Newark development to house Rutgers students.

Douglas Janacek, Esq., a director in the Gibbons Real Property and Environmental Law Group, Jake Newman, vice president of American Campus Communities and Brian White, vice president of Titan Investments joined Mayor Sharpe James and other local and state officials recently at the formal ground breaking for The Village at Newark.

Invited guests convened at the future project site on Central Avenue and Lock Street for the ceremony. Situated around a prominent landscaped courtyard, this 812-bed student housing community will feature a fitness center, a theater room, a business center, a game room, laundry facilities and a recreation area. The project will also contain 6,300 s/f of new street level retail and a 355-space structured parking garage.

Mayor James noted that the Village at Newark was "the right idea at the right time" and would help bolster the City of Newark's reputation as the education capitol of New Jersey. Other notables in attendance echoing this assessment included State Senator Ronald Rice, the Honorable Charles Bell, Central Ward Council Member, Dr. Nathan Allen, Director of the City Department of Economic and Housing Development, Johnny Jones, Essex County Freeholder and Assistant Director to Dr. Allen and Joel Freiser Director of the Urban Enterprise Zone. Representatives from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers, University Heights Science Center and Dr. Zachary Yamba, President of Essex County College were also in attendance.

"We are very proud to be associated with and represent The Village at Newark," said Douglas Janacek. He added that this privately developed student housing project represents a significant achievement for the project developers, Titan Investments and American Campus Communities, as well as the City of Newark and the institutions of higher learning and their students that will benefit from the new facilities.

Mr. Janacek concluded by noting that, "It is good to see development of the downtown area. But it is also exciting to see investment and redevelopment take place in the City beyond the immediate downtown area. We look forward to being involved in these and future projects that continue to advance the revitalization and renaissance of the City of Newark."