Hotel occupancy in Newark dropped from 69.4 percent in 2007 to 60.6 percent in 2009. It has now spurted, and reached 66.7 percent, a 10.1 percent increase from the previous year, in 2010. An increase in hotel occupancy is just one among many signs that Newark is back in business, and many developers are seeking to cash in on the action, with financial aid from the government, as The Real Deal previously reported.
April saw contractors break ground on a new government-backed $35 million Courtyard Hotel by Marriott, developed by Highland Park’s Tucker Development, according to the National Real Estate Investor. Developer Samer Hanini (note: correction appended) is also proceeding with plans for a $23 million Hotel Indigo, gut renovating a 1912 property, The city is helping him put together the last portion of financing for the project.
Other non-hotel projects are in the works too. Developer Ron Beit is breaking ground on a $120 million Teachers Village project including 65,000 square feet of retail and 224 residential units. Standard Chartered Bank, a British institution, recently completed a 12,000-square-foot expansion of its space and Pitney Bowes, a mailing firm, relocated to a 76,000-square-foot Newark space.
As The Real Deal previously reported, in Newark’s biggest coup, Panasonic agreed to relocate its North American headquarters to the city from Secaucus– a $190 million development. [National Real Estate Investor]