Construction Starts on $92M Student Housing Project

UMDNJ officials have put a $92.3-million price tag on the project, which will rise 14 stories at Norfolk and W. Market streets in this city's University Heights section. The top nine floors containing the residential units and an exterior court area will sit on top of a five-story parking garage that will connect to an existing parking facility. The ground floor will also contain a campus fitness center and several retail shops.

"The UMDNJ has its largest campus in Newark, and we are committed to investing resources in its future as a place to work, learn and live," says Dr. John Petillo, interim president of the institution. "This is a visible commitment. It is what's right for this institution, and for this city." Petillo is also a candidate for the permanent position as head of the institution.

The developer of the project is University Housing Associates, which is part of the New Brunswick Development Corp., New Brunswick. The latter city is the site of another major UMDNJ campus. The project is being financed by a master lease transaction between the university and the developer.

Architects for the complex are Kitchen and Associates, Architectural Design and Timonth Haahs and Associates. The construction manager is Joseph Jingoli and Son. Construction is scheduled to be completed in August 2006.

The housing complex is the latest in a series of projects in UMDNJ's ongoing capital construction and renovation program at its local campus. Currently under construction are the $103-million University Cancer Institute, slated to open in June 2006; the $26-million Oral Health Pavilion; and a new $60-million ambulatory care center scheduled to open in June 2005. And within the last few years the institution opened the $78-million International Center for Public Health and a $37-million behavioral health sciences building.