As Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood continues to experience growth, and as the city’s waterfront along the Passaic River is revitalized, more developers are seeking to build residential units in the area. Now, another such project has been proposed for the area.
Plans have been revealed for a new mixed-use development at 558-568 Market Street and the neighboring lot at 49-51 Polk Street in the city’s East Ward. According to a legal notice that was issued on April 24th by the City of Newark, the building is slated to be five stories tall, and would contain 56 residential units on the second, third, fourth, and fifth floors.
Retail space and parking are planned for the ground floor. A rendering of how the building is expected to look when completed was included in a December presentation by East Ward Councilman Augusto Amador and TD Bank, which referred to the project as the ‘Market Street Apartments’, though only 20 units were listed as being proposed for the development at the time.
Albino Cerqueira of MarkPolk, LLC, which is registered out of a warehouse on Wilson Avenue in an industrial section of the East Ward, is listed as the project applicant. MarkPolk is seeking Preliminary and Final Site Plan Approval with variance approvals for having insufficient front yard setback, exceeding the maximum lot coverage, and insufficient building transparency.
This is not the first time that the Cerqueira family has been involved in an Ironbound development. According to The Star-Ledger, in 2010, the Cerqueiras opened a four-story mixed-use building with 30 units along South Street at the opposite side of the neighborhood, which is often referred to by residents as ‘Down Neck’.
The property was previously home to a three-story building that contained the El Pastor Bar & Restaurant, but it was demolished in recent years and replaced with a temporary parking lot. NJ Parcels records show that MarkPolk acquired the premises in October 2013 for $995,000.
The site is conveniently located, and is within walking distance of the Ferry Street, which is the Ironbound’s main business corridor, the ACME Supermarket at Ferry Plaza, Newark Penn Station, and the Harrison PATH Station. Plus, Essex County’s Riverbank Park is situated directly across the street from the tracts, and Riverfront Park, which opened in 2013 and is in the process of being expanded north to the Bridge Street Bridge, is just a block away.
The Newark Central Planning Board will hear the proposal during its meeting on Monday, May 8th at 6:30pm in the Municipal Council Chamber, located on the second floor at City Hall.
