New Brunswick Rising

[Nexis4Jersey]

Well Newark is dead in my opinion , nothing in the format of skyscrapers will come out of that city for a long time. Newark , Elizabeth , and Harrison have height restrictions due to EWR. So New Brunswick , Jersey City and Paterson are the only cities in the state in my opinion that will continue to have high rise booms.....or will have high rise booms. What about New Brunswick being half of what JC is?

[ASchwarz]

Hackensack is another city that would probably see more highrises than New Brunswick. Hackensack is just a few miles west of Manhattan, has an upgraded train line (and probably eventually light rail), and already has quite a few residential highrises.

I definitely don't think Newark is dead. Newark is in better shape than some other NJ cities, and its core is slowly revitalizing. They will get some highrise residential around the performing arts center.

But the biggest concentration of new highrise construction in NJ over the next 20 years will almost certainly be concentrated from Fort Lee to Bayonne, along or near the Hudson. This is pretty much common sense, IMO, because the Gold Coast is essentially an extension of Manhattan.

[mariab]

A Marina would be nice , that river is dead....it could use some boat traffic. Screw the Environmentalists.....they should shut up for a moment. Just Imagine what a Marina could do to NB? The only problem is the North Jersey Coast line bridge doesn't open much... As for the Light Rail , it would be a Tram - Train......It would run in the middle of Easton Avenue in Light Rail format , then turn into a Streetcar and split in New Brunswick , the proposes for after NB have it acting like a train and built along old PRR ROW to South Amboy. The Proposed New Brunswick Light Rail line would connect to at least 10 bus lines , and the Raritan Valley line , West Trenton , Northeast Corridor , MOM lines , and North Jersey Coast line , so it would act like a connector and also serve the busy hwy 18 corridor. On a side note do think NB will become the Next Jersey City in terms of Skylines later this decade?

Not later this decade. Maybe by 2025, but then again, as NB grows, so does JC & every other city. But in NB as far as downtown goes, there's nowhere to go but up. The Riverview condos replaced the projects, so those are staying, the townhomes built throughout the city for the people from the projects aren't going anywhere.The whole city including outskirts is 4.5 square miles. Check out this quick NB profile: http://www.idcide.com/citydata/nj/new-brunswick.htm

They're going to have to start knocking down a lot of old properties. There's one at the NW corner of the courthouse at Kirkpatrick & Paterson Sts that is filled inside & out with plants of all kinds. I was driving past one day when I thought I saw fake birds inside. Then they moved! NB could use a quarter of that block after the owner passes or vacates & sells. Just one example.

JC is lucky not only in terms of land area but its close proximity to that somewhat exciting city across the water . Found an interesting profile as I was looking up stats on JC, too. http://www.idcide.com/citydata/nj/jersey-city.htm

The logistics of that light rail (although I like the connector part) on Easton Ave has me uneasy. There are no shoulders, & both directions get heavy car traffic during morn & eve rush. Light rail would cut way into that, not to mention those 2 blind hills between Foxwoods Rd & Franklin Blvd.

[tbal]

There isn't nearly enough job density in New Brunswick to support residential highrise construction like Jersey City has seen. There also isn't a high-capacity rapid transit system in New Brunswick (such as the PATH system that passes through Jersey City). These are critical elements that draw developers to build high-density housing. Until at least one of these happens, you won't see skyscrapers built in New Brunswick to the extent that you see them built in Newark and Jersey City.

btw Nexis - you're forgetting about the pending construction of a 44-story tower that may begin in a few months in Newark. This is almost twice the height of the Gateway tower which is the only highrise building currently under construction in New Brunswick. With the infrastructure that Newark has, the skyrocketing cost of living in Jersey City and Hoboken, and the transformation that is rapidly taking shape around the Pru Center (and other parts of Downtown), I think Newark is in a good position to grab developers' interest over the next decade (also keep in mind that we have 16+ million square feet of new office space coming online within the next five years at the WTC, and a ride from Newark to the WTC on the PATH will be one of the shortest possible commutes to the jobs there).

And mariab - I agree with you about the premise of running a lightrail line down Easton Ave. I doubt its doable (given the behavior of drunken college students crossing that street late at night lol), but they would definitely have to convert Easton to a one-way street if they were to go ahead with the idea. I always pictured the lightrail running down George Street though; when I was at Rutgers the proposition of using George Street (instead of College Ave) as a bus traffic route (with a new bus hub somewhere along George) seemed like a step toward a lightrail line; I'm not sure if this idea is still being floated, but a few weeks ago I noticed that new curbing/sidewalks were installed by the Rutgers Student Center/College Ave Gym so it doesn't look like College Ave will become a pedestrian plaza anytime soon.

[66nexus]

Well Newark is dead in my opinion , nothing in the format of skyscrapers will come out of that city for a long time. Newark , Elizabeth , and Harrison have height restrictions due to EWR. So New Brunswick , Jersey City and Paterson are the only cities in the state in my opinion that will continue to have high rise booms.....or will have high rise booms. What about New Brunswick being half of what JC is?

You know, I've often wondered about Newark's supposed height limitations and I've asked around, no one seems to know anything about it (combined w/ the fact that Grant was going to build a tower where the Rock currently is that was slated to be the tallest).

I think Newark's zoning laws are outdated, and some of them were updated after the arena was completed. That doesn't mean one should expect a Goldman Sachs or anything, but something taller than 744/1180 is entirely plausible.

I don't think Paterson is going to get any significant concentrations of tall buildings soon. NB maybe, but then 'tall' becomes a relative term.

PS: I think Edison, Woodbridge, Piscataway, NB should merge w/ NB as the obvious downtown.

[Marv95]

You know, I've often wondered about Newark's supposed height limitations and I've asked around, no one seems to know anything about it (combined w/ the fact that Grant was going to build a tower where the Rock currently is that was slated to be the tallest).

I think Newark's zoning laws are outdated, and some of them were updated after the arena was completed. That doesn't mean one should expect a Goldman Sachs or anything, but something taller than 744/1180 is entirely plausible.

Like DC, the airport is close by. Well, close enough. They ain't getting anything higher than 50 stories/the planned One Theatre Square.

But I didn't realize the new Gateway tower would be "small".

[Newarkguy]

There are no height restrictions (that I heard of) in downtown Newark. Except along the path of EWR's twin north/south runways at extreme eastern end of the east ward/Ironbound over the factories And new import/export auto lots. And the south end of Newark's Weequahic section along the Hillside border. where the southwest runway approach pases over. Downtown Newark is almost 3 miles northwest of EWR. However NB has a head start over Newark in new res high rises already.

[66nexus]

Like DC, the airport is close by. Well, close enough. They ain't getting anything higher than 50 stories/the planned One Theatre Square.

But I didn't realize the new Gateway tower would be "small".

I think that would be cool considering the GS is 42 stories.

It would be nice if the Gateway building was a little taller, but since it won't have a height challenge in the city it'll look taller and loom over the city. (The J&J hq could be seen for miles)

There are no height restrictions (that I heard of) in downtown Newark. Except along the path of EWR's twin north/south runways at extreme eastern end of the east ward/Ironbound over the factories And new import/export auto lots. And the south end of Newark's Weequahic section along the Hillside border. where the southwest runway approach pases over. Downtown Newark is almost 3 miles northwest of EWR. However NB has a head start over Newark in new res high rises already.

True as downtown is not directly in the flight path.

As far as NB, like JC its got a lot of new construction, but space isn't its strong suit and could get completely built out rather quickly.

[tbal]

The only new construction in NB right now is the Gateway tower, which, to get construction started, took over $36 million in tax credits ($27.1 million in NJ Transit village incentives and another $19 million in federal incentives) and significant leasing commitments from Rutgers University. Keep in mind it is being built by a quasi- government agency (DEVCO) too. The tower portion of the complex was reduced from 24 floors to 16 (33%) in the final design.

Also, the Stem Cell Institute is on indefinite hold, even though the city "broke ground" on it several years ago.

I will give NB this though: due to the injection of student housing in the center of Downtown (Rockoff Hall), George Street has definitely seen a significant turnaround with alot of fine restaurants/bars opening up in the past few years.

[Newarkguy]

So much for 30 stories. It would be embarrassing to Newark if tiny NB had a taller tower than Newark!

[JCMAN320]

Its not embarassing enough that Jersey City has the tallest buildings in NJ. Just kidding you bro.

[66nexus]

Nah JC's plenty big enough having those size towers lol

[Newarkguy]

Its not embarassing enough that Jersey City has the tallest buildings in NJ. Just kidding you bro.

Funny. Only in New Jersey will you find America's 3rd oldest major City, Newark, to also be the second smallest in land area. Jersey city is the smallest major US city in land area. Next to America's largest Metropolis. At least both cities are larger than Buffalo,NY. Buffalo went from 510,000 in the 1950's to 230,000 today!!

[mariab]

And mariab - I agree with you about the premise of running a lightrail line down Easton Ave. I doubt its doable (given the behavior of drunken college students crossing that street late at night lol), but they would definitely have to convert Easton to a one-way street if they were to go ahead with the idea. I always pictured the lightrail running down George Street though; when I was at Rutgers the proposition of using George Street (instead of College Ave) as a bus traffic route (with a new bus hub somewhere along George) seemed like a step toward a lightrail line; I'm not sure if this idea is still being floated, but a few weeks ago I noticed that new curbing/sidewalks were installed by the Rutgers Student Center/College Ave Gym so it doesn't look like College Ave will become a pedestrian plaza anytime soon.

Holy smokes, not even George or Albany are one-ways. All the merchants would rise up & veto it. Where would the opposite way run? College Ave? I see lots of buses on George St. so that's really a start for a light rail, but they still must allow car traffic. Too much business from theatre/restaurant district people.

[66nexus]

Funny. Only in New Jersey will you find America's 3rd oldest major City, Newark, to also be the second smallest in land area. Jersey city is the smallest major US city in land area. Next to America's largest Metropolis. At least both cities are larger than Buffalo,NY. Buffalo went from 510,000 in the 1950's to 230,000 today!!

Did it shrink to 230k already? Last est. I thought was around 270k or so, but it was still dropping. I didn't know it went that far though