Construction is currently underway to convert the four-story building at 118-126 Green Street, at the northeast corner of New Jersey Railroad Avenue in the Ironbound neighborhood of Newark’s East Ward, into the five-story Textile Lofts development. A rendering of how the project is slated to look upon completion was posted by East Ward Councilman Augusto Amador. When completed, Textile Lofts will include 64 residential loft-style units, commercial space on the ground floor, a laundromat, and parking.
Plans for a one-story addition to the building with fiber cement board siding and for the development to include a halo-lit sign reading Textile Lofts were approved with conditions in June 2015 by the Newark Landmarks and Historic Preservation Commission. The Newark Central Planning Board approved the project’s amended and final site plan with variances for maximum lot coverage, insufficient rear yard setback, maximum impervious coverage, excessive signage, and primary street entrance location during a meeting back in July 2015 with conditions.
The project is being developed by 95-111 Railroad Avenue, LLC, Inglese Architecture and Engineering of East Rutherford, Bergen County, and J&L Companies, a Roseland-based corporation that owns several surface parking lots in Downtown Newark and the Ironbound.
J&L, described by Inglese as “a company whose commitment to Newark is second to none” posted that as of December, interior demolition for the project was nearly complete, and that “many of the building’s original brick facades and wood beams will be restored to their industrial glory”. Open joist wood floor trusses were installed, according to the company’s Instagram account, and there are plans to refurbish a factory switchboard from inside the historic structure to use as industrial interior decor.
In recent years, the building, which sits across the street from railroad tracks used by PATH, NJ Transit, and Amtrak, has been known as the East Ward Industrial Complex, and has been used by the Love and Light Spiritist Center and for commercial purposes by businesses like Definitive Pro Sound. The site was once home to the Gould & Eberhardt Iron Works. It is within walking distance of Newark Penn Station, the Prudential Center, and the Ferry Street business district.
