PSEG Plaza in Downtown Newark may still prominently feature the sun logo of its namesake, the Public Service Enterprise Group, but New Jersey’s largest electric and gas company no longer owns this private park in the heart of the city’s central business district.
City tax records show that Prudential Financial, which is headquartered just a stone’s throw away from the plaza, is now the owner of this property at 68-92 Park Place. NJ Parcels data confirms that the insurance company bought the plaza in April from PSEG for $10 million. Prudential was founded in Newark 143 years ago and remains one of the largest employers in Essex County.
PSEG Plaza currently hosts the Newark Downtown District’s Common Greens Farmers Market. Located by the Military Park Newark Light Rail station, the plaza sits adjacent to PSEG’s headquarters building, which is not currently owned by the utility. Before the complex was constructed, the property contained a massive streetcar hub called the Newark Public Service Terminal.
Prudential’s plans for the plaza are not yet clear and the deal was not publicized until this report. A PSEG spokesperson referred questions about the property to Prudential, which did not return our requests for comment. The financial firm has been involved in plenty of projects in the neighborhood over the last few years, including the adaptive reuse of the Hahne & Company Building and the New Jersey Bell Headquarters Building, the development of the Shoppes on Broad and the 20-story Prudential Tower, and the proposed residential building at the site of 31 Central.
