Tamara Remedios lives in a historic row house on MLK Boulevard and has seen the renovation at St. Michael’s Hospital drag on for the past seven years.
The hospital is not only one of the most well-known landmarks in Newark’s University Heights, but it is also a sign of the neighborhood’s slow but steady transformation. Despite the halted progress, fortunately, a new proposal recently came before the Planning Board that could give the project new life.
“For the last few years, I’ve been going through the hardship of watching this project start and stop,” Remedios said.
When the hospital’s renovation was initially announced seven years ago, it was spearheaded by a joint venture that included the Newark firm The Hanini Group. But since February of this year, a new owner, Ellavoz Impact Capital, has taken on the task of its completion.
One of the major changes is scrapping plans to build a glassblowing school there called GlassRoots, which has since moved to a new home on Treat Place. The ground floor of the building will still have commercial space for an unknown tenant. The remaining floors will accommodate 42 residential units.
Gabriel Canizo, a professor at NJIT, hopes to start a trend of university professors living in University Heights. Campus security makes the neighbor feels safe, and its proximity to Halsey Street shops and Broad Street Station makes it a perfect fit for Canizo’s lifestyle.
Of course, the chance to own a late 19th-century row house, which is part of the James Street Historic District, is the icing on the cake. “We’re slowly fixing it up a little bit at a time,” said Canizo, who said his historic home still has the original staircase, mouldings, and a pocket door with stained glass. “During the pandemic, this house went up for sale and I thought it was a good investment.”
The one thing that Canizo, who studied design at NJIT, would like to see in the neighborhood is more long-term residents moving there. That’s what the renovation at St. Michael’s Hospital promises.
The hospital was originally built in 1871, but an expansion in 1888 left behind the building we see today. The building closed in 2016, though the hospital remains open in an adjacent complex.
The conversion of historic buildings can pose challenges to architects in designing the interior spaces. The St. Michael’s Hospital project was no different, according to architect Brian Compertore, associate principal at CTS Group.
“There are a lot of unconventional spaces in this building,” Compertore said. “It was challenging to make everything fit and work.”
The payoff is that architects can carve out unusual spaces within these historic buildings. One of these places was the hospital’s two-story chapel, which will become a library.
The renovation at St. Michael’s Hospital is hopefully a weather vane for the surrounding University Heights. Other promised improvements for MLK Boulevard, including NJIT’s Gateway project, have stalled in similar fashion.
In 2018, NJIT held a ground-breaking ceremony for their new residential development on the site of the old Maltbie Chemical Factory, located at 240 MLK Boulevard, but nothing has been done at the site since.
At the 2018 ceremony, NJIT’s former president, Dr. Joel Bloom, even apologized for the lack of progress. “Let me start with an apology for this building,” said Bloom, who retired in 2022. “It’s up about 10 years longer than it should be.”
“It doesn’t do anything to enhance this developing area of University Heights,” he continued.
But seven years later, there hasn’t been any movement on this front. Meanwhile, NJIT recently unveiled plans for a new dormitory called Oak Hall, which many locals appreciated as the university slowly transforms itself from a commuter school into a place where students want to live. Perhaps the real test of the city’s progress is whether, like Canizo, they will remain in Newark after graduation.
“I was always a believer that Newark is up and coming,” Canizo said. “I’m excited to see the neighborhood grow and the new beginning.”
