In Newark, tensions rise around $800 million high-rise development of 1,400 apartments

A large 2.5 acre lot in the heart of Newark, New Jersey’s burgeoning Ironbound section is poised to become home to 1,400 new apartments in the next few years.

The proposal by Brooklyn-based developers Chess Builders LLC is awaiting approval from city officials and outlines to build two 26-floor and two 30-floor towers on the lot, which has stood vacant for 20 years. They also plan to construct an adjacent parking garage that could fit more than 600 vehicles. The developers purchased the land in 2023 from the proprietors of Iberia Restaurant, a beloved Portuguese dining establishment that was located next to the lot and closed its doors that same year.

Under the city’s inclusionary zoning rules, the buildings would have about 280 affordably priced units for low- and middle-income people. In Newark, that means these apartments would be available to people making between about $40,000 and $120,000.

Local officials, including Mayor Ras Baraka and Councilmember Michael Silva, are in full support of the plan to develop the land. But the proposal still needs to go through several rounds of city approvals, Baraka said, adding that “this is not a done deal.”

Meanwhile, many Ironbound residents are pushing back on the project, which they say is unaligned with the neighborhood's character and which they say will drive up prices and push people out of the neighborhood as many are already struggling to afford housing.

“There is nothing in the immediate neighborhood that's more than five stories high,” said Newark resident John Goldstein, who opposes the project. “And all of a sudden we’re up to 30 stories.”

The property was rezoned by the City Council in September 2024, upping the maximum number of stories from from 12 to 30. Baraka defended the Council's move, saying it was “particularly appropriate” to have a large complex in this location since it’s just a few blocks from Newark Penn Station, giving residents convenient access to public transportation. He also noted that the site is less than a block away from the Horizon Blue Cross building, which is more than 20 stories tall.

Goldstein, who lives a half-block away from the site, said the rezoning was done against the community's will.

He also criticized the development process as “pretty opaque,”  adding that there was little opportunity for public input and “virtually none of that was taken into consideration in the final plan.”

Joseph Della Fave, the former executive director of Ironbound Community Corporation, a local nonprofit organization that supports the neighborhood, also said the city’s decision for a “150% increase” in height was never discussed in depth with the community.

“ What they did, in fact was to privilege the developer by accommodating their needs,” Della Fave said.

On March 3, Newark’s Central Planning Board approved Chess Builders’ plan 9-0, after a four-and-a-half-hour meeting where three dozen members of the public spoke.

NJ.com reported that only 13 of those people were in favor of the project. Some spoke about what the new buildings could do to improve the aesthetics of the neighborhood. Others liked the prospect of injecting nearly 300 affordable units into the mix of apartments in the Ironbound.

At 50,000 residents, the Ironbound is the city’s most densely populated neighborhood. The majority of residents are working-class immigrants, and 25% of residents live in poverty, according to the Ironbound Community Corporation.

Newark resident Howard Davis was outside his favorite barbershop, which sits next to the site, on Thursday. He said he had mixed feelings about the project.

“The good thing is [it’s] going to boost the quality of the area of the neighborhood,” he said.

“The bad thing is that the average individual would have a hard time getting in there,” he continued, referencing the income and credit score requirements.

Della Fave, who is also part of the mayor’s  Newark Equitable Growth Advisory Commission, said he feared many locals would be priced out of even the lowest-priced units for people making at least 40% of the average median income in Essex County — which works out to an income of about $40,000.

He said adding this many market-rate apartments to a community at once is going to speed up gentrification in a neighborhood where rents are already rising rapidly.

But Baraka said the criticism that buildings like this are not for existing Newark residents is “not true.”

“Working-class families and people going to those buildings," the mayor said. "We have a pipeline of folks that make sure.”

Baraka said that the city  has not yet had any widescale displacement of residents due to growing development. But he acknowledged that projects like the Iberia site proposal can put pressure on the market in a city where the average income is about $36,000.

“ People have a right to be concerned about gentrification," the mayor said. "If you look in Brooklyn and Harlem and different places like that, folks don't want to have that happen in Newark. And I understand that. It's a perfectly fair criticism."

Councilmember Michael Silva, who represents the East Ward, which includes the Ironbound, said he thinks this could be a “transformational” project for the neighborhood. He noted that the developers’ proposal calls for more than $20 million in infrastructure expenditures for the neighborhood, including sewer system improvements. He said that he’ll also be pushing the developers to provide up to $11 million in community benefits as part of the tax credit negotiations.

“Projects like this should have happened 20 or 30 years ago in this neighborhood,” Silva said.