The celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson plans to open a restaurant in Newark as part of the redevelopment of the historic Hahne’s department store, which also includes the city’s first Whole Foods supermarket.

The restaurant, whose name and concept are still being determined, will be the latest partnership between Mr. Samuelsson and developer Ron Moelis, who became friends in Harlem over a shared vision of the way food can be used to transform a community.

Food is “where we can make a difference,” said Mr. Moelis, chief executive and founding partner of L+M, a real-estate development company that frequently works in low-income areas.

Its initiatives have ranged from incorporating an urban farm and weekly farmers market into the redevelopment of the Marcus Garvey apartments in Brownsville, Brooklyn, to creating a “food hub” in New Orleans in partnership with Tulane University that includes a teaching kitchen for medical students, a Whole Foods market and culinary training for at-risk youth. The company is leading the Newark project along with Prudential.

Mr. Samuelsson, who operates Red Rooster in Harlem, views restaurants as a vehicle for social change, he said. “Red Rooster is something I did because I deeply believe in the idea that good food should not just be in certain blocks in Manhattan.”