Cities Pledge Redevelopment Partnership

The occasion was the next breakfast meeting in the RBP's ongoing Newark Insiders Forum series, and the emphasis was to play down any notion of a rivalry. "I hope the two redevelopment projects can build on each other," Kauffman told the group.

And while Newark dwarfs the 1.2-square-mile, 14,000-population Harrison, the latter's project is much more ambitious. Thomas S. Michnewicz, SVP of the Advance Realty Group, lead developer of the Harrison project, laid out plans for 2.5 million sf of offices, one million sf of retail, 3,500 residences, a parking garage and a new 25,000-seat stadium for pro soccer's MetroStars.

Michnewicz characterized the redevelopment as "truly urban. This will not be a suburban project in an urban setting. I believe that this will be a model for the State of New Jersey and its ongoing growth management plan."

In contrast, Newark's 2.2-mile long waterfront redevelopment "will only have five or six buildings," according to the city deputy mayor for economic development, Alfred L. Faiella. "It will mostly be open space," he said of the public/private effort, which will be commercially anchored by the FBI's new regional headquarters, nearing completion.

"The main goal is to extend the city to the water's edge," explained Stanton Eckstut, principal of Ehrenkrantz, Eckstut & Kuhn, the architectural firm that did the overall site plan. "We want to blur the distinction between downtown and the river's edge. We don't want a massive commercial/entertainment project that would draw energy from downtown. We want something that will be an extension of downtown. Newark has done more waterfront planning than any city in the country."

Eckstut also urged officials to address "the importance of what's going on, on the water, not just on the waterfront. Whether it's pleasure boating, rowing, a yacht club, events and festivals, we need to get the cities, counties and the state to work together on this."

One discordant note was sounded by Lawrence Goldman, president of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), which sits just across busy Route 21 (McCarter Highway) from Newark's redevelopment site. Speaking from the floor, Goldman lauded Harrison officials for their planning efforts, but chided Newark officials for theirs.

"As far as I'm concerned, this is only a start for Newark in terms of planning," Goldman said, asserting that planning efforts over the past two decades have been ineffectual or even misguided. In particular, Goldman expressed concerns over the widening of Route 21, a project designed "to carry trucks through Newark without stopping. But what's going to be done about getting people from downtown, across a widened Route 21 to the waterfront?" he asked, challenging city officials to come up with some solutions.