Construction of Newark’s latest art venue is underway at the site of a former nightclub in the city’s West Ward. Studio Lofts LLC, a limited liability firm affiliated with Akwaaba Gallery, announced recently that it broke ground on a 9,000-square-foot development at 166-170 Littleton Avenue near University Hospital.
A prepared statement from the firm says the new development will become the new home for Akwaaba Gallery and serve as the neighborhood’s newest art hub. The project consists of 3,000 square feet of gallery and exhibition space, 10 private studios, support and creative space, and three apartments in a separate building on the same lot, according to a report in TAPinto Newark.
Laura Bonas Palmer, co-owner and director of Akwaaba Gallery, told Jersey Digs that the gallery’s current home at 509 South Orange Avenue will be leased to commercial tenants. The move comes seven years after she opened Akwaaba Gallery, named after a popular greeting from Ghana, and 10 months after the city approved construction permits for the project.
The project is expected to wrap up construction by the end of the year, according to the report from TAPinto Newark.
“We are taking a property that was once a source of distress and giving it new life, new purpose, and the opportunity to become a source of neighborhood pride,” Bonas Palmer told Jersey Digs. “For us, this is far more than the renovation of a building. It is a deeply personal investment in the community we call home, a commitment to its future, and an opportunity to create something lasting and meaningful for generations to come.”
Bonas Palmer said the New Jersey Economic Development Authority provided a pre-construction grant to fund about half of the pre-construction costs for the new mixed-use building. New Jersey Community Capital also provided acquisition financing for the property on Littleton Avenue.
Records from the Essex County Tax Board state that Studio Lofts LLC acquired the property at 166-170 Littleton Avenue in January 2024 for $755,000. Before that, the property was sold in May 2018 for $340,000.
Bonas Palmer told Jersey Digs that the last tenant at the property, The Zone, operated an illegal nightclub before she acquired the property. The owners of the business were almost evicted from the building, but ownership, Zone XL LLC, vacated the property before the city’s eviction order was enforced.
The lot had an assessed value of $325,000 as of September 2024. According to the Tax Board, it includes a structure spanning 2,082 square feet and was erected in 1920.
Akwaaba Gallery’s announcement comes a year and a half after Jersey Digs reported that Studio Lofts secured approval from the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment for the project on Littleton Avenue.
