Boraie Development’s latest project in Newark, a 25-story, 333-unit mixed-use residential project at 930 McCarter Highway, was approved for a $90 million Aspire award by the board of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority on Thursday.
The project will sit across from the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and will be less than a 10-minute walk to Newark Penn Station.
The project, which will sit on a 1.1-acre site, will be 451,063 square feet — featuring 265 market-rate units and 68 affordable units. The high-rise also will include 3,124 square feet of commercial/retail space, four stories of structured parking, including 240 parking spaces for resident use, and various top-shelf amenities.
Read more from ROI-NJ:
- Transformative project at MetroPark station, led by HMH, approved for $113M Aspire award
- Genmab, promising to add 300 jobs to 2nd location in Plainsboro, gets $8.4M Emerge tax credit
Boraie officials said they hope to break ground on the project later this spring.
The Elizabeth Development Co., a 501(c)(3), which has signed an agreement to provide economic, civic and social welfare by providing a program of comprehensive economic development and social services for residents, is a co-applicant on the project.
Aspire is a place-based economic development program created under the New Jersey Economic Recovery Act of 2020 to support mixed-use, transit-oriented development with tax credits to commercial and residential real estate development projects that have financing gaps. All residential Aspire projects must include at least 20% affordable housing. As a performance-based program, projects must certify that all commitments established at time of approval have been met before receiving their first disbursement of tax credits.
Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin (D-Newark) was a prime sponsor of the legislation.
“Aspire is a crucial gap financing tool applying tax credits to spur economic development, promoting mixed-use, transit-oriented projects in communities that need it most,” she said. “With at least 20% affordable housing included in all residential Aspire projects, it ensures benefits for all New Jersey residents. I look forward to seeing the completed projects contribute to the vitality of our state.”
EDA CEO Tim Sullivan was thrilled by this award — and a second award the EDA made on a Middlesex County project by MetroPark — noting their proximity to transit.
“These transit-oriented, amenity-rich projects uphold Gov. Phil Murphy’s standard for creating safe, high-quality housing options for New Jersey families, while ensuring equitable access to housing resources,” he said.
When completed, the project will be the third major building in Newark for Boraie, which opened 50 Rector Park (170 units) in 2019 and opened 777 McCarter (370 units), the premier multifamily structure in town, in 2023.
