For generations of young Newarkers, 200-214 Warren Street was a place to come and attend class, but students in the years to come will instead reside on the premises and learn elsewhere in the neighborhood.
More than a century ago, a brick building was constructed on the property for use as the Warren Street Public School. The edifice subsequently served as the home of American History High School before becoming vacant, eventually ending up in the hands of the Newark Housing Authority (NHA).
In 2017, plans surfaced showing that a mixed-use development could come to this site near Wickliffe Street and Raymond Boulevard.
Then, according to property records, the parcel was sold by the NHA in 2018 for $2.2 million to Warren Street Development, LLC of Far Hills, which in turn transferred ownership of the structure at the end of 2019 to the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) for $5 million.
Despite opposition from some in the James Street Commons Historic District, NJIT tore down the old school earlier this year, with campus officials stating that damage from a 2019 fire gave them no other choice.
Today, visitors to NJIT who walk up the steps leading out of the Newark Light Rail’s Warren Street/NJIT station and look around the corner will find that construction is well underway on a new student housing complex at the site.
A massive crane towers over 200-214 Warren Street while the facade of the upcoming Warren Street Residence Hall has reached the third floor.
When finished, the eight-story building will include 548 beds, 76 parking spaces, retail space, an internet cafe, study rooms, a game room, and an outdoor terrace, according to NJIT.
The project is being developed by the university and a south Georgia-based real estate company called RISE.
RISE has described this as a $100 million initiative while NJIT officials have said that the complex is expected to open in the fall of 2022.
