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Pabst Brewery Article
Pabst
Brewery Redevelopment - Redevelopment Across Borders
City of Newark and Township of Irvington, Essex County
Not all redevelopment sites stop
at the municipal border. For that reason, the Local Redevelopment and Housing
Law permits towns to engage in inter-municipal redevelopment planning. The City
of Newark and Irvington Township recently took advantage of that provision and
came together to create a joint redevelopment plan for the vacant Pabst Brewery
and surrounding neighborhoods that straddle the municipal border near Exit 144
of the Garden State Parkway.
The redevelopment of the Pabst Brewery posed several unusual planning problems.
In addition to the challenges posed by its inter-municipal border, significant
remediation issues as well as several structurally unsound buildings further
complicate the redevelopment of the site. Given these unique circumstances, both
Newark and Irvington realized that each had a significant role and interest in
the redevelopment of the Pabst site. To achieve success, both municipalities had
to cooperate in the redevelopment of the area. Neither could do it alone.
Using a loan from the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority, the two municipalities
hired a consulting team to study the environmental, structural, transportation,
and design issues facing the project. The project also involved community
meetings to gather input from residents in both Newark and Irvington,
information that was fed into the final report, the Pabst Brewery Redevelopment
Report and Action Plan.
The Plan proposes the demolition and remediation of the Pabst site and the
creation of a new 35,000 square foot market on South Orange Avenue, along with
16,000 square feet of mixed-use development, additional retail uses, senior
apartments, and a new police station. The plan also proposes the rehabilitation
of existing residential and commercial properties off-site but within the larger
redevelopment area; streetscape improvements such as new lighting, landscaping,
street reconstruction; as well as new residential housing units.
Working together, Newark and Irvington have developed a redevelopment plan that
articulates a joint community vision for the area, in a way that separate
redevelopment planning efforts could not have achieved. Memorandum of Agreement
and an inter-local services agreement to implement the plan will be developed
between the two municipalities. Once the agreements are signed, each
municipality can proceed with redevelopment designation and formal adoption of
the redevelopment plan.
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