More than four years after Newark officials proposed changing the zoning of a site along the Passaic River from being an open space district to one zoned for mixed-use development, new information has been released that shows what exactly is being proposed for the premises.
Newark Waterfront Associates, LLC, a New Brunswick-based company that is associated with Boraie Development, submitted an application to the City of Newark last month that calls for a high-rise development to be constructed at 930 McCarter Highway.
The company is scheduled to go before the Newark Central Planning Board today, September 20, during a Zoom meeting at 6:00 p.m. to seek preliminary and final site plan approval with a number of variances.
This building is now slated to be 25 stories tall and would include 333 residential units, 3,750 square feet of retail space, 108 bicycle parking spaces, and a parking garage with 240 spaces for cars, according to a September 15 municipal staff report.
Site plans from Marchetto Higgins Stieve and Boraie Development that were released by the City of Newark show that there would be 23 studios, 238 one-bedroom units, and 72 two-bedroom units inside.
“The applicant should provide testimony confirming compliance with the City’s Inclusionary Zoning Ordinance and that the unit breakdown and affordability mix will be in accordance with the City’s Ordinance,” the municipal report says in part.
“The applicant has not indicated in the residential unit matrix or on the floor plans which units are proposed to be affordable versus market rate,” the report adds. “The applicant shall provide testimony to confirm that the affordable units will be distributed throughout the building as opposed to clustered in the same areas.”
The building’s lobby would reportedly contain a coffee bar and library. There would also be a second-floor outdoor pool with seating areas nearby and an indoor and outdoor “amenity space” atop the tower.
The property is situated across Route 21 from the New Jersey Performing Arts Center/Center Street stop on the Newark Light Rail and is adjacent to the next phase of Riverfront Park.
Back in 2018, an ordinance was introduced to the Newark Municipal Council calling for the Newark Housing Authority to sell 930 McCarter Highway and 10-18 Passaic Place for $1.25 million to the City of Newark, which would in turn immediately sell much of the site to Newark Waterfront Associates, LLC.
“The site is currently vacant and has recently been cleared and graded to prepare for construction,” the municipal staff report from last week notes, adding that “the applicant should provide testimony about the integration of the project with Riverfront Park and encouraging public access to the proposed retail spaces and arcade area.”
A disclosure statement included within the developer’s August application lists that Wasseem Boraie and Sam Boraie each own 45 percent of Newark Waterfront Associates, LLC while Omar Boraie owns 10 percent of the firm.
Boraie Development is best known in Newark for the nearby 50 Rector Park project, also known as “Shaq Tower,” at the old Science High School site. The company is also in the process of creating another high-rise with Shaquille O’Neal at 777 McCarter Highway.
Note to readers: The dates that applications are scheduled to be heard by the Newark Central Planning Board and other commissions are subject to change.
