Spotlight On Newark: Real Estate Community is Bullish on Booker & Newark

New Jersey Business, Aug 2007 by Birritteri, Anthony

"The arena has attracted a promoter who inks worldwide deals with the hottest entertainers and celebrities," Zangari says. AEG owns or controls top name sports and entertainment centers around the country. So when it asks, for example, Sting or U2 to play its venues, "The Rock" will be part of the tour stop. "There is no question about that," says Zangari.

Prudential Financial is paying the Devils $105.3 million over the next 20 years to place its moniker on the arena. Commenting on the arena's impact on the city, Prudential Chairman and CEO Arthur Ryan says, "We believe the Prudential Center will help improve Newark's status as a cultural destination - building on the work done by the Newark Museum, NJPAC and other organizations. Economic growth, in the form of new businesses and jobs, should follow."

David T. Gockel, president of Langan Engineering & Environmental Services, the company that helped design the foundation for the $375-million arena, says the development opportunities in New-ark have substantially improved over years past. This is due to "New Jersey's regulatory environment, which has clearly facilitated redevelopment of this urban core area. Downtown Newark is thriving with development activity."

Across the Passaic River, another sports facility/commercial development is taking shape that--combined with NJPAC, the Devils Arena and Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium--is creating one of the greatest sports and entertaining districts in the New York, metropolitan region. The project is the $1-billion Harrison Metro-Centre and its $200-million, 25,000 seat Red Bull Park stadium, future home of the Red Bull soccer team.

The Advance Realty Group is planning to develop three million square feet of Class A office space, 300,000 square feet of retail space and 3,500 residential units at the Harrison site. Phase 1, being built concurrently with the soccer stadium, will include 190,000 square feet of office space, 160,000 square feet of retail space, 350 for-sale residential housing units and 450 rental units.

The 25,000-seat soccer stadium will also be managed by AEG. AEG is part owner of the stadium with Red Bull GmbH. According to Nick Sakiewicz, "The triangle being created by Red Bull Stadium, the Devils Arena and NJPAC, three world class sports and entertainment venues, is something I have never seen. The venues will hold a combined 550 events on an annual basis. That is going to bring more than 3 million people a year into this marketplace. It's like a freight train coming."

According to Peter Cocoziello, president of Advance Realty, the Harrison MetroCentre will augment what is happening in New-ark. People will migrate from the soccer stadium into the Ironbound and to NJPAC and the Devils Arena.

Discussing the Ironbound, Steven T. Yglesias, president of the Ironbound Business Improvement District (IBID), is impressed by the level of interest and involvement of the Booker administration regarding community development issues. "The IBID has received strong support from the city for its streetscape revitalization plan for the Ironbound's Ferry Street corridor," he says. "This project, designed to enhance one of Newark's most popular cultural tourism destinations and a thriving center of small business activity, will also contribute significantly to the attractiveness and overall appeal of the nearby Prudential Arena."