Category Archives: Current Events
NJ Nets to Play at Prudential Center
If you haven’t been out of your cave for a while there is a battle to relocate the NJ Nets from their current home at the Izod Center in the Meadowlands to a doomed arena project in downtown Brooklyn or … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events
Newark to Reassess All Ratables
The Newark, NJ city council is about to authorize $4mm to reassess all properties in the city. It is required by the state that each municipality go through this process every 5 years. It has been 6 years for Newark … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events, Finance, Government
The Misguided Adventure of Homeownership
I read a great article from City Journal last night written by Steve Malanga. The article chronicles the governments misguided efforts to promote homeownership and how these efforts led to many crisies over the past century and are responsible for … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events, Government
Mayor Booker speaks out against NJ government largesse (or largeness)
Mayor Corey Booker spoke out against the bloat of the NJ government, public workers, uncompetitive business environment, excessive taxes, etc… etc… “New Jersey will go bankrupt in 10 to 20 years because we cannot afford our employees as a state,” … Continue reading
Filed under Corey Booker, Current Events, Government
WSJ: Small Banks Face Hits on Commercial Real Estate
I am posting some interesting excerpts from this article in the Wall Street journal yesterday regarding the repercussions of commercial real estate on smaller banks. If you are a WSJ subscriber you can read the full article here. In the … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events, Finance, Real Estate Market
Murder Rate Plummets!
Talk about great news… the city of Newark has reported the lowest murder rate for the first 4 months of 2009 since 1959! Mayor Cory A. Booker and Police Director Garry F. McCarthy announced today that the City of Newark … Continue reading
Filed under Corey Booker, Current Events
Fire on Broad Street
Traffic snarled, building damaged all due to a woman scorned… Now look at what the building looked like before it caught fire… Actually a very nice building. Seems like house and apartment fires in Newark, East Orange and Irvington have … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events, Uncategorized
Port Properties Performing Poorly
Apologies for the gratuitous alliteration, however, it is true port properties are feeling the pain of this global downturn. The recent article from Globe St. explains it all. According to the report, the 10 US ports surveyed handled 847,832 20-foot-equivalent … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events
Is the NY/NJ Market oversaturated with arenas?
I recently came across this article in the Sports Business Journal by way of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. It is an interesting article and the first I have found that looks at the entire market and all of the arenas … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events, Development
Booker predicts the Net’s will be sold and remain in NJ
The Atlantic Yards Report has this post quoting Mayor Booker regarding the Nets. “Let me tell you exactly what I think is going to happen,” Booker continued. “I believe the project in Brooklyn is not going to work and not … Continue reading
Filed under Corey Booker, Current Events
Broad St. McDonald’s Reopens after $2mm in renovations
In case you hadn’t noticed, the McDonald’s on Broad Street is looking pretty sharp lately. About six months ago, last fall, McDonald’s closed this restaurant for a complete makeover. To begin with they scoured the marble on the front of the … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events, Development, Real Estate Market
“Dear Mr. Governor”
Corey Booker’s Letter to Governor Corzine: According to a recent media account, the New Jersey Sports Exposition Authority (“NJSEA”) is preparing to hire an architect to improve Izod Arena as construction continues on the long- overdue, incomplete Xanadu project. I … Continue reading
Filed under Corey Booker, Current Events, Government
Building Tops Out in Newark
From RE Business Online “THE LEAGUERS HEADQUARTERS BUILDING TOPS OUT NEWARK, N.J. — Construction has topped out on The Leaguers Headquarters and Head Start Building in Newark. In addition to housing the non-profit community organization’s headquarters office, the 48,000-square-foot building … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events, Development
Court to Iron Mountian, “You’re Out!”
While perusing the New Jersey Eminent Domain Law Blog early on this rainy Sunday morning, while my pregnant wife slept, I came across this interesting post. Eminent Domain, as many in NJ are all to familiar with, is the … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events, Development
NJ Credit Rating to remain unchanged
“Corzine’s $29.8 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 would cut property-tax rebates and raise levies on the wealthiest residents to help close a $7 billion deficit. The first-term Democrat, who faces re-election in November, also wants … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events, Government
Latest Cause Celeb… Newark, NJ
So it started with Jon Bon Jovi playing a string of shows to open the Prudential Center. Next we have Forrest Whitaker announcing a documentary about Newark, Queen Latifah and Wyclef Jean on a foreclosure prevention bus tour, Shaquille O’Neill … Continue reading
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Wednesday March 25th Headlines
Blogging can be quite time consuming so I will be trying to do one big post with links to various stories that come over throughout the day. Here’s the first so I hope you like it. Multi housing news is … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events
Newark moving forward with redevelopment plans around Newark Liberty Airport
“Newark officials have taken the first steps in redeveloping some of the most troubled sections of the city’s air and sea ports, which when expanded and improved may lead to the creation of new businesses and jobs for residents.” I … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events, Development, Government, Real Estate Market
Izod Center and Prudential Center battle to be the area’s top venue
“More than a year after the Prudential Center opened, the aging state-operated Meadowlands arena it was expected to supplant is still there, and the two are locked in a steel cage death match, battling almost daily for the same lucrative … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events, Government
Gov Corzine Shows Support for Pro Development Bills
See Full Article “Gov. Corzine further stated that he is “totally committed” to the urban hub concept . “It is how we rebuild Newark, Camden and our communities,” he said. The RAD bill, “without too much modification, is something I … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events, Development, Finance, Government
Nets will play preseason games in Newark, Queens
USA Today reports that the Nets will be playing preseason games this fall in Newark and Queens. See Full Article And the Star Ledger isn’t far behind See Full Article The Nets have an agreement to play at the IZOD … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events
Local fighters will be the key to success of Newark’s boxing renaissance
See Full Article This is a great piece. Newark has a history that is so rich and vibrant especially in sports. It is important that Newark recognize this and use this history to rebuild from. The history of sport in … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events
Commercial Property Owners Appealing Assessments
Commercial property owners throughout the state are appealing their tax assessments. Any good commercial property owner should be doing this every year anyway since certioraris work on a contingency basis. As for the repercussions to the townships tax rolls, … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events, Government, Real Estate Market
IDT moves out of 520 Broad Street building
This is really no surprise. Anyone who has a pulse knows that there are plenty of corporations in trouble and IDT is one of them. In February of 2007 the companies stock was trading at almost $12, February 2008 it … Continue reading
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More Bad News for Bruce…
Ratner, not Springsteen, that is. “Brooklyn’s flagging Atlantic Yards project took another hit yesterday when Metropolitan Transportation Authority honchos confirmed the agency won’t dish out any of its allocated federal stimulus funds to aid developer Bruce Ratner. “ The New … Continue reading
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Has anyone thought of why the drug trade is so strong in Newark?
“It is the primary source of violent crime in the city, authorities agree, and it thrives for a few simple reasons: Heroin in Newark is cheaper, purer and more plentiful than it is elsewhere, and the city’s location at the … Continue reading
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Is it time to start painting the bedroom?
Newark is one of the few places where hope still has a life and one of the biggest hopes for the city is that the New Jersey Nets will come to the Prudential Center instead of going to Brooklyn. There … Continue reading
Filed under Current Events, Uncategorized
It’s a PR Thing
If you haven’t heard yet Spike TV’s show DEA is coming to Newark. The shows second season takes place in and around Newark NJ and if you can’t gather from the title of the show, it follows DEA agents with … Continue reading
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Murder Rate Drops 30%
Newark recorded 67 homicides in 2008, according to the police, the fewest since 2002, when there were 65. In 2007, there were 97 homicides; in 2006, just over 100. Continue reading
Filed under Current Events
