The price tag for the streetscape project has been placed at$17.5 million. The money is coming from a partnership of the NewJersey EDA, which has approved the issuance of $10 million inbonds, and the Newark Downtown District, a self-improvementdistrict made up of local businesses. Debt service on the bondswill be paid for by the NDD through a special assessment onDowntown commercial properties. The remainder of the funding iscoming from commitments by the Newark Urban Enterprise Zone, theNDD, the City of Newark and PSE&G.

"We are particularly thrilled that we were able to finance thisproject through mostly private resources, and at minimal cost tothe citizens of Newark," says Mayor Cory Booker in astatement."

"No significant, wide-scale streetscape project has taken placein downtown Newark in more than a generation," says AnthonyMcMillan, executive director of NDD. "With the addition ofPrudential Center and the improved public realm, there will be morereasons than ever for people to come to Newark."