Oculus - Fall 2015 - (Page 34) ©TRichard Meier & Partners feature It Takes a Village A unique public-private venture looks to reinvent Newark B Y J A N E T A DA M S S TRO N G N ewark is the largest city in New Jersey, just 20 minutes by train to Manhattan. A major Northeast transit hub, it also has one of the busiest airports in the country and the biggest container port on the East Coast. Downtown is headquarters to leading corporations, notably Prudential and Panasonic, and home to six colleges/universities, the state's largest museum, important research libraries, a symphony hall and new performing arts center, and an 18,000-seat arena. In its 1920s-1940s heyday, Newark was a bustling entertainment and commercial center, drawing shoppers to fashionable department stores. An extensive highway system facilitated regional access but destroyed neighborhoods and helped drain the post-war city to the suburbs. Ravaged in 1967 by riots, "white flight," debilitating unemployment, poverty, and crime, the once-vibrant city became a place to avoid. But that was then. "Given Newark's incredible assets, I couldn't understand the devaluation of its central business district," explains Ron Beit, founder and CEO of RBH Group developers and the leading force behind Teachers Village. Beit discovered Newark in law school while managing a commercial building in the South 34 Oculus Fall 2015 Ward. From the roof he could see the derelict city center, "a donut hole" of empty buildings and parking lots surrounded by still-viable institutions and businesses. He began acquiring land in 2005, touring downtown with billionaire-investor Nicholas Berggruen who, like Beit, immediately understood the potential and told him, "Buy all of it." At roughly $20 per square foot (compared to $400-600 per square foot in Manhattan), they ended up with 79 parcels - 15 million square feet of development capacity. Richard Meier, FAIA, who had previously worked with Berggruen, master planned the full 23-acre area. Meier grew up in Maplewood, NJ, but was born in Newark. All his grandparents lived there, and Meier himself worked downtown in an architect's office while in high school. But before 2008, he had not visited Newark in decades. RBH's assemblage of so many contiguous properties gave rise to a grand plan that could reinvent downtown and invigorate the surrounding city for generations to come. Envisioned are low- and mid-rise residential, commercial, and mixed-use buildings, and a cluster of towers twice the height of the 35-story buildings that currently shape the skyline. Home Game: Winning with Housing Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Oculus - Fall 2015 First Words Letter From the President Letter From the Editor Center for Architecture One Block Over Opener: Affordability: Many Paths to a Solution Housing for the 99% Tower Power An Active Market for Passive Ahead of the Class It Takes a Village Support System, Modular Style From Learning to Living The DIY Approach to Housing In Print 118-Year Watch Last Words Index to Advertisers Oculus - Fall 2015 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0317 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0217 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0117 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0416 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0316 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0216 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0116 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0415 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0315 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0215 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0115 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0414 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0314 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0214 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0114 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0413 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0313 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/ARCQ/ARCQ0213 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0113 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0412 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0312 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0212 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0112 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0411 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0311 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0211 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/naylor/ARCQ0111 http://www.nxtbookMEDIA.com
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