The 600,000-sf building and a companion 550-car parking garage carry an estimated price tag of $125 million, according to Christopher Paladino, Devco's president. If approved by this city's council, planning board and redevelopment agency, it would rise on a 1.3-acre site at the corner of Somerset Street and Easton Avenue. Devco officials also say they expect to designate a developer for the building within the next 60 days, but declined to identify possible candidates.
The mixed-use building is actually part of a larger plan by Rutgers University to revamp its main campus here and would function as a gateway to the campus. Rutgers itself would be the major tenant of the building, with its lower several floors utilized as the university's visitor's center and bookstore, and as offices for the Rutgers Club and Rutgers University Press, according to Paladino. Additional office and retail space would be available for non-university tenants and the plan also calls for 200 market-rate residential condos on the upper floors.
The university's plans to overhaul its main campus are less distinct, although the first step would be to close College Avenue, the main thoroughfare through the campus, to vehicular traffic and turn it into a mile-long landscaped plaza. Tentative plans call for a new academic building, new university housing and dining facilities and a new campus bus center flanking the plaza. University officials have yet to release a time line or say how much the campus revamp will cost.
According to Paladino, Gateway Center, as the building is temporarily being called, would be owned by Devco. The parking garage would be owned by the New Brunswick Parking Authority.
The project also stands to gain substantial assistance from the state. For one thing, as reported by GlobeSt.com, this city recently received "transit village" designation from the state, a program designed to encourage mixed-use development around New Jersey's busiest transportation hubs. The new tower itself would be located just behind this city's train station, a major stop for NJ Transit and Amtrak service.
The overall project is also the second recent major development involving Rutgers. In late December, university officials announced plans to develop a $100-million mixed-use town center on a 44-acre site adjacent to its Livingston College campus just across the Raritan River in Piscataway.
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