NJIT WILL MOVE AHEAD ON $80 MILLION CAMPUS COMPLEX
The Newark Planning Board approved construction of an $80 million “Greek Village” for New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) that will provide space for up to 600 students.

The approval was for five three story duplexes for fraternity and sorority housing and a six-story Honors College for dorms, retail and office space, a fitness center and a dining facility.

Alliance for Action President Philip K. Beachem noted that construction would free up deteriorating homes on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard for redevelopment --- adding to the project’s potential for housing and economic/jobs. Beachem is Chairman of the NJIT Board’s Building and Grounds Committee.

The complex would replace a two-acre parking lot at the southern end of the campus at Warren Street and Raymond Boulevard. Campus Gateway Development, a for-profit corporation NJIT created as the developer is working out financing, including the State’s Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit Program.

PORT AUTHORITY ANNOUNCES PROJECTS FOR NEWARK LIBERTY AIRPORT
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced projects for the coming year at Newark Liberty International Airport. They will include a $42 million runway resurfacing and construction of a new Continental Airlines maintenance hangar.

Newark Liberty’s busiest runway – a two-mile airstrip that runs north to south parallel to the New Jersey Turnpike --- will get a new asphalt base and new surface. Work on the runway also will include improvements to two high-speed taxiways to reduce waiting time for aircraft movement.

A separate project will be construction of a maintenance hangar by Continental Airlines for its wide-body aircraft. Under a 25-year lease for the property, Continental agreed to spend at least $25 million to build the hangar.

The Port Authority reported that the runway project would create 270 construction jobs and the hangar would provide another 210 jobs.

HIGH-RISE PROJECTS SCHEDULED FOR JERSEY CITY AND WEEHAWKEN
Announcements were made for two luxury apartment projects for the Hudson County waterfront.

Mack-Cali realty said it is teaming with Ironstate Development of Hoboken to build two high-rise towers of 500 units each on land owned by Mack-Cali in its Harborside Financial Center in Jersey City. The project is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of next year, with occupancy two years later.

Hartz Mountain Industries of Secaucus plans to partner with Roseland Property on a $200 million rental complex in Weehawken on waterfront land owned by Hartz Mountain.

The Weehawken project, called the Estuary, will consist of three buildings totaling 589 units in Lincoln Harbor. Construction will begin this winter, with occupancy by fall 2013.

NEW BRUNSWICK APARTMENT BUILDING TO BREAK GROUND
Pennrose Properties expects to break ground soon for a 14-story apartment and retail building in downtown New Brunswick at George and New Streets. Named New Street Apartments, the project will contain 104 units and ground-floor retail on the site of a former mixed-use building.

The company, which has developed a number of New Brunswick properties, is working with the New Brunswick Development Corp. (DevCo) on this project. Construction is expected to take about 14 months.

GROUND BROKEN FOR NEW RUTGERS BUSINESS SCHOOL
Rutgers University broke ground on its Livingston campus, Piscataway, for the future home of the Rutgers Business School – New Brunswick and Newark. The 155,800-square-foot building will provide space to accommodate program expansion and increased student interest.

The new school is a key component of the university’s long-term initiative to develop the Livingston campus into a center for professional and business studies.

PUBLIC HEARINGS SET ON EXTENSION OF HUDSON-BERGEN LIGHT RAIL
NJ Transit announced public hearings on a plan to extend service on the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail line out of Hudson to at least Englewood in Bergen. NJ Transit Executive Director Jim Weinstein said the Federal Transit Administration has given approval to publish and distribute a draft environmental impact statement.

Two public hearings per day have been set for two days in January:

• January 24 --- 3 to 5 PM and 7 to 9 PM at the Clinton Inn, 145 Dean Drive, Tenafly.
• January 26 --- 3 to 5 PM and 7 to 9 PM at Crowne Plaza Englewood Hotel, 401 S. VanBrunt Street, Englewood.

SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION BOND ISSUES OF $119 MILLION APPROVED BY VOTERS IN 2011
Local voters during 2011 approved twelve school construction bond referendums for a total of $119.6 million. The most recent and final referendum for the year saw two bond proposals approved in December for a total of $25.8 million.

The December approvals included a proposal in Greater Egg Harbor Regional for $14.2 million for replacement of a roof, fire alarm and heating/ventilation system at one school and fire alarms replacement at another school.

The other project approved was in Randolph Township of $11.6 million for renovations to several schools including heating/air conditioning systems, window replacement, auditorium and locker rooms, and installation of turf fields and bleachers.

The next date for school construction referendums is Tuesday, January 24, 2012.

UTILITY CONFERENCE
Executives of the state’s major utilities reported plans to invest billions of dollars in construction projects during a conference sponsored by the New Jersey Alliance for Action.

A capacity audience of over 200 business, labor and government leaders attended the Trenton program based on the theme of “Energizing the Economy.”

Alliance President Philip K. Beachem opened the session by declaring that utility firms have been the “highest and most consistent” in using construction to help revive the state’s ailing economy.

• Ralph LaRossa, President and COO of Public Service Electric & Gas, said New Jersey’s largest utility is going to spend nearly $2 billion in the next twelve months on transmission, distribution, renewable and energy-efficiency capital improvements.
• Dennis Bone, President of Verizon New Jersey, reported that Verizon’s “footprint in New Jersey” reaches over $6 billion a year in wages, taxes, local business spending and other economic benefits.
• Vincent Maione, President of Atlantic City Electric, discussed plans to spend nearly $1.3 billion over the next five years on transmission and distribution reliability, smart grid and infrastructure programs.
• Ed Gonzales, Project Director of Spectra Energy, provided details of an $850 million, two-year plan to build a privately funded 20-mile natural gas pipeline through North Jersey and Staten Island into Manhattan.
• Other presenters of capital construction plans included Dennis Ciemniecki, President of United Water’s regulated business; Francis W. Peverly, Vice President for Rockland Electric Co., Suzanne Chiavari, Vice President-Engineering for NJ American Water, and Charles Dippo, Vice President of South Jersey Gas.
• The keynote speaker was Lee Solomon, who is leaving as President of the NJ Board of Public Utilities for appointment by Governor Christie as a judge. He said the Governor’s new State Energy Master Plan “strikes a balance for New Jersey’s economic development and growth.”

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