Officials from New Jersey Institute of Technology and the city of Newark touted the start of the Gateway MLK redevelopment project in the University Heights neighborhood.Officials from New Jersey Institute of Technology and the city of Newark touted the start of the Gateway MLK redevelopment project in the University Heights neighborhood.



NJIT President Joel Bloom and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka joined with civic leaders on a rainy Wednesday to discuss the project’s first phase. NJIT has designated development rights to commercial developer PRC Group.



Bloom said an existing building at 240 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. contains asbestos and will be abated and dismantled in spring 2019. A new building will be constructed in that location in spring 2020 and house 99 market-rate apartment units. The project will include adding 1,300 square feet of ground floor retail space and 100 parking spaces.



“We saw an opportunity to use this building,” Bloom said. “As we hire more and younger faculty, they are much more inclined to live in this city. This is a great area – a short walk from downtown and a short walk from the train station.”



Baraka thanked Bloom and other stakeholders.



“When we see this as university apartments, it is an example of a university town expanding,” Baraka said. “Now that these schools are expanding, these universities are growing in this community, their character is getting larger and being more impactful in citizens’ lives. You see and know Newark is a college town.”

