The City of Newark is moving forward with plans to develop a new operations facility in the East Ward.

A large new municipal complex with five buildings is planned for 52-90 Amsterdam Street in an industrial section of the Ironbound neighborhood just east of Routes 1 and 9. According to City records, there would be two one-story motor vehicle storage buildings, one of which would include a mezzanine, a one-story motor vehicle repair garage, a four-story parking deck with 227 spaces, and a seven-story office building. There garages would provide washing, fueling, and repairs for City vehicles.

Renderings posted by Downtown Newark-based architecture firm Comito Associates, PC show that the complex would stretch all the way from Magazine Street to Wilson Avenue, and would include lockers, a cafeteria, a body and welding shop, a fire engine repair shop, a fuel station, a masonry, carpentry, and paint shop, a truck wash, storage for City-owned vehicles like dump trucks and salt spreaders, storage for the Newark Police Department’s confiscated vehicles, and administrative facilities for the Department of Neighborhood and Recreation Services and the Department of Water and Sewer Utilities.

The property has a long environmental history, and was previously contaminated because of dye manufacturing on the premises for several decades by companies like Crompton Colors, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The lot is owned by 52 Amsterdam Newark, LLC, which is registered out of the Watchung, Somerset County house owned by Victor Santos, according to NJ Parcels records. The Newark Municipal Council approved plans in 2016 for the City to lease the property for 25 years for up to $4,725,000 for the first year and up to $7,599,866 by the 25th year.

This sort of facility is not a permitted use in the zone, so currently, 52 Amsterdam Newark, LLC is seeking Preliminary and Final Site Plan Approval with nearly 20 variances, including for lot coverage, building height, insufficient and excessive illumination, and garbage storage screening.

The Newark Zoning Board of Adjustment will hear the proposal during a special public meeting this Thursday, June 15th at 7:00pm at City Hall.