By Tom De Poto
The Star-Ledger
on September 27, 2013 at 4:41 PM
John Munson/The Star-Ledger
Standing a full head taller than 6’-3” Newark Mayor Cory Booker, NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal broke ground today on the city’s first high-rise apartment since 1962.
O’Neal plans to convert the former Science High School building into a 23-story, 169-unit apartment tower with retail space on the ground floor. He is working in partnership with New-Brunswick-based Boraie Development, which has helped construct more than 1 million square feet of residential and retail buildings in New Jersey and partnered with O’Neal to give Newark its first movie theater in decades.
Wasseem Boraie, vice president at Boraie Development, said his company wanted to lay to rest the perception that “the only thing that works in Newark is affordable housing and government-sponsored projects. We didn’t believe that. The more we got into the city, the more we believed that high quality retail, high quality residential is more than possible in Newark.”
Most of the units will rent for market price, ranging from $1,400 for a studio, to $2,200 for a two-bedroom, Boraie said.
He said construction is expected to begin in the spring and the project is slated to be completed by mid-2015.
The current building is being completely demolished, which is confusing, since the renderings show that it’s supposed to be preserved as the base of the tower. Anyone know what’s going on?
I was saddened last week when through a Facebook group for SHS alumni, I was made aware of the demolition happening at that very moment! Many of the members of the group were saddened and someone mentioned that they wish they could have a brick from the school to remember it by.
When I woke up on Saturday morning, I decided I was going to go to NJ and grab a brick. I needed to say goodbye personally. I grabbed my oldest son, made a Facebook event and traveled out to Newark. A friend of mine from c/o 97 made it out from Pennsylvania and together we were able to get 4 bricks from the site with the aid of the construction workers (he grabbed them for us due to safety issues).
So many people have such great memories from that building. It wasn’t just a school, an old beer factory with the vats still in place, but a place where we started a road on becoming who we are regardless of if we remained in the Sciences or not.
Goodbye Science High School. 40 Rector Street. Ballentine Ale Factory…and home to many, many nostalgic and beautiful moments in our lives.
Excavation. Not sure if they’re just filling in the cellar of the old Ballantine Brewery/HS building, or if they’re preparing it for construction. No pile drivers on site, only excavators.
It’s actually happening! Pile drivers on the Shaq Tower site. Two residential high-rises under construction simultaneously–something Newark hasn’t seen in more than half a century! Rise, Newark, rise!
Most people now believe that Amazon will move to DC, but I think they’d be nuts not to move to Newark. If they did, I’d like to see them take at least 750k sf in 2 WTC.
