Teachers Village Comes Alive

Downtown Newark is currently bustling with construction as several projects make their way skyward throughout the city so fittingly known as Brick City. At the epicenter of this growth is the SoMa Teachers Village development, which is slated to cover five city blocks and incorporates a blend of education, retail, residential, and office tenants. The first two buildings of the project to rise out of the ground are Buildings 2 and 5, both containing ground floor retail with charter school tenants above. Building 2 showcases a collaboration between Richard Meier & Partners LLP as the core and shell architect and KSS Architects as the interior architect, with Building 5 a complete KSS Architects design.

The projects benefit from the convenience of being constructed by the same general contractor, Phelps Construction Group, and by being located immediately across the street from each other. This close proximity allows trades and equipment to seamlessly transition between buildings to maintain the tight construction schedules established for the projects, which are off-set by approximately two months.

As both buildings move towards being completely enclosed and water-tight, the surrounding landscape is beginning to evolve as adjacent projects, Buildings 1 and 6, begin their pre-construction activities. Structural piles for Building 1, the first residential project within the development, are being driven adjacent to Building 2 as the existing dilapidated buildings adjacent to Building 5 are being demolished to make way for Building 6.

This appears to be a great forecast of the future of the City as Newark makes great strides to re-establish itself on the forefront of revitalization and development within New Jersey. Both projects are slated to complete construction by June of 2013.