Planning Board OKs New Prudential Office Building

Prudential is poised to dramatically expand its footprint in the city it has called home for more than 130 years, after the Newark Central Planning Board Monday unanimously approved the insurance giant’s application to construct a 20-story office building near Military Park.

The board’s decision, following four hours of testimony from experts, was greeted rapturously by nearly everyone in the audience at Monday’s meeting of the board.

Newark Municipal Councilman Darrin Sharif, whose Central Ward would be home to the structure, quoted the Tom Cruise film “Jerry Maguire” in describing his reaction to the Prudential proposal.

“You had me at hello,” Sharif said.

“Thank God for Prudential,” said Miles Berger, a major Newark landowner whose properties include the former Hahne’s department store on Broad Street, adjacent to the site of the proposed office tower. “This is a win-win.”

The company, currently headquartered in a building further south on Broad Street that has dominated the Newark skyline for a half-century, would build the 300-foot structure on a plot of land bordered by Halsey, West Park and Broad streets during the first two phases of the project, which would both be completed in 2014. Existing buildings  -- including the S. Klein store, well-known to Newarkers for its iconic blue sign --  would be demolished, although some buildings would remain for the time being and house street-level retail. The company would also build a temporary surface parking lot.

Eventually, Prudential would build a second, slightly larger building as well as parking decks for cars belonging to hundreds of additional Prudential employees. The complex would also include plazas, atriums connecting the complex's buildigs as well as 20,000 square feet of retail space.

Prudential Monday only sought permission for the first two phases of the project, which include the first building and the temporary parking lot. Attorney Frank Giantomasi of Newark law firm Genova Burns Giantomasi and Webster, who represented Prudential, said no date has yet been set for the start of the project’s phase three, the construction of the second building.

The area where Prudential would build now contains a large parking lot and vacant buildings. It was declared a blighted area a decade ago by the city, opening the door for redevelopment. Supporters Monday said the addition of the Prudential complex would provide a much-needed boost to an especially desolate part of the downtown.

“This project will serve as a catalyst for new development,” said Deputy Mayor Adam Zipkin.

Giantomasi and others also noted that Prudential will not seek a tax abatement, a common practice among developers building new structures in the city. Prudential -- which was designated the redevelopment agent of the site by the Newark Municipal Council in June -- also paid the full assessed value for the lots it purchased and will take over the environmental cleanup of a building it bought from the city, Giantomasi said. 

Not everyone approved of the board’s decision Monday. Thomas Carroll, an attorney for Gateway Partners, another major commercial presence downtown, said the Prudential application was rushed and that he had not had a chance to review all the material submitted by the nearly half-dozen experts who testified Monday.

“We can pretend the application has been on file since July, but the fact is a whole slew of documents were filed August 3rd,” Carroll said, adding that Gateway was not necessarily opposed to the project.

Carroll’s request for a 30-day continuance was denied by the board after Giantomasi insisted the completed application had been available for several weeks.

Paul Josephson, another attorney representing Gateway, declined to say whether the company plans to appeal the board’s decision.