is working to revamp its Oak Hall residential hall located on Summit Street. That project is slated to double the total number of beds and units at the residential hall to 453 and 154, respectively.
