The Newark Central Planning Board recently greenlit a proposal to redevelop two parcels at the intersection of Oliver Street and McCarter Highway into a six-story, mixed-use apartment building. The parcels are located two blocks from Newark Symphony Hall in an area of the Lincoln Park section of the city that is undergoing rapid changes.
The two parcels at 16-18 Oliver Street and 330-338 Mulberry Street are currently occupied by a surface parking lot, a single-story commercial building, and a three-story building that includes the Club Metro USA fitness center.
The planning board approved the site plan and a variance for sufficient off-street parking spaces unanimously on January 12, allowing Newark-based developer The Gomes Group to move forward with its plans to tear down the existing buildings and redevelop the two parcels.
Plans filed with the city’s Central Planning Board show that Gomes intends to erect a six-story building with 225 apartments—20% of which will be set aside as affordable housing—over 1,200 square feet of retail space along Mulberry Street and 85 parking spaces. Amenities at the complex, known as “Elleven by Gomes,” will include a fitness center, a speakeasy, a Zen garden, a coworking space, an outdoor patio, and a rooftop terrace.
The building’s residential portion will comprise 106 studios, 99 one-bedrooms, and 20 two-bedroom apartments.
Pedro Gomes, the owner of the parcels and CEO of the development firm, told Jersey Digs that the firm’s next goal is to obtain the required permits to commence construction later this year and complete the project by 2028. The group is currently finalizing the financing structure of the development, he said, and expects to break ground by June.
An archived listing on LoopNet.com says that the building at 18 Oliver Street was built in 1920 and renovated in 1985. The building spanned 34,000 square feet of office space and was formerly a physical therapy office, according to the listing from 2023.
A property data file in the Essex County Tax Board says that the two parcels were last sold in 2014 to A&R Capital LLC for $3 million. The seller in that transaction was an LLC based in New Vernon. Before that, both parcels last traded in November 2002, according to records made available online by the Essex County Register.
A report in New York YIMBY said that the developer intends to request a long-term tax exemption from the Newark City Council. The incentives, if granted, would support a project at the heart of Newark’s Central Ward.
The two parcels are located next to a McDonald’s and McCarter Highway, less than five blocks from the Prudential Center and nine blocks from Newark Penn Station. This area within the Lincoln Park neighborhood—from McCarter Highway and along East Kinney Street toward Broad Street—is rapidly becoming a hotspot for new luxury apartments.
Jersey Digs reported in November that the Newark Municipal Council provided a 30-year tax break for a development under construction at 1007-1009 Broad Street. That project will redevelop the site of the former Elberon Hotel into a six-story, mixed-use apartment building with 56 units.
Newark-based developer Paramount Assets has also proposed adding over 100 residential units at 1010 Broad Street, just across the street from the Elberon Hotel and next to Newark Symphony Hall; however, that site remains empty.
NJ.com reported in December that the symphony hall is also undergoing a $98 million upgrade. The venue’s operators are currently working on securing a $75 million tax credit from Trenton’s new Cultural Arts Facilities Expansion program.
