HISTORY

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A Brief Historical Look at Newark

Newark is New Jersey’s largest and most populous city, encompassing a 24-square mile area. It is located in the eastern portion of Essex County, and bounded by Bloomfield and Belleville to the north, East Orange, Irvington, Maplewood and South Orange to the west, Hillside to the south, and East Newark, Harrison, Jersey City and Kearny to the west. The city's access is unsurpassed in its combination of highway, rail, air and sea transportation systems.

During the 19th century, the region's economic activity centered around manufacturing as a result of its railroad transportation network and its central northeast location and proximity to New York City. By the turn of the century, Newark began to grow as a result of the expansion in banking and finance, making Newark the center for commerce and finance in New Jersey.

After a period of decline and stagnation in the 1960s and 1970s, Newark has witnessed a dramatic rebound and a complete rebirth in more recent years.

Its economy has experienced both expansion and diversification, with the service industry replacing that of manufacturing. Today, many large corporate headquarters have been established in the City of Newark, including that of Blue Cross Blue Shield, Prudential Insurance Company of America, New Jersey Transit, IDT and Public Service Enterprise Group.

The city is also home to the state’s court system. The headquarters of numerous federal, state and county offices are located at the Peter W. Rodino, Jr. Federal Building, the United States Courthouse, City Hall, the Federal Court House and the Essex County Courthouse in downtown Newark. This concentration of court activity in downtown Newark has been a catalyst for the growth of the respected Newark legal community. The state’s oldest and largest law firm, McCarter & English, is headquartered in Newark along with Saiber Schlesinger, Sills Cummis Radin Tishman Epstein & Gross, and Carpenter Bennett & Morrissey.

The government and private industries have benefited Newark greatly in the revitalization of its commercial presence. Furthermore, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority is offering to businesses that purchase, construct or renovate commercial properties in Newark through the Commercial Revitalization Deduction program.

In 2003, the program designated $15.2 million in federal tax benefits, with a maximum of $10 million available to any one project.

1 Washington Park was built in 1983 at the intersection on Washington Street and Broad Street, with frontage on Broad, Orange and Essex Streets. The property was constructed of a fireproofed steel structure frame with masonry block and a red brick and reflective glass façade.

The site totals approximately 2.2 acres of land, with a 17-story, institutional-quality office building as its centerpiece.

1 Washington Park was originally built as Verizon's Network Headquarters. The building is equipped with state-of-the-art technological infrastructure that was necessary to support Verizon's regional network operation center (N.O.C.). Verizon occupied nearly the entire building for the previous 20 years under a bond-type net lease. When Verizon initially agreed to lease the first twelve floors at 1 Washington Park, five of the eight elevators in the low-rise bank were designed to service Floors 1 through 12. Then, Verizon also agreed to lease Floors 13 and 14, and a single electric meter was designated for Floors 1 through 14. Subsequently, when Verizon expanded their requirement to occupy the entire building, Floors 15, 16 and 17 were separately metered.

At the end of January 2003, Verizon moved out of the building and consolidated a majority of its operations across the street into 540 Broad Street, a 435,000-square foot, 75-year old building that is owned by the corporation.