Tim Lizura, former head of the state Economic Development Authority, will lead NJPAC's real estate development, signaling the art center's desire to move forward on several projects adjacent to the theater. (Yasmeen Fahmy | NJPAC)

By Mark Di Ionno | NJ Advance Media

Right from the start, the operative word for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center was “center.”

There was a reason it was not called a “theater” or “concert hall.”

“Governor (Tom) Kean believed the arts center should be the driver of what was next for Newark,” said John Schreiber, NJPAC’s CEO. “As the center was planned, the acreage around it was bought for future development, to anchor the city’s revitalization.”

That was the long-range vision of Kean, former NJPAC CEO Lawrence Goldman, former Mayor Sharpe James, and community partners like former Prudential CEO Art Ryan and the late Star-Ledger Editor Mort Pye.

That future began in late 2016 with the ground breaking of One Theater Square, in the year before NJPAC's 20th anniversary. The 22-story luxury apartment building on NJPAC land was the second piece in the "center" puzzle.

Don't Edit

The NJPAC was always planned as the center of Newark's revitalization. (Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

Aristide Economopoulos

On Monday, NJPAC will announce the hiring of a new puzzle maker.

Tim Lizura, most recently the president of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, will take over the business of development for NJPAC.

He will be officially announced as the senior vice president of real estate and capital projects, a newly created position.

For Lizura, it’s a homecoming of sorts. He did his undergraduate and MBA work at Rutgers-Newark, and one of his first jobs was as project accountant during the early part of NJPAC construction.

Don't Edit

Sen.Tom Kean Jr. talks with his father former Gov. Tom Kean, right, and former acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco during Gov. Kean's 80th birthday party at NJPAC in 2015. (Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

From there, Lizura has had a hand in almost every major public-private partnership development in New Jersey for the past 22 years, including the creation of the Biotech Technology Center in North Brunswick, an incubator for small company research and development with 300,000 square-feet of state-of-the-art laboratories.

The only break he took from the state EDA was to work for the Port Authority ahead of the construction of One World Trade Center and created its nearly $3 billion financing plan. He also negotiated with JP Morgan Chase to develop a $2 billion trading floor operation at 5 World Trade Center, but the economic downturn of 2007 killed the deal.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, Lizura oversaw the distribution of hundreds of millions in small business and community development grants, including heat and power upgrades at a number of hospitals and water treatment plants.

Don't Edit

NJPAC as seen from the 22-second floor of One Theater Square, the first building developed by the arts center. (Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com) NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Lizura put together deals for the new Camden Amphitheater and waterfront, for repurposing Fort Monmouth, for the new Greystone Psychiatric Hospital, for improving the Liberty Science Center, and on and on. Now another landmark name will land on his resume.

“My mentor was (the late) Al Koeppe,” Lizura said, referring to the civic giant who was CEO of PSE&G, a two-time chairman of the state EDA and founder of the Newark Alliance, which is dedicated to the revitalization of Newark.

“I’d like to carry that torch,” he said. “We are standing on the shoulders of giants.”

The new giants in Newark are Audible and Panasonic. Mars Wrigley Confectionary is coming.

Don't Edit

Former NJPAC CEO Lawrence Goldman, right, with current CEO John Schreiber during the center's 20th Anniversary celebration last year. Goldman was on board with Gov. Tom Kean's vision of NJPAC from the start. (Aristide Economonopolous | NJ Advance Media for nj.com)

There are residential giants, too. Luxury and market rate housing is on an upswing. The 245 units at One Theater Square are renting quickly – “We expect full occupancy by spring,” Schreiber said – the Hayne & Co. building is full leased, the 168-unit “Shaq Tower” will open soon, and a 350-unit building also developed by Shaquille O’Neill and Wasseem Boraie is on the drawing board.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Korean Dance Team at the Newark School of the Arts 50th Anniversary at NJPAC earlier this year. (Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for nj.com)

All are walking distance from NJPAC. Most can be seen from its upper-floor windows. Not only is NJPAC the center. It is the anchor.

Schreiber said NJPAC is increasingly being used for civic engagement. It hosted gubernatorial debates in the last election and the recent installation of the new episcopal bishop of the Newark Diocese, Carlye J. Hughes.

Don't Edit

Carlyle J. Hughes, right, is consecrated as the bishop of the Episcopalian Newark diocese on last month, part of NJPAC's civic outreach into the community. Outgoing Bishop Mark Wentworth is on the left. (Michael Downey)

“We’re not going anywhere,” Schreiber said. “We are here to help create a 24/7, live, work and play downtown, a useful and productive downtown.”

NJPAC still has 6 ½ acres to develop, and Lizura is being brought in to get it done, Schreiber said.

“We realized we needed an expert to work with the people who got us here,” Schreiber said, referring to developers, civic leaders and government officials. “Tim is a rare person in real estate in that he has no enemies.”

Don't Edit

One Theater Square , the new 22-story residential tower rises across Center Street from NJPAC. (Steve Hockstein | For NJ Advance Media)

The vision for that land includes a four-star hotel and conference center, low-rise residential and mixed-use buildings, and places dedicated to some form of arts education.

For former Gov. Kean, 83, this is all a vision come to fruition. He was an Essex County assemblyman after the Newark riots and was determined to help the city make a comeback.

“Nobody believed it could happen and now it’s coming to pass,” he said. “I’m lucky. Most people don’t live long enough to see these kind of dreams come true.”

Don't Edit

NJPAC President and CEO John Schreiber. (Alexandra Pais | For NJ Advance Media)

Don't Edit

READ MORE MARK Di IONNO

A look inside the life of a homicide detective

As nation prepares for 250th birthday, will New Jersey be left out of party?

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MarkDiIonno. Find NJ.com on Facebook.