|
Newark’s
time has come. The buzz is in the air as Newark is
clearly on its way to claiming its place as
New Jersey’s
economic jewel in the Twenty First Century. With a
new leadership team in city hall, determined leaders
in the business community and a citizenry passionate
about progress, hope is abundant in Newark.
The indicators of change are everywhere. The
municipal budget was balanced by the April deadline
for the first time in over twenty years. Landmark
ethics legislation and a determined new elected
leadership are cleaning up city hall. There has been a
precipitous drop in overall crime in Newark, with
violent crime in the city continuing to decline. In
addition to the successes of the new administration,
development of new residential, office and mixed-use
buildings are sprouting up across the city. Once a
commuter town for college students, almost every one
of the City’s 6 major colleges and universities are
building dorms, with students moving in by the
thousands. Streetscaping and beautification projects
are planned for Broad Street and surrounding
neighborhoods. New developments also include the
upcoming arena, port planning, and aggressive
marketing to lure retailers. All of this is just the
beginning.
To continue in the move towards progress and the
economic empowerment of Newark’s residents, the new
vision of the city’s administration is backed by a
detailed plan to affect key levers of change. One of
the key levers of change in Newark is port planning.
The Newark Port is already a place of great strength
as
America’s
third largest port in volume and second largest in
terms of value of goods coming into our country. Yet
this valuable New Jersey asset has not been fully
leveraged. The Administration is quickly moving to
better utilize existing space in the port area and the
ring of surrounding land. It is assembling land and
reclaiming brownfields to attract the growing interest
of distributors and other port related industry. It
will take under-utilized land and convert it into
thriving real estate, thereby producing greater
wealth, jobs and economic vibrancy. Working as a team
with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as
well as the Governor’s office of Economic Growth,
Newark
will propel port activity to a new level and drive the
region’s economy.
Newark is also significantly under-retailed. A recent
study by the Boston Consulting group showed that
annually
Newark
residents spend over half a billion dollars in retail
spending outside of the city. This does not include
the lost spending of the nearly 100,000 people who
commute to
Newark to work, the tens of thousands of students who
study in
Newark
or the thousands of people who come and visit
Newark’s
cultural institutions like the New Jersey Performing
Arts Center (NJPAC) or Newark Museum. To counteract
this, the administration has taken an active role in
pursuing retailers. As an underserved market in a
variety of retail sectors, it is key that the city
display, highlight and aggressively sell the
marketable advantages of the city. It is underserved
in categories from grocery stores and full service
restaurants, to building material and office supply
stores. Food, beverage and specialty food stores are
all in high demand. As has been seen in other urban
areas like Harlem, Newark is an undiscovered “retail
goldmine” that has hundreds of millions of dollars of
wealth to be captured by retailers who choose to
locate in the city.
Newark’s attendance at the International Conference of
Shopping Centers (ICSC) in Las Vegas this past May was
groundbreaking. It allowed the city to present the
benefits of Newark to nationwide investors and
developers at this critical juncture in Newark’s
development. By actively seeking out and attracting
the resources, capital and infrastructure the city
needs, Newark is showing it is ready to move to the
next level of economic activity and wealth creation.
The buzz from that trip out west has brought increased
interest to Newark. Step by step, people are
discovering Newark, and with the city aggressively
marketing itself and offering incentives to
businesses, it is sure to claim many a victory for the
region.
As Newark gains the interest of large retailers it is
also moving to ensure that small businesses and women
and minority owned businesses (W/MBE’s) develop in
Newark and move to locate here. Newark has the
potential to generate activity on numerous levels and
it recognizes that focusing on W/MBE’s will ensure
that its resurgence becomes a true national model of
equity and inclusion.
To further this goal of a
Newark
for everyone, the city is creating a host of
incentives and programs such as its First Source
program to ensure that local residents gain first from
the economic opportunity created in terms of jobs and
business opportunities. From its multi-million dollar
loan fund to its second chance programs for
ex-offenders, the New Administration is committed to
widening the doors of opportunity in
Newark
and empowering those who have often been left out of
New Jersey’s
growing economy. Real economic growth is not a zero
sum game, the more people who thrive economically the
more wealth that is created for us all.
To further the Administration’s goals of inclusion and
truly comprehensive redevelopment at all levels,
another critical initiative is the use of significant
tax abatements and other incentives to encourage
builders to construct both affordable and market rate
housing. In addition to tax abatements, the city also
offers a host of other programs that support these
efforts. Newark’s Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ)
benefits include zero or reduced sales taxes for the
state of NJ, one time corporate tax credit, and
subsidized unemployment insurance for new employees,
in addition to other benefits.
Safety, community engagement, arts and entertainment
are coming together to help Newark truly become a
destination city.
The Newark arena will host its first New Jersey Devils
hockey game on October 8, 2007. It will be a
potential major driver of growth, but in and of itself
will not create a sustainable economic engine. The
arena will be an economic driver and the city is
already using it to help leverage other development
and add to the growing chorus of activities in
Newark’s
downtown and neighborhoods. A host of new downtown
residential development is already underway in the
arena and NJPAC area. Eleven80 Raymond Boulevard, a
residential tower that opened in July of 2006, has
opened up an opportunity for those seeking luxury
rentals in the city. A host of other downtown
residential and college living projects are already
underway which with other development will create a
24/7 downtown area. With the Bears Baseball stadium,
NJPAC, the Prudential Center, The Newark Museum, the
Library, the historic Symphony Hall and thousands of
downtown units under construction and in the planning
stages, Newark’s downtown will soon become a center
for arts, culture and 24-hour life. This concert of
activity will have a synergistic affect that will
drive continued life, economic opportunity and energy
to the city’s redevelopment.
There is so much going on that highlights Newark’s
exciting new path towards greatness. But what is most
critical to Newark’s success is the steadily improving
quality of life for Newark’s residents. Thus,
Newark’s ultimate success is no small task. Every
step of Newark’s journey towards its great destiny
will be hard fought and dutifully earned. Yet, in our
strong state and this great Nation, we should expect
nothing less than true triumph from ourselves and this
historic city. As a concert of players including
government agencies, community leaders, retailers,
business people, students, developers, clergy, and
nonprofits work in increased harmony, Newark, New
Jersey will soon become a symphony of unparalleled
success.
|
