NEWARK, NJ - Washington Park- the prestigious Newark neighborhood with long-time institutions including The Newark Museum and the Newark Public Library, new attractions such as the Riverfront Stadium entertainment complex, and millions of square feet of office space - is about to get better. The first floor of 33 Washington is about to be re-positioned and re-tenanted.
"The County of Essex recently moved out of the first floor, giving the landlord the opportunity to bring retail to this neighborhood. The neighborhood is under-served with retail and this is among the few places where retail could be located around the whole Washington Park area," says exclusive retail leasing agent Marta Person Villa of Square Foot, LLC a NJ licensed real estate broker.
"The merchandising strategy calls for the creation of several retail spaces on the first floor with new signage and awnings to make the building more consumer oriented," said Clifford M. Stein, building owner and president of Savitar Realty Advisors (Miami). The plan developed by Square Foot, LLC and Newwork, LLC of Newark includes new retail signage, awnings and a marquis entrance. New landscaping will follow, improving and activating the street around the building that sits at the southwest corner of Washington and James streets, downtown Newark.
"The building that connects the Washington Park institutional and office area to the universities. And, James Street is a beautiful residential neighborhood with scaled brownstowns, providing a 24/7 neighborhood population," says Villa.
The population of the Washington Park area is also changing. The Rutgers Business School is under construction and will open in 2009 at One Washington Park. Rutgers will occupy 11 floors in the building with a trading floor, classroom space and more. The former Rutgers Law School is slated for adaptive re-use; Rutgers is in negotiation with a developer to create student residences. The Newark Public Library is planning a $76 million renovation and expansion, and the Newark Museum has a multi-million dollar expansion plan designed by the world renowned architect Michael Graves.
Retailers are now being given the opportunity to see the potential that Newark has to offer in the Washington Park area. The Newark Museum has 130,000 patrons annually. 33 Washington had 9,000 visitors in the month of June alone since one of its major tenants is the Office of Administrative Law of NJ (the administrative court for Northern New Jersey); its regular occupancy is 3,100 office workers. Complement that with more office giants including One Washington Park, IDT, Verizon, the Veterans Administration and the buildings along north Broad Street and you are talking about pent-up retail demand from literally tens of thousands of office workers.
The project includes in excess of 15,000 SF of retail. For more information please contact Marta Person Villa, exclusive leasing agent at 1-877-RETAIL5.
